themselves, so they made up their beds on some sheep-skin rugs on the
floor, and soon fell into a sound sleep.
* * * * *
The next day it was still storming, and so Father Mikko gave up all idea
of leaving that day. About three o'clock in the afternoon--it was dark
as night then--they had all finished dinner and settled down around the
fire as on the day before, and Father Mikko was easily persuaded to go
on with his stories.
Erik was at work on a pair of snow-shoes, just like those that
Lemminkainen wore in the story of the hunt after the Hisi-deer. They
were nearly finished--about six feet long and five inches wide in the
broadest part, with a place in the middle to fasten them on to the feet,
and the front ends were turned up. All that now remained to be done was
to polish them off, and Erik worked at this while Father Mikko told his
stories. The children had enough to do to watch 'Pappa' Mikko's face and
listen to the wonderful tales, and Mother Stina was busy with some
sewing--she couldn't spin because the noise of the wheel would have
drowned Father Mikko's voice.
'Now that we have brought Lemminkainen back from the Death-river,' the
old man said, 'we will see what Wainamoinen was doing all this while.'
So he began as follows:
[Illustration]
WAINAMOINEN'S BOAT-BUILDING
Wainamoinen started to build a boat from the Rainbow-maiden's distaff,
but he had soon used up all his timber, and the boat was far from
finished. So he asked Sampsa (the planter of the first trees that grew
on earth) to go and search out the needful timber in order to finish the
boat.
Sampsa started off with a golden axe upon his shoulder and a copper
hatchet in his belt. He wandered through the mountain forests, and at
length came upon a great aspen, and was just going to cut it down, when
the aspen asked him what he wanted. 'I wish to take your timber for a
vessel,' Sampsa replied, 'that the wise magician Wainamoinen is
building.' Then the aspen answered: 'All the boats that have been made
of my wood have been but failures; they float but a little way, and
then sink to the ocean's bottom, for my trunk is full of hollow places,
where the worms have eaten my wood.'
So Sampsa left the aspen and searched still further, until he came to a
pine-tree that was even taller than the aspen was. Sampsa struck a blow
with his axe, and at the same time asked the pine-tree if it would
furnish good timber for Wainamoinen's boat. But the pine-tree answered:
'All the ships that have been made from me are useless. I am full of
imperfections, for the ravens live among my branches and bring
ill-luck.'
And Sampsa was obliged to leave the pine-tree and go on until he came to
a tremendous oak-tree, whose trunk was thicker than the height of even
the tallest men. And he asked the oak-tree if it would furnish wood for
Wainamoinen's boat. 'I will gladly furnish the wood,' replied the
oak-tree, 'for I am tall and sound and strong. The warm sun shines upon
me for three months in the summer, and the sacred cuckoo dwells in my
branches and brings good fortune.' So Sampsa quickly felled the oak, and
brought the timber, skilfully hewn, to Wainamoinen.
The wise magician Wainamoinen then began to put his boat together by the
aid of magic spells. The first magic song that he sang joined the
framework together, and the second song fastened the planking into the
ribs, and the third put the rowlocks in place and made the oars. But,
alas! when all this was done, there were still three magic words needed
to complete the stem and stern and bulwarks.
Wainamoinen saw that all his labour was in vain unless he found the
three magic words, for unless the stern and stem were fastened and the
bulwarks built, the boat could never put to sea. He pondered long over
where he might find the lost words, and after a while he concluded that
they might be found in the brains of swallows and the heads of swans and
the plumage of the sea-duck. But though he killed great numbers of these
birds, he could not find the three lost words. Then he thought that he
might find them on the tongues of reindeers or of the squirrels; but
though he killed great numbers of them, and found many words on their
tongues, the three lost words were not there.
Then he said to himself: 'I will seek the lost words in the kingdom of
Manala; there are countless words to be found there in the Deathland.'
So off he went, travelling for three weeks over hill and dale, through
marshes and thickets, until at length he came to the river of Tuoni.
There he called out in a voice like thunder: 'Bring a boat, O daughter
of Tuoni, and ferry me over this black and fatal river.'
Tuoni's daughter, a wee little dwarf, but very wise and ancient, bade
him first say why he wished to come into the Deathland while he was
still alive. And first Wainamoinen answered that Tuoni himself, the
death-god, had sent him. But the maid replied: 'Had Tuoni brought thee,
he would now be with thee, and thou wouldst be wearing his cap and
gloves.' So Wainamoinen answered again: 'I was slain by an iron weapon.'
