the national epic of the finns was rescued from oblivion by topelius and l?nnrot, two physicians, who took it down from the mouth of the people and published it in the first half of the nineteenth century. it consists in 22,793 lines, divided into fifty runes, and is considered by a great german authority—steinthal—as one of the four great national epics of the world.

not only does it relate "the ever-varying contests between finns and laplanders," but that between light and darkness, good and evil, for in the poem the finns personify light and good, while the lapps are emblems of darkness and evil. the sampo, which is mentioned in this poem, and which seems to have been some sort of a magic grist-mill, holds the same place in finn mythology as the golden fleece in that of the greeks. many of the poems incorporated in this epic date back some three thousand years, and the epic itself is composed in alliterative verse, although it also contains rhythm of line and sound, as the following introductory lines prove.

mastered by desire impulsive,

by a mighty inward urging,

i am ready now for singing,

ready to begin the chanting

of our nation's ancient folk-song

handed down from by-gone ages,

in my mouth the words are melting,

from my lips the tones are gliding,

from my tongue they wish to hasten;

when my willing teeth are parted,

when my ready mouth is opened,

songs of ancient wit and wisdom

hasten from me not unwilling.[36]

the proem then invites all people to listen to legends of by-gone times and to the teachings of the wizard wainamoinen, to admire the works of ilmarinen and the doings of youkahainen in the pastures of the northland and in the meads of kalevala. it adds that these runes were caught from the winds, the waves, and the forest branches, and have been preserved in the northland ever since.

rune i. in the first rune we are informed that ilmater, daughter of the air, weary of floating alone in space, finally descended to the ocean, where she was rocked in the cradle of the deep seven hundred, years. she made use of this time to create, out of the eggs of a wild duck, the canopy of the heavens, and the spherical earth, with its islands, rocks, and continents. at the end of these seven hundred years, ilmater gave birth to wainamoinen, having waited all this time to be delivered of him, and having vainly called all living creatures to her aid. after coming into the world, this wonderful child floated about on the ocean eight years, and then drew himself up on a barren promontory to admire the sun, moon, and starry skies.

rune ii. after living alone for some time on this promontory or island, wainamoinen summoned pellerwoinen, "first-born of the plains and prairies," and bade him scatter broadcast seeds for the trees which were destined to clothe both vales and hillsides. in a twinkling of an eye, every variety of forest growth waved its branches hither and thither, and, although wainamoinen rejoiced to see the forest, he soon discovered that the oak, the "tree of heaven," was lacking in it. because the oak still slept within an acorn, wainamoinen wondered how to conjure it out of its hiding-place, and, after consulting five water-maidens, called the giant tursus out of the depths of the ocean. after burning the hay the water-maidens raked together, this giant planted in the ashes an acorn, which quickly sprouted, and whence arose a tree of such mighty proportions that its branches hid the rays of the sun and blotted out the starlight.

terrified by what he had done, wainamoinen wondered how to get rid of the oak, and implored his mother to send some one to help him. immediately there rose from the sea a pygmy, armed in copper, whom wainamoinen deemed incapable of coping with so large a tree, until the dwarf suddenly transformed himself into a giant of such proportions that four blows from his copper axe felled the oak, scattering its trunk to the east, its top to the west, its leaves to the south, and its branches to the north. the chips from the fallen oak were collected by a northland maiden to make enchanted arrows for a magician, and the soil it overshadowed immediately began to bear vegetation of sundry kinds.

gazing at this new growth wainamoinen discovered every kind of seed sprouting there save barley. soon after he found seven grains of this cereal on the sea-shore and consulted the birds how best to plant them. they advised him to fell the forests, burn the branches, and plant the barley in the land thus cleared. while obeying these directions in the main, wainamoinen allowed the birch to stand, declaring there must be some place where the cuckoo and the eagle could build their nests. these two birds, greatly pleased by this attention, watched wainamoinen as he sowed his seed, and heard him chant a prayer to ukko, father of heaven, to send down rain to help it germinate. this prayer was answered to such, good purpose that eight days later wainamoinen found a crop of barley ready to harvest, and heard the cuckoo's notes as it perched in the birch trees.

