I was teasing with the händ in the headline. I meant a hand with 5 fingers, which in Estonian is käsi. But händ is also an Estonian word meaning the back end of an animal, i.e. a synonym for saba (tail). A pisu/händ or tuli/händ (aka a kratt) is a mythological flying impish spirit with a burning tail-streak, who steals things for whomever it is serving. In contrast, an extremely contemporary “mütoloogiline” creature: yellow, with one big eye, who many will dress up as for Hallowe'en is called a käsi/lane – a minion! The original meaning is that of a henchman, but also a trusted attendant, supporter or follower. Don't mean to confuse, but it's pretty great that a synonym of käsilane is saba/rakk. That's because s/he's there to lend a hand and is following you like a händ. I mean saba.
If there's a KÄSI/lane, there must also be a HÄNI/lane. Of course. It's a yellow Eurasian bird that “wags” its HÄND (tail). Up and down, not side to side. In English, it's the yellow wagtail and is the relative of the lina/västrik (white wagtail), which is very common in Eesti and known for incessantly flicking or wagging its tail. It has many charming nicknames including jää/lõhkuja and jää/põtk (“icebreaker”, with its saba or händ of course), and also pika/hänna/mees – “long tail man”, who happens to also be Latvia's national bird.
Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
