Perkele originally referred to the Finnish thunder god Ukko. With Christianity the Swedish priests co-opted him for one of the titles of Satan. Perkele is also one of the most common swearwords in the Finnish language; and with vittu (in a sense of humor) may be among the first words learnt by a foreigner.
The term also has the role of realizing and strengthening the Finnish national identity. It is a typical Finnish masculine curse word, used to appeal to Finns as a rural attitude in which trouble is faced and conquered with determination and direct action. Sisu is a Finnish term defining this attitude.
Gods related to Perkele are also known in Latvia (Pērkons), Lithuania (Perkunas), Prussia (Percunis), Poland (Perkun or Perun), see Perkwunos and Slovenia (parkelj).
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkele under GFDL