"therefore i have left the birch-tree,

left the birch-tree only growing,

home for thee for joyful singing.

call thou here, o sweet-voiced cuckoo,

sing thou here from throat of velvet,

sing thou here with voice of silver,

sing the cuckoo's golden flute-notes;

call at morning, call at evening,

call within the hour of noontide,

for the better growth of forests,

for the ripening of the barley,

for the richness of the northland,

for the joy of kalevala."

rune iii. in the beautiful land of the heroes—kalevala—wainamoinen sang songs so wonderful that their fame spread northward to the land of the lapps, and prompted youkahainen to journey southward and challenge the "ancient minstrel" to a singing contest. in vain youkahainen's parents strove to dissuade him from this undertaking; the bold youth harnessed his sledge and drove rapidly southward, colliding with wainamoinen, who was also out in his sledge that day. although wainamoinen was modest, his opponent was boastful and boldly proposed they show their skill by singing. invited to sing first, wainamoinen chanted a set of commonplace axioms; but when youkahainen imitated him, the ancient minstrel challenged his guest to sing of creation or philosophy. although youkahainen now claimed he and seven other primeval heroes saw how the earth was fashioned, how the sky was arched, and how the silvery moon and golden sun were set in position, wainamoinen termed him prince of liars and averred he was not present at the creation as he claimed. this contradiction so enraged youkahainen that he offered to fight, but, instead of accepting this challenge, wainamoinen sang a magic song of such power that it resolved youkahainen's sled and harness to their primitive components, and caused him to sink ever deeper into quicksands which finally rose to his very lips. realizing his desperate plight, youkahainen implored wainamoinen to cease his enchantments, offering as a ransom for his life all manner of magic gifts which wainamoinen scorned. in fact, it was only when the culprit promised him the hand of his sister aino that the ancient minstrel reversed his spell, and not only released youkahainen, but restored to him all his possessions.

the defeated bard now returns to lapland, and on arriving there smashes his sledge in token of anger. his parents wonderingly question him, and, on learning he has promised his sister's hand in marriage to the magician wainamoinen, they are delighted that she should marry so influential a man, although the maiden herself mourns because all pleasures are to be taken from her forever.

rune iv. while out in the forest gathering birch shoots for brooms, this maiden soon after is seen by wainamoinen, who bids her adorn herself for her wedding, whereupon she petulantly casts off the ornaments she wears and returns home weeping without them. when her parents inquire what this means, aino insists she will not marry the old magician, until her mother bribes her by the offer of some wonderful treasures, bestowed by the daughter of the sun and moon, and which until now have been hidden in the depths of the earth.

although decked in these magnificent adornments, the girl wanders around the fields, wishing she were dead, for marriage has no attractions for her and she is not anxious to become an old man's bride. stealing down to the sea-shore, she finally lays aside her garments and ornaments and swims to a neighboring rock, where she no sooner perches than it topples over, and she sinks to the bottom of the sea! there aino perishes, and the water is formed of her blood, the fish from her flesh, the willows from her ribs, and the sea-grass from her hair! then all nature wonders how the news of her drowning shall be conveyed to her parents, and when the bear, wolf, and fox refuse to transmit so sad a message, the sea-maidens depute the hare, threatening to roast him unless he does their bidding.

learning her daughter has perished thus miserably, the mother of aino recognizes that parents should not compel daughters to marry against their will.

"listen, all ye mothers, listen,

learn from me a tale of wisdom:

never urge unwilling daughters

from the dwellings of their fathers,

to the bridegrooms that they love not,

not as i, inhuman mother,

drove away my lovely aino,

fairest daughter of the northland."

her sorrow is such that three streams of tears flow from her eyes and, increasing as they flow, form cataracts, between which rise three pinnacles of rock, whereon grow birches, upon which cuckoos forever chant of "love, suitors, and consolation!"

rune v. the news of aino's death travels swiftly southward, and wainamoinen, hearing that his bride has perished, is plunged in grief. when he seeks consolation from the water-maidens they bid him go out fishing. after angling for many a day, he finally secures a salmon, larger and more beautiful than any fish ever seen before. he is opening his knife to cut the salmon open, when it suddenly springs back into the deep, saying it was aino who had come to join him but who now escapes in punishment for his cruelty. not discouraged by this first failure, wainamoinen fishes on, until the spirit of his mother bids him travel northward and seek a suitable wife among the lapps.

