Keiju
The keijukainen (modern keiju) are small spirits of Finnish folk tradition, attested since Ganander's Mythologia Fennica (1789) as tiny flying beings connected with the dead — seen near funerals, graveyards, and roads, resembling snowflakes, small dolls, or flames, and counted among the kirkonväki death-spirits. The 'beautiful winged fairy' image is a later literary overlay.