And she went upon her wanderings,
And there came a star to meet her,
And before the star she bowed her.
"Star, whom Jumala created,
Know you nothing of my infant,
Where my little son is hidden,
Where is hid my golden apple?" 380
And the star made answer to her:
"If I knew I would not tell it.
He it was who me created,
Made me, through these days of evil
In the cold to shine for ever,
And to glimmer through the darkness."
Then she thought to wander further,
And she went upon her wanderings,
And the moon came next to meet her,
And she bowed herself before him. 390
"Moon, whom Jumala created,
Know you nothing of my infant,
Where my little son is hidden,
Where is hid my golden apple?"
And the moon made answer to her:
"If I knew I would not tell it.
He it was who me created,
Always in these days of evil
Through the night to watch all lonely,
And to sleep throughout the daytime." 400
Then she thought to wander further,
And she went upon her wanderings,
And there came the sun to meet her,
And she bowed herself before him.
"Sun, whom Jumala created,
Know you nothing of my infant,
Where my little son is hidden,
Where is hid my golden apple?"
And the sun made answer wisely:
"Well indeed I know your infant. 410
He it was who me created,
In these days of finest weather,
Golden rays to shed about me,
Silver rays to scatter round me.
"Well indeed I know your infant,
Know your son, unhappy mother!
There thy little son is hidden,
There is hid thy golden apple,
In the swamps to waistband sunken,
To his arm-pits in the marshlands." 420
Marjatta the hapless maiden
Sought her infant in the marshes,
In the swamps her son discovered,
And she brought him home in triumph.
Then the son of our Marjatta
Grew into a youth most beauteous,
But they knew not what to call him,
Did not know what name to give him,
But his mother called him Floweret,
And the strangers called him Sluggard. 430
And they sought a man to cross him,
And to sprinkle him with water;
And an old man came to cross him,
Virokannas to baptize him.
Then these words the old man uttered,
And in words like these expressed him:
"With the cross I will not sign him,
Nor will I baptize the infant,
Not till he has been examined,
And a judgment passed upon him." 440
Who shall dare to come to try him,
Test him, and pass sentence on him?
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
He the great primeval sorcerer,
He alone came forth to try him,
And to test him and pass sentence.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Sentence gave in words that follow:
"As the boy from marsh has risen,
From the ground, and from a berry, 450
On the ground they now shall lay him,
Where the hills are thick with berries,
Or shall to the swamps conduct him,
On the trees his head to shatter."
Then the half-month old spoke loudly,
And the fortnight-old cried loudly:
"O thou old and wretched creature,
Wretched old man, void of insight,
O how stupid is your judgment,
How contemptible thy sentence! 460
Thou hast grievous crimes committed,
Likewise deeds of greatest folly,
Yet to swamps they did not lead thee,
Shattered not thy head on tree-trunks,
When thyself, in youthful folly,
Gave the child of thine own mother,
That thou thus mightst 'scape destruction,
And release thyself in thiswise.
"And again thou wast not carried,
And abandoned in the marshes, 470
When thyself in youthful folly,
Caused the young maids to be sunken,
In the depths beneath the billows,
To the black ooze at the bottom."
Then the old man quickly crossed him,
Quick baptized the child with water,
As the king of all Carelia,
And the lord of all the mighty.
Then was Väinämöinen angry,
Greatly shamed and greatly angry, 480
And prepared himself to journey
From the lake's extended margin,
And began his songs of magic,
For the last time sang them loudly,
Sang himself a boat of copper,
With a copper deck provided.
In the stern himself he seated,
Sailing o'er the sparkling billows,
Still he sang on his departure,
And he sang as he was sailing: 490
"May the time pass quickly o'er us,
One day passes, comes another,
And again shall I be needed.
Men will look for me, and miss me,
To construct another Sampo,
And another harp to make me,
Make another moon for gleaming,
And another sun for shining.
When the sun and moon are absent,
In the air no joy remaineth." 500
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Went upon his journey singing,
Sailing in his boat of copper,
In his vessel made of copper,
Sailed away to loftier regions,
To the land beneath the heavens.
There he rested with his vessel,
Rested weary, with his vessel,
But his kantele he left us,
Left his charming harp in Suomi, 510
For his people's lasting pleasure,
Mighty songs for Suomi's children.
