Tharapita
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Tharapita or Taarapita or Taara is the god of war in Estonian mythology. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia mentions Tharapita as the superior god of Oeselians (inhabitants of Saaremaa island) which was also well known to Vironian tribes in northern Estonia. According to the chronicle, when crusaders invaded Vironia in 1220, there was a beautiful wooded hill in Vironia, where locals believe Oeselian god Tharapita was born and flown from there to Saaremaa. The hill is believed to be the Ebavere Hill (Ebavere mägi) in modern Lääne-Viru County. Taara is usually associated with the Scandinavian god Thor and may be interpreted as "Thor, help!" (Taara aita in Estonian). Other interpretations are "Thor the Thunderbolt" (Taara pikne) or "Thor (is) great" (Taara (on) vägev).
Taara was also known by the Tavastian-tribe of Finland. Old cultplace is in county of Janakkala. The Place is now known as Laurin Lähde (Lauri's Fountain). Tavastians worshipped Taara there as late as 18th century and church had to close the place.
Tharapita also seems to be known among the Slavs of the island of Rügen, where Danish crusaders destroyed a pagan idol named Turupit in 1168.
Taara's "flight from Vironia to Saaremaa" is sometimes associated with a major meteor disaster that formed lake Kaali in Saaremaa. One proponent of theories about the meteor and its consequences was Lennart Meri, the president of Estonia 1992–2001, who wrote several books about the subject. However, the studies of Kaali meteorite site have not confirmed the meteor event was recent enough to be preserved in the folklore.
In later Estonian folklore, Tharapita is known as Taara or Tooru. Worship of Thor in Estonia was well known. According to several medieval chronicles, Estonians did not work on Thursdays (days of Thor). Thursday nights were called "evenings of Tooru". Some sources say Estonians used to gather in Holy woods (Hiis) in Thursday evenings where bagpipe player was sitting on stone and played while people danced and sang until the dawn.
Variations similar to the name "Thor" are known to many peoples who speak Finno-Ugric languages. Khants have a god named Torum, Samis have Turms, Samoyed Tere. Finnish bishop Mikael Agricola mentions 1551 a war god Turisas, although this is more likely to refer on Thurisas; the Finns had also deity Tuuri, which was the god of harvest, luck and success. These deities are associated with the hypothetical proto-Finno-Ugric-language word meaning "high".
Tharapitha has also inspired an Estonian neopagan movement, known as taaralased or taarausulised. In the middle of the 19th century, Taara became popular in the national movement. From that period, Estonia's second-biggest city Tartu was poetically called Taaralinn ("city of Taara").
