Matti Kurki, in Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 Matts Kurck, was a legendary Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 chieftain

Tribal chief

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...

. If he was a real person, he is thought to have been living in the late 13th century.

Folklore tales tell about Matti Kurki, particularly in the Pirkanmaa

Pirkanmaa

Pirkanmaa , or the Tampere Region , is a region of Finland. It borders on the regions of Satakunta, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia, Southern Ostrobothnia and Central Finland....

 province (Vesilahti, Pirkkala) but also in Lapland. The first written reference to Matti Kurki dates from the 17th century.

The best known tale concerns his duel with a Pohto, a Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

-Karelian

Karelian

Karelian refers to something from or related to the region of Karelia, in present-day Russia and FInland*Karelians*Karelian language*Karelian foods* Karelian pasties* Karelian hot pot* Karelian Birch, a cultivar of Betula pendula...

 warrior. The battle would have taken place near the Manor of Laukko.

Matti Kurki was supposedly the ancestor of the Finnish noble family of Kurki

Kurki of Laukko

The Kurki or Kurck family, also known as the family of Laukko, is a medievally-originated Finnish noble family that produced several historically prominent persons. It is documented in the late 14th century...

. The lands of the Laukko manor were, according to legends, either compensation for ceding his right to tax the Sami

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

, or for his valor and deeds in the wars against the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 enemies of the King of Sweden.

Legacy

The name has been used as a traditional name in the Finnish Navy

Finnish Navy

The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...

, two ships have so far carried the name in the 20th century:

• The gun boat Matti Kurki (1918–1940)
• The Bay-class frigate Matti Kurki (1962–1975)