* * * * *
Now my mouth must cease from speaking,
And my tongue be bound securely,
Cease the chanting of my verses,
And my lively songs abandon.
Even thus must horses rest them,
When a long course is completed,
Even iron must be wearied
When the grass is mown in summer, 520
And the water-drops be weary,
As they trace the river's windings,
And the fire must be extinguished
When throughout the night 'tis burning.
Wherefore should our songs not falter;
As our sweet songs we are singing,
For the lengthy evenings' pleasure,
Singing later than the sunset?
Thus I heard the people talking,
And again it was repeated: 530
"E'en the waterfall when flowing
Yields no endless stream of water,
Nor does an accomplished singer,
Sing till all his knowledge fail him.
Better 'tis to sit in silence
Than to break off in the middle."
Now my song remains completed,
'Tis completed and abandoned.
In a ball I wind my lays up,
As a ball I cast them from me, 540
On the storehouse floor I lay them,
With a lock of bone secure them,
That from thence escape they never,
Nor in time may be untwisted,
Not unless the lock be opened,
And its jaws should be extended,
Not unless the teeth be opened,
And the tongue again is moving.
What would now avail my singing,
If the songs I sang were bad ones, 550
If I sang in every valley,
And I sang in every firwood?
For my mother lives no longer,
Wakes no more my own old mother,
Nor my golden one can hear me,
Nought can learn my dear old mother,
None would hear me but the fir-trees,
Learn, save branches of the pine-trees,
Or the tender leaves of birch-trees,
Or the charming mountain ash-tree. 560
I was small when died my mother,
Weak was I without my mother;
On the stones like lark she left me,
On the rocks like thrush she left me,
Left me like a lark to sing there,
Or to sing as sings the throstle,
In the wardship of a stranger,
At the will of a step-mother,
And she drove me forth, unhappy,
Forth she drove the unloved infant, 570
To a wind-swept home she drove me,
To the north-wind's home she drove me
That against the wind defenceless,
Winds might sweep away the orphan.
Like a lark away I wandered,
Like a hapless bird I wandered
Shelterless about the country;
Wearily I wandered onward,
Till with every wind acquainted,
I their roaring comprehended; 580
In the frost I learned to shudder,
And I learned to cry with freezing.
Even now do many people,
Many people I encounter,
Speak to me in angry accents,
Rudest speeches hurl against me,
Curses on my tongue they shower,
And about my voice cry loudly,
Likewise they abuse my grumbling
And they call my songs too lengthy, 590
And they say I sing too badly,
And my song's accented wrongly.
May you not, O friendly people,
As a wondrous thing regard it
That I sang so much in childhood,
And when small, I sang so badly.
I received no store of learning,
Never travelled to the learned.
Foreign words were never taught me,
Neither songs from distant countries. 600
Others have had all instruction,
From my home I journeyed never,
Always did I help my mother,
And I dwelt for ever near her,
In the house received instruction,
'Neath the rafters of my storehouse,
By the spindle of my mother,
By my brother's heap of shavings,
In my very earliest childhood,
In a shirt that hung in tatters. 610
But let this be as it may be,
I have shown the way to singers,
Showed the way, and broke the tree-tops,
Cut the branches, shown the pathways.
This way therefore leads the pathway,
Here the path lies newly opened,
Widely open for the singers,
And for greater ballad singers,
For the young, who now are growing,
For the rising generation. 620
NOTES TO RUNOS XXVI-L
(These are by the translator, when not otherwise stated. K. K. indicates
Prof. Kaarle Krohn, and A. M. Madame Aino Malmberg. For proper names,
refer to the Glossary at page 281.)
RUNO XXVI
129. Literally, "his teeth."
230. In the _Völuspá_, we read of a Hall of Serpents in Naströnd, one of
the Icelandic hells, composed of serpents wattled together, with their
heads turned inwards, vomiting floods of venom in which wade murderers,
perjurers, and adulterers.
271. Literally, "the toads."
"Seven monarchs' wealth in that castle lies stowed;
The foul fiends brood o'er them like raven and toad." (Scott.)