"take for thee a life companion

from the honest homes of suomi,

one of northland's honest daughters;

she will charm thee with her sweetness,

make thee happy through her goodness,

form perfection, manners easy,

every step and movement graceful,

full of wit and good behavior,

honor to thy home and kindred."

rune vi. preparing for a journey northward, wainamoinen bestrides his magic steed, and galloping over the plains of kalevala crosses the blue sea as if it were land. the bard youkahainen, foreseeing his coming, lies in wait for him and prepares arrows to shoot him, although his mother warns him not to attempt anything of the kind. it is the third poisoned arrow from youkahainen's bow which strikes wainamoinen's horse, which immediately sinks to the bottom of the sea, leaving its rider to struggle in the water some eight years. meantime youkahainen exults because his foe is dead, although his mother insists her son has merely brought woe upon the earth.

rune vii. instead of treading the waves, wainamoinen swims about until an eagle—grateful because he left birch-trees for birds to perch upon—swoops down, invites him to climb upon its back, and swiftly bears him to the dismal northland sariola. there wainamoinen is discovered by the maid of beauty, who sends her mother, toothless louhi, to invite him into the house, where she bountifully feeds him. next louhi promises to supply wainamoinen with a steed to return home and to give him her daughter in marriage, provided he will forge for her the sampo, or magic grist-mill. although wainamoinen cannot do this, he promises that his brother, the blacksmith ilmarinen, shall forge it for her, and thus secures the promise of the hand of the maid of beauty. this bargain made, wainamoinen drives away in a sledge provided by his hostess, who cautions him not to look up as he travels along, lest misfortune befall him.

rune viii. instead of obeying these injunctions, wainamoinen gazes upward on his way home, and thus discovers the maid of beauty, or maiden of the rainbow, weaving "a gold and silver air-gown." when he invites her to come with him, she pertly rejoins the birds have informed her a married woman's life is unenviable, for wives "are like dogs enchained in kennel." when wainamoinen insists wives are queens, and begs her to listen to his wooing, she retorts when he has split a golden hair with an edgeless knife, has snared a bird's egg with an invisible snare, has peeled a sandstone, and made a whipstock from ice without leaving any shavings, she may consider his proposal.

these impossible tasks are quickly accomplished by the wizard, but, while filling the rainbow maiden's last order to fashion a ship out of her broken spindle—wainamoinen accidentally cuts his knee so badly that the blood flows so fast no charm can stop it. in vain different remedies are tried, in vain wainamoinen seeks help at sundry houses the blood continues to pour out of his wound until it looks as if he would die.

rune ix. wainamoinen finally enters a cottage where two girls dip up some of his blood, and where an old man informs him he can be healed if he will only "sing the origin of iron." thereupon wainamoinen chants that ukko, creator of heaven, having cut air and water asunder, created three lovely maidens, whose milk, scattered over the earth, supplied iron of three different hues. he adds that fire then caught iron, and carried it off to its furnace, where ilmarinen discovered a way to harden it into steel by means of venom brought to him by the bird of hades.

this song finished, the old man checks the flow of blood, and sends his daughters to collect various herbs, out of which he manufactures a magic balsam which cures the cut immediately.

rune x and xi. wainamoinen now hastens back to kalevala and interviews his brother ilmarinen, who refuses to journey northward or to forge the magic sampo. to induce the smith to do his will, wainamoinen persuades him to climb a lofty fir-tree, on whose branches he claims to have hung the moon and the great bear. while ilmarinen is up in this tree, the wizard wainamoinen causes a violent storm to blow his brother off to the northland, where, welcomed by louhi, ilmarinