Heikki Lunta, Yooper-Finnish Snow God

You may have heard of Jack Frost and Old Man Winter but what about Hank Snow? Or as his original name reads Heikki Lunta?

Old Hank has many titles and names in local Yooper lore such as Snow, Mr. Snow, King Snow, etc. He may have even descended from a Finnish Snow God from the Old Country, though which has long been lost to time.

However Hank Snow has become one of the most well known figures of Yooper Myth and Legend even having the largest Yooper Winter Festival Heikinpäivä in Hancock, Michigan. Where you can find him blending in with the crowd looking as normal as any other Yooper Man with his bushy beard and snow goggles, wearing a warm thick flannel and a winter cap atop his head, though he may also appear as a pile of living fur coats.

The Heikki festival involves the Three Heikki's: The Snow God Heikki himself, A Finnish "Saint" known as St. Henrik and a local Grand Marshall of the festival known as Hankookin Heikki.

Those who don't believe say the Legend of Heikki Lunta grew after a supposed origin in 1970 when David Riutta a local DJ wrote the song "Heikki Lunta’s Snow Dance", this little song caused snow to fall across the land. The song proved too effective and necessitated another song created by Riutta to be written and played, the far less welcoming "Heikki Lunta Go Away".

Riutta's first song gained fame for it's snow summoning properties even delivering snow to the Range Snowmobile Club's Snowmobile Race when snow had failed to fall in time for the big event.

Like many Gods, Spirits and Legends of American Myth Heikki Lunta is no loner, he may be a God of Snow but he can be as snug around others as a warm fur coat, Old Hank is married to his childhood sweetheart Aino Mäkinen and their marriage has created a large extended family including his less than enthusiastic son Heikki Jr.