A diabolical creature, half dragon and half frog, is described in a
well-known Esthonian story.
427. _Tetrao tetrix_, known as the Black-cock and Grey-hen.
555. Virsta, a Russian word naturalized in Finnish.
617. This description recalls the serpents of Indian mythology, such as
those described in the first book of the _Mahabharata_.
619. Such a passage might have suggested to Longfellow the following:
"Bigger than the Big-Sea-Water,
Broader than the Gitche Gumee."
_Hiawatha_, xxi.
RUNO XXVII
208. Here commences a magical contest somewhat resembling the
transformation scenes in the stories of the Second Calendar, and of
Nooreddin and Bedreddin, in the _1001 Nights_.
326. "I don't want to have a mess made upon my floor here, or any noise
or shooting." (Tanta Coetzee, in Rider Haggard's _Jess_.)
RUNO XXVIII.
15, 16. His horse and sledge seem to have been transformed, like those
of Joukahainen in Runo III.
195. In Finnish and Esthonian tales we often find persons transformed
into trees and flowers; sometimes for purposes of concealment.
RUNO XXIX
242. "Grass-widows" are probably intended.
253-268. Even this old woman did not appeal to him in vain. We might
compare with this passage Byron's _Don Juan_, VIII., cxxxi., cxxxii.
RUNO XXX
175, 187. Literally, "nails."
185. Pakkanen, Puhurin poika. Frost, the son of the North Wind.
389. The unmanly lamentations of the heroes over a fate that has not
befallen them may remind us of Grimm's story of "Die kluge Else." It
will also be noticed that the heroes are only concerned about their
mothers; and Tiera has as little thought for his virgin bride as
Lemminkainen has for Kyllikki.
RUNO XXXI
1. The tragedy of Kullervo is the favourite episode of the _Kalevala_ in
Finland, next to that of Aino. The preamble (lines 1-10) is the same as
the opening of the Esthonian _Kalevipoeg_. The story of the Esthonian
hero, though he was a king and not a slave, resembles that of Kullervo
in so many respects that he must have been the same character
originally.
19. I think the change of style, indicative of different authorship, in
this episode is sufficiently obvious even in a translation. Many words
used here do not occur earlier in the poem.
91-96. The same story is told of the infant Kalevipoeg.
107. Esthonians call dwarfs "Ox-knee people"; _i. e._ people as high as
an ox's knee.
137. Like Simple Simon.
337. It is obvious that some of the youthful exploits of Kwasind
(slightly varied, after Longfellow's manner) are imitated from those of
Kullervo. (Compare also Runo XXXV., 11-68.)
RUNO XXXII
24. The rye-bread, on which the Finnish peasants largely subsist, is
described as baked in very hard round loaves, like quoits, which are
strung on a pole. But Kullervo's cake seems to have been prepared to
look nice on the outside.
156-162. Does this refer to stories of witches milking cattle?
206. Of juniper wood.
498. Literally, an apple-berry. Probably a small crab-apple is intended.
513. I think wolves are here intended, not dogs.
533. In the Esthonian story of the Northern Frog, the monster is secured
by an iron stake driven through the jaws. (Kirby's _Hero of Esthonia_,
II., 253, 256.)
542. These elaborate and ineffectual prayers and incantations may be
compared with the prayers of Achilles for the safety of Patroclus, in
_Iliad_, XVI.
RUNO XXXIII
40. Wheat is used in the folk-songs as a term of endearment. (K. K.)
61, 62. The Esthonian Kalevipoeg was constantly instructed by the voice
of birds.
285-290. In Esthonia this episode occurs in the story of the Royal
Herdboy. (_Hero of Esthonia_, I., pp. 279-305.)
RUNO XXXV
2. Are blue stockings supposed to be an emblem of strength? Ukko is also
represented as wearing them.
29. "All with incredible stupendous force,
None daring to appear antagonist." (Milton.)
65. As Kalervo appears to have been a chief in his own right, it not
very clear why, or to whom, he had to pay taxes.
107, 108. The lake of course was frozen.
153. As in several other instances in the _Kalevala_, this does not
appear to be abduction in the modern sense, but merely marriage by
capture.