But the maid would not believe him, because he had no bleeding wound.
Then he said the third time, that he had been washed there by the river.
But still the maid would not believe him, for his clothing was not wet.
And the fourth time he said that fire had burnt him. But the maid
replied: 'If the fire had brought thee to Manala, thy hair and eyebrows
and beard would be all singed and burnt. But now I ask thee for the last
time what it is that hath brought thee, living, hither. Tell me the
truth this time.'
Then Wainamoinen told her that he had been building a boat by magic, but
that he yet lacked one spell, and had come thither to seek it. When he
had said this, Tuoni's daughter came across and rowed him to the
opposite side, having first tried to dissuade him from coming. But
Wainamoinen was not afraid; and when he had landed he walked straight
up to the abode of Tuoni.
There Tuonetar, Tuoni's wife, gave him a golden goblet filled with beer,
saying: 'Drink Tuoni's beer, O wise and ancient Wainamoinen!' But he
carefully inspected the liquor before he tasted it, and saw that it was
black and full of the spawn of frogs and poisonous serpent-broods; and
he said to Tuonetar: 'I have not come hither to drink Tuoni's poisons,
for they that do so will surely be destroyed.'
Tuonetar then asked him why he had come, and he told her of his
boat-building, and how he still needed the three magic words, and that
he hoped to find them there. 'Tuoni will never reveal them,' Tuonetar
said; 'nor shalt thou ever leave these gates alive;' and as she spoke
she waved the slumber-wand over Wainamoinen's head, and he sank into a
deep sleep. And to make sure of his not escaping, Tuoni's son, a hideous
wizard with only three fingers, wove nets of iron and of copper, and set
them all through the river, to catch Wainamoinen if by any chance he
should get so far.
But Wainamoinen soon freed himself from Tuonetar's slumber-spell, and
knowing in how great danger he was, he instantly transformed himself
into a serpent, and wriggled his way to the river, and through the nets
that had been set to catch him, until at length he came out safe into
the land of the living again; and the next morning, when Tuoni's wizard
son went to look at his nets, he found all kinds of evil fish and
serpents, but not the wise old magician.
But Wainamoinen prayed to Ukko: 'I thank thee, O Ukko, that thou hast
protected me; but never suffer any other of thy heroes, not even the
wisest, to go against the laws of nature to the awful Tuonela. For there
are but few who return from thence.'
And then Wainamoinen called together the people on the plains of
Kalevala, and spoke to the young men and maidens, saying: 'Listen, all
ye young people. Never disobey your parents; never harm the innocent,
nor wrong the weak, nor utter falsehood, else ye will pay the penance
for it in the gloomy prison of Manala; for there is the dwelling-place
of the wicked, and a place for the guilty. Beneath the burning rocks
there are fiery couches, with pillows of hissing serpents, and coverlets
of green writhing vipers. And the wicked there drink the blood of
adders, but have nothing to eat at all. If ye would be happy, shun this
abode of the wicked ones in Tuonela.'
* * * * *
'But I thought Wainamoinen wasn't to use any wood for his boat except
the pieces of the distaff,' said Mimi.
'Well, you see,' said Father Mikko, 'the main thing was to build the
boat by _magic_, and we'll see now how he did that. I don't believe a
little extra wood made any difference.' So he went on:
[Illustration: A LAPLAND WIZARD.]
[Illustration]
WAINAMOINEN FINDS THE LOST WORDS
Wainamoinen had failed to find the three magic words in the Deathland,
and now he sat and pondered whither he should go next to seek them.
While he was thinking over this, a shepherd came to him and said: 'Thou
canst find a thousand words of wisdom on the tongue of the dead hero
Wipunen. I know the road that leads to his grave: first, thou must
journey a long distance over the points of needles, and then a long way
upon the edges of sharp swords, and then a third road on the edges of
hatchets.'
