What is (a) Könnin kuokkamies?

Question

It seems to be some kind of robotic/mechanical entity, but that's pretty much all I could gather from googling around.

There is a Wikipedia page on the matter: here, but it is in Finnish, which I, unfortunately, can't read. The picture there piques my curiosity a bit, showing something completely unanthropomorphic (but to be fair, mythical beings don't have to be anthropomorphic).

There is also a number of translations of the eponymous Korpiklaani song, mostly giving an impression of a silent mechanical worker - although I'm not sure whether it can't talk or just doesn't like to. Not much about the actual shape can be inferred. Also, I don't know how faithful this is to the original myths.

Answer 1

Kuokammies means "Ploughman", and Könni is a Finnish Family name. So "The Ploughman of Könni".

It's also a song by a Finnish Band, lyrics in English provided.

Lyrics remind me of Johannes Von Saaz' "Death and the Plowman"

Edit: I just copied the Finnish text you linked into Google Translate and got this:

Könn's dancer is one of Finland's most famous folk tales about the mechanical "robot", which made Könn's master clear the land for cultivation. According to the story, the man in the dungeon slammed the ground and pushed the carts in the field. Passers-by raised a hand and greeted him, but Kökkamies stayed silent, for the master did not speak of having done it but working. The miserable fate of the royal man was drowning in the ship's head when the sloppy slave fell asleep and didn't turn it at the end of the field. Some investigators have argued that this was a planned act, because the deaf man was considered arrogant because of his silence.

In some stories, Könne has a number of windbreakers, while others have guts (feters) or weights. In other stories, however, deaf men are becoming violent because of lost earnings. The pods traveled a lot and the steam engine came in. It was hardly a strange thing, as Mr A. Wasastjerna, the founder and partner of Tampella, made his spinning gear at a workshop on a riverboat steam engine. However, the machine was broken during the test run and repaired at Könn's place.