214. There is another celebrated poem written by a Finn, but in Swedish,
Runeberg's _Kong_ (King) _Fjalar_, in which a similar chance meeting
between a brother and sister forms the principal subject.
343. Sea-beasts are very rarely mentioned in the _Kalevala_, for nearly
all aquatic animals referred to are lake- or river-fish. Here the
allusion is probably to the story of Jonah.
RUNO XXXVI
80. Literally "the rest of his flesh." Having regard to the supposed
powers of Finnish magicians, this passage is not to be taken merely as
an impudent rejoinder, but as asserting powers which Kullervo actually
claimed to be able to exert.
307. In an old English romance we read concerning the suicide of a
sorcerer, "The ground whereon he died was ever afterwards unfortunate,
and to this present time it is called in that country, 'a vale of
walking spirits.'" (_Seven Champions of Christendom_, Part I., chap.
xix.)
327. This reminds us of Sir Peter's "Sword of Vengeance." (Prior's
_Danish Ballads_, I., pp. 269-275.)
341. The Esthonian Kalevipoeg was also slain, like Kullervo, by his own
sword. (_Hero of Esthonia_, I., pp. 140, 141.)
RUNO XXXVII
56. Literally, their hatless shoulders.
61. Compare the account of the forging of the Sampo in Runo X.
RUNO XXXVIII
94. This might allude to the Viking practice of carving the Blood-Eagle
on the backs of enemies; but Prof. Krohn remarks that this was unknown
in Finland.
255. Here it seems that the mere fact of Ilmarinen having carried off
the girl, even against her will, was enough to constitute her his lawful
wife.
273. Ilmarinen's sword was less bloodthirsty than that of Kullervo; but
it will be noticed that there is as little real chivalry in the
_Kalevala_ generally as in old Scandinavian literature.
RUNO XL
274. Literally, "at the tips of my ten nails."
RUNO XLI
238. Similar incidents are common in folktales. The reader will
recollect the decoration of Mama, the Woodpecker. (_Hiawatha_, IX.)
RUNO XLII
1-3. Here again we notice a difference of expression, indicating a
different authorship.
52. "Mistress of the mighty spell." (Southey.)
146. Compare Runo XX., lines 17-118.
295. Literally, his finger-bones.
403. Perhaps the cap had ear-flaps to be worn in bad weather.
RUNO XLIII
37, 38. This seems to be meant ironically.
115-120. This, or something similar, is a common device for impeding a
pursuer in European fairy tales.
177. Pohjan eukko. Another epithet for Louhi.
383, 384. The Sampo being not only an unfailing corn, salt, and
money-mill, but a palladium of general prosperity, Pohjola would
naturally fall into famine and misery when nothing remained but an
almost worthless fragment of the cover. It is possible that the story
may refer to some great and permanent change for the worse of the
climate of the North; either during the storms and earthquakes of the
fourteenth century, which would connect it with the plague described in
Runo XLV.; or perhaps to a much earlier period, when, as old Persian
books tell us, the climate of some part of Asia (?) was changed from
nine months summer and three months winter, to nine months winter and
three months summer.
RUNO XLV
41. Loviatar represents the evil and destructive powers of Nature, as
opposed to the beneficent powers, represented in the _Kalevala_ under
the twin aspects of Ilmatar and Marjatta.
117. This speech or invocation is not addressed to Loviatar, but
apparently to some goddess similar to the Roman Lucina.
168. Dr. Russell says that the itch was more dreaded than the plague in
Aleppo in the eighteenth century.
181. Pestilence has often been attributed to the anger of gods or
demons; and Finland suffered severely from plague till well into the
eighteenth century. But I am inclined to regard the plague described
here as the Black Death, which must have ravaged Finland about 1350.
269, 282, 283. All these names have nearly the same significance, and
might be rendered by "Dolores, our Lady of Pain."
RUNO XLVI
13, 14. The pestilence having abated at the approach of winter, the wild
beasts naturally overran the devastated country. So I would interpret
this passage.
25. Literally, three feathers, but the commentary gives the meaning
adopted above.
81. For an account of bear-hunting in Finland, compare Acerbi's _Voyage
to the North Cape_, I., pp. 288, 289.
168. Tapio is the lord of the forest here alluded to, according to the
commentary.