Then Wainamoinen considered how he should be able to walk over the
needles and swords and hatchets, and at last hit on a plan. He went to
the smith Ilmarinen and bade him make shoes of iron, and gloves of
copper, and a magic staff of the strongest metal, as he was going to
seek the lost words from the wise Wipunen. Ilmarinen made him the shoes
and gloves and staff, but said: ‘The wise magician Wipunen died long
ages ago, he surely cannot tell thee the magic words.’ Still Wainamoinen
was not disheartened, but began his journey. The first day he hurried
along over the points of needles, and all the second day over the sword
edges, and on the evening of the third day he had come across the edges
of the hatchets and reached the spot where Wipunen lay buried. From
Wipunen’s shoulders grew great aspens, on each temple grew a birch-tree,
on his mighty chin an alder, from his beard grew willows, from his mouth
a fir-tree, and an oak upon his forehead. Then Wainamoinen drew his
magic hatchet from its leather sheath, and cut down all the trees that
were growing over Wipunen. And then he took his magic staff and thrust
it between Wipunen’s teeth and prised open his mouth, and as he did so,
he sang a spell to bring Wipunen’s spirit back from the Deathland,
Tuonela. And when the spell was sung, Wipunen felt the pain of the staff
within his mouth, and bit it so hard that he cut clear through the iron
outside, but the centre was of steel, too hard even for Wipunen’s teeth.
So he opened his mouth wide in anguish, and as he did so Wainamoinen
slipped and fell headlong, armour and all, right down his throat. And
Wipunen said, as he swallowed him: ‘I have eaten sheep and reindeer,
bears and oxen, but I have never tasted a sweeter morsel than this.’ But
now Wainamoinen was sorely per-plexed to know what he should do. After
pondering over the matter, he took a dagger that he wore, and from the
wooden handle he built a boat by the aid of magic spells, and began to
row all through the old magician’s body, through every single vein and
vessel, but Wipunen scarcely felt it, and paid no attention to him. Then
Wainamoinen thought again, and taking off his armour he made it into a
forge with bellows and all complete, and used his knees for an anvil and
his arm for a hammer, and started to work. For three days he worked away
inside the magician’s body, until the bellows blew a perfect whirl-wind
and the anvilirang like thunder. At length old Wipunen could bear it no
longer and cried out : ‘What great magician art thou, for I have eaten
many men and heroes, but never such an one as thou: for the smoke is
pouring from my nostrils, and the fire streams from my mouth, and my
throat is full of iron clinkers. Go and leave me, wretched torturer! Why
hast thou come hither to hurt me? Art thou a trial sent by mighty Ukko,
for if so I will be resigned, but if thou art of some human race, I will
search out thy tribe and destroy it. Leave my body, cease thy forging,
let me rest in peace and slumber. Or if thou wilt not leave me, I will
call on all the great magicians of the past, the spirits of the
mountains and woods and seas and rivers, on Ilmatar, daughter of the
ether, to assist me. Or if these be not sufficient, I will call on
mighty Ukko to drive thee forth. If thou art from the winds, then return
to the copper mountains where they live; if from the sea, return to it;
if from the forests, then return to them, or I will drive thee to the
bottom of the coal-black river of Tuoni, whence thou shalt never move
again.'
'I am well contented here,' said Wainamoinen, 'in these roomy caverns. I
can eat thy heart and flesh and for drink I will take thy blood. And I
will set my forge still deeper in thy vitals, and will swing my hammer
still harder on thy heart and lungs and liver. I shall never leave thee
until I learn all thy wisdom, and the three lost words, that all thy
magic knowledge may not perish with thee from the earth.'
Then Wipunen began to sing all his knowledge and his magic spells for
Wainamoinen. He sang the origin of witchcraft, the source of good and
evil and how by the will of Ukko the water was first divided from the
ether. And next he sang of how the moon and sun were made, and whence
the colours of the rainbow came, and how the stars were sprinkled in the
sky. Three whole days and nights he sang, until the stars and the moon
stood still to listen, and the very waves of the sea and the tides
ceased to rise and fall, and the rivers stopped in their courses.
At length Wainamoinen had learned all the wisdom of the great magician,
and the three lost words, and he made ready to leave Wipunen's body,
bidding him open wide his mouth that he might get out and leave him for
ever.
'I have eaten many things, O Wainamoinen,' said Wipunen, 'bears and
reindeer, wolves and oxen, but never such a thing as thou. Now thou hast
found the wisdom that thou seekest, go in peace and never come back to
me.'
Then he opened his mouth wide, and Wainamoinen glided forth and hastened
swiftly as the deer to Kalevala. First he went into the smithy, and
Ilmarinen asked him if he had learned the lost words that would enable
him to finish his vessel. 'I have learned a thousand magic words,'
answered Wainamoinen, 'and among them are the lost words that I sought.'
Thereupon he hastened off to where his vessel lay, and with the three
lost words he joined the stem and stern and raised the bulwarks. Thus he
had built the vessel with magic alone, and by magic art he launched it
too, not touching it with foot or knee or hand, using only magic to push
it. Thus was the task completed which should gain for him the
Rainbow-maiden in her beauty.
* * * * *
'Oh! _do_ hurry and tell us about that,' said Mimi, and Father Mikko
continued.
[Illustration]
THE RIVAL SUITORS
Now the Rainbow-maiden was really the same as old Louhi's fairest
daughter, whom Wainamoinen had wooed, and for whom Ilmarinen had made
the magic Sampo, and Wainamoinen had learned this. So when the magic
boat was finished, he made ready for a journey to the Northland, to try
once more to win the fair Pohjola maiden for his bride.
He ornamented the magic vessel with gold and silver, and painted it
scarlet, and on the masts he set sails of linen, red, white, and blue.
Then he stepped on board, and called on Ukko to protect and help him,
and on the winds to aid him on his way, and off the magic boat flew
towards Pohjola, never needing an oar to help it.
Annikki, Ilmarinen's sister, was down by the seashore just at dawn that
morning, and as she gazed out over the sea, she saw a blue speck in the
distance. At first she thought it was a flock of birds, and then as it
drew nearer it looked like a great tree floating on the water, but at
last she saw that it was a vessel with but one man in it, and when it
came still nearer she recognised Wainamoinen.
She called out to him and asked him whither he was going. He replied
that he was come a-fishing, but Annikki said: 'Thy boat is not rigged
like a fisher-boat, nor hast thou lines or nets with thee. Tell me the
truth, O Wainamoinen!' And he answered the second time, that he had come
to kill wild geese and ducks. But Annikki told him that she knew that
was untrue, for he had no hunting dogs in the vessel with him, nor any
weapons. Then he told her that he was sailing to the wars. Annikki
replied: 'My father often used to sail to war, but in a ship with many
rowers, and with many armed heroes on board, but thy vessel is surely
not fitted for battle. Now tell me the truth, O wise Wainamoinen, or
else I will send a storm-wind after thee and break thy ship in pieces.'
Then he told her the truth, that he was going to woo the Rainbow-maiden,
Louhi's daughter, and then Annikki knew that he spoke the truth. She
hurried off to her brother's smithy and said to him: 'Dearest brother,
if thou wilt forge for me a silver loom and gold and silver finger-rings
and earrings, golden girdles and golden ornaments for my hair, I will
tell thee something that is very important for thee to know.'
So Ilmarinen promised, and his sister said: 'O Ilmarinen, if thou hopest
ever to wed the fair maid of Pohjola, thou must hasten and make thy
sledge ready, for Wainamoinen is now sailing thither in a magic boat to
win her before thee.' Then Ilmarinen bade his sister prepare a magic
soap and make a bath ready for him while he was forging the gold and
silver ornaments that she had bargained for.
When Ilmarinen had finished his work he found the bath and the magic
soap all ready for him, and he began to wash off the grime and dirt and
soot of the smithy. When he was through, and came out of the bath, he
had grown wonderfully bright and handsome, for the magic soap had made
his cheeks rosy and his eyes bright as moonlight. Then he put on his
finest garments, soft linen, and silken stockings, a blue vest and
scarlet trousers, and a fur coat of sealskin, held by buttons made of
jewels, and a belt with golden buckles. After he was dressed he ordered
his magic sledge to be harnessed, and on the front placed six cuckoos
and seven blue-birds that they might sing and charm the Northland
maiden.
When all was ready Ilmarinen prayed to great Ukko to send snow that it
might cover all the country and let his sledge glide easily to Pohjola.
And the snow came, and Ilmarinen wrapped himself up warmly in bear-skins,
and drove off like the wind, first invoking Ukko's blessing on his
journey. On he went, over hill and dale, with the cuckoos and blue-birds
singing on the sledge, and then he drove along the seashore to the north
in a cloud of snow and sand and mist and sea-foam, looking out for
Wainamoinen's vessel. On the evening of the third day he caught up with
Wainamoinen, and called out to him: 'O ancient Wainamoinen, let us woo
the maiden peacefully, and let her choose which one of us she will.' To
this Wainamoinen agreed; and having promised not to use deceit of any
sort against one another, they hurried on their way,--Wainamoinen
calling up the south wind to help him, and Ilmarinen's steed shaking the
hills of Northland as he galloped on.