246. The word here rendered "charge" literally means "bundle" or
"package."
313. Probably the Danish Sound.
377. A honeyed forest perhaps means a forest abounding in honey-dew.
565, 566. These lines are rather musical:
Kuuluvilla karjan kellon,
Luona tiukujen tirinän.
RUNO XLVII
15, 16. There is a Finnish ballad relating how the sun and moon were
stolen by German and Esthonian sorcerers, and recovered by the son of
Jumala. (_Kanteletar_, III., 2; translated by Mr. C. J. Billson,
_Folklore_, VI., 343, 344.)
37. Compare the story of Maui stealing the fire in New Zealand legends.
128. Lake Ladoga seems to be intended.
233. Does this refer to tides? Tides can hardly be known in Finland,
except by hearsay; the Baltic itself is almost tideless.
RUNO XLVIII
137, 138. Neptune's trident?
169. Here a different epithet is applied to Väinämöinen.
283. Probably _Polyporus igniarius_ or _P. fomentarius_, both of which
are much used for tinder.
302. He appears to have thought that Panu was in league with the Fire.
RUNO XLIX
83. This is Rhabdomancy, or divination by rods.
417. Literally, at the end of our thumbs.
RUNO L
1. Marjatta korea kuopus.
Literally, Marjatta the elegant darling; an expression occurring nowhere
else in the _Kalevala_. The story in the present Runo seems to exhibit a
veneer of Christianity over Shaman legends. Even the name Marjatta,
notwithstanding its resemblance to Maria, seems to be really derived
from the word marja, a berry. An old writer says that the favourite
deities of the Finns in his time were Väinämöinen and the Virgin Mary.
188. That is, a criminal who deserves to be burnt at the stake.
199, 200. She already recognizes her unborn son as an Avatar.
289. The word here rendered "hapless" properly means "little."
465. This is the only passage in the _Kalevala_ in which Väinämöinen is
spoken of as ever having been young; though he is occasionally called
young in variants.
465-468. This passage apparently alludes to Väinämöinen having sent
Ilmarinen to Pohjola by a trick.
471-474. This must allude either to the fate of Aino, or to some story
not included in the _Kalevala_.
501. In Esthonian legends, Vanemuine is not an Avatar and culture-hero,
but the God of Music, who withdrew from men on account of the ribaldry
with which some of his hearers received his divine songs. (_Hero of
Esthonia_, II., pp. 80-85.) Longfellow also makes Hiawatha depart in a
boat after the conclusion of his mission.
613, 614. These expressions remind us of the Buddha "breaking down the
rafters and the roof-tree" preparatory to reaching Nirvano.
GLOSSARY OF FINNISH NAMES
(The dotted vowels are included with the others.)
AHAVA, _the cold spring East Wind_.
AHTI, _a name of Lemminkainen_.
AHTO, _the God of the Sea and of the Waters_.
AHTOLA, _the dominions of Ahto_.
ÄIJÖ, _the father of Iku-Turso_.
AINIKKI, _Lemminkainen's sister_.
AINO, _a Lapp maiden, Joukahainen's sister_.
ALUE, _name of a lake_.
ANNIKKI, _Ilmarinen's sister_.
ANTERO VIPUNEN, _a primeval giant or Titan, whom some commentators
suppose to be the same as Kaleva_.
ETELÄTÄR, _the goddess of the South Wind_.
HÄLLÄPJÖRÄ, _name of a waterfall_.
HÄME, _Tavastland_.
HERMIKKI (SINEWY), _name of a cow_.
HIISI, _the same as Lempo, the Evil Power, somewhat resembling the
Scandinavian Loki in character. His name is often used as a term of
reprobation_.
HIITOLA, _the dominions of Hiisi_.
HONGATAR, _the goddess of the Fir-trees_.
HORNA (HELL), _name of a mountain_.
IKU-TURSO, _a water-giant; the name is doubtless connected with the
Icelandic word Thurs, which means a giant, and which is also the name
of the letter þ, called þa in Old English_.
ILMA (AIR), _name of Ilmarinen's homestead_.
ILMARI, }
} _the primeval smith; still used as a proper name in
ILMARINEN, } Finland_.
ILMATAR, _the Daughter of the Air; the Creatrix of the world, and the
mother of Väinämöinen_.
ILPOTAR, _a name of Louhi_.
IMATRA, _the great falls or rapids in the river Vuoksi_.
INGERLAND, _usually known as Ingermanland_.
JOUKAHAINEN, }
} _a young Laplander_.
JOUKO, }
JOUKOLA, _the land of Joukahainen_.
JUMALA, OR UKKO, _God_.
JUOTIKKI (DRINKER), _name of a cow_.
JUUTAS, _a name probably derived from Judas. It is used as a name for
Hiisi, and also as a term of reprobation_.
KAATRAKOSKI, _name of a waterfall_.
KALERVO, _a chieftain, the brother of Untamo, and the father of
Kullervo_.
KALERVOINEN, _epithet of Kullervo_.
KALEVA, _the ancestor of the heroes, who does not appear in person in
the Kalevala_.
KALEVALA, _the land of Kaleva_.
KALEVALAINEN, _a descendant of Kaleva_.
KALEVATAR, OR OSMOTAR, _the daughter of Kaleva_.
KALMA, _Death personified; he is more often called Tuoni or Mana_.
KAMMO, _a rock, the father of Kimmo_.
KANKAHATAR, _the goddess of Weaving_.
KANTELE, _the Finnish harp or zither_.
KANTELETAR, _the Daughter of the Harp; name given by Lönnrot to his
published collection of Finnish ballads_.
KARJALA, _Carelia_.
KATAJATAR, _the nymph of the Juniper_.
KAUKO, }
}
KAUKOLAINEN, } _Names of Lemminkainen_.
}
KAUKOMIELI, }
KAUPPI, _a Laplander, skilled in making snowshoes_.
KEITOLAINEN, _the Contemptible One, one of the names of the Evil Power_.
KEMI, _name of a river_.
KIMMO, (1) _a stone_; (2) _name of a cow_.
KIPUTYTTÖ, _Maiden of Pain_.
KIRJO (_variegated, or dappled_), _name of a cow_.
KIVUTAR, _Daughter of Pain_.
KUIPPANA, _a name of Tapio_.
KULLERVO, }
} _a hero, the son of Kalervo_.
KULLERVOINEN, }
KUURA, _a name of Tiera_.
KUUTAR, _the Daughter of the Moon_.
KYLLI, }
} _a maiden of Saari, whom Lemminkainen carries off and
KYLLIKKI, } marries_.
LEMMINKAINEN, _a reckless adventurer_.
LEMPI (LOVE), _the father of Lemminkainen_.
LEMPO, or HIISI, _the Evil Power_.
LOKKA, _the mother of Ilmarinen_.
LOUHI, _the Mistress of Pohjola_.
LOVIATAR, _one of the daughters of Tuoni, and the mother of the
Plagues_.
LUONNOTAR, _Daughter of Creation, a name applied to Ilmatar, and other
celestial goddesses_.
LUOTOLA, _name of a bay_.
LYYLIKKI, _a name of Kauppi_.
MAIRIKKI, _name of a cow_.
MANA, or TUONI, _the God of Hades_.
MANALA, or TUONELA, _Hades_.
MANALAINEN = _Mana_.
MANALATAR, _Daughter of Mana_.
MANSIKKA (STRAWBERRY), _name of a cow_.
MARJATTA, _the mother of Väinämöinen's supplanter. She is usually
identified with the Virgin Mary_.
MÄRKÄHATTU (WET-HAT), _name or epithet of a cow-herd who has been
exposed to the rain_.
MELATAR, _the goddess of the Rudder_.
METSOLA, _the Woodlands, from metsa, a forest_.
MIELIKKI, _the Mistress of the Forests, the spouse of Tapio_.
MIMERKKI, _a name of Mielikki_.
MUSTI (BLACKIE), _a dog's name_.
MUURIKKI (BLACKIE), _name of a cow_.
NYYRIKKI, _the son of Tapio_.
OSMO, _a name of Kaleva_.
OSMOLA = _Kalevala_.
OSMOINEN, _an epithet of Väinämöinen_.
OSMOTAR, _the daughter of Osmo_.
OTAVA, _the constellation of the Great Bear_.