Soon they drew near to Louhi's dwelling, and the watchdogs began to bark
more loudly than they had ever done before. Louhi's husband told his
daughter to go and see what the trouble was, but she replied that she
was busy grinding barley, and could not go. Then he told his wife to go,
but she was too busy cooking dinner. So the father grew angry, and
said: 'Women are always busy either baking or sleeping; go, my son, and
learn what all the trouble is.' But the son refused, because he was busy
splitting wood.
So at last Louhi's husband was obliged to go himself, for the dogs kept
barking louder and louder. There, as soon as he had reached the gate, he
saw a scarlet-coloured ship sailing into the bay, and a sledge driving
up along the shore at full speed. Then he hastened back into the house,
and told them all that he had seen. And Louhi took a branch and gave it
to her daughter, saying: 'Place this on the fire, my daughter, and if in
burning it drips blood, then these strangers bring war and bloodshed;
but if clear water, then they come in peace.'
So the maiden put the branch on the fire, and as they watched it they
saw honey trickling out, and from this Louhi knew that the two men were
coming as suitors. Then they hastened out into the courtyard, and saw
the vessel in the harbour, painted scarlet, and an ancient white-bearded
magician at the helm; and on the land they saw a brightly-coloured
sledge, with cuckoos and bluebirds singing on the front, and driven by a
young and handsome hero.
Louhi immediately recognised them both, and said to her daughter: 'Wilt
thou have one of these suitors, dearest daughter? He that comes in the
ship is good old Wainamoinen, bringing countless treasures for thee from
Kalevala. The other in the sledge, with the singing birds, is the
blacksmith Ilmarinen, who brings no presents save himself. When they
come into the house bring a pitcher of honey-drink, and give it to the
one that thou wilt follow. Give it to old Wainamoinen, for he brings
thee countless treasures.'
But the daughter replied: 'I will never marry a man for riches, but for
his real worth. Mothers did not use to sell their daughters thus in the
olden times to suitors whom they did not love. I shall choose Ilmarinen
for his true worth and wisdom.'
Old Louhi grew angry at this, and tried to change her daughter's mind,
but all she could say did not move her; and just then Wainamoinen came
to the house, and addressed the maiden thus: 'Come with me, O lovely
maiden, be my bride and honoured wife, and share my joys and sorrows
with me.'
The maiden answered: 'Hast thou built the magic vessel, using neither
hand nor foot to touch it?'
'I have built it, and brought it hither,' answered Wainamoinen. 'It is
finely made by magic, and will live in the worst of storms; nothing can
ever sink it.'
But then the maiden said to him: 'I will not wed a husband born in the
sea. Storms would bring us trouble, and the winds rack our hearts. I
cannot go with thee, cannot marry thee, O Wainamoinen.'
[Illustration]
ILMARINEN'S WOOING
Just as Wainamoinen had received his answer, Ilmarinen came hurrying
into the house and into the guest-room. There servants brought him
honey-drink in silver pitchers, but he said: 'I will never taste the
drink of Northland till I see the Rainbow-maiden. With her I will gladly
drink, for I have come hither to seek her hand.' Then Louhi said to him:
'The maiden is not ready to receive thee, and thou may not woo her
before thou hast ploughed the field of hissing serpents. Once the evil
spirit Lempo ploughed it, but it has never been done since.'
Ilmarinen wandered off sadly, but while he was pondering over what he
should do, he saw the lovely maid herself. He went up to her and said:
'Long ago I forged the Sampo for thee, and then thou promised to become
my wife. But now thy mother demands that I first plough the field of
serpents before I win thee.' But the maiden comforted him, and told him
how to plough the field with a plough of gold and silver and copper.
So Ilmarinen went off and built a smithy, and placed in the furnace gold
and silver and copper and iron. And from these he forged a plough, with
ploughshare of gold and beam of silver and copper handles; and for
himself he made boots and gloves and armour of iron; and as he worked he
sang magic spells to give his work power to overcome the serpents. Then
he harnessed to the plough the fire-breathing Hisi-horse, and went into
the field. There were serpents of every sort, creeping and crawling over
one another, and hissing horribly, but Ilmarinen cast a spell over them,
and ploughed the field, so that all the snakes were buried in the
furrows. And then he went to Louhi, and claimed her daughter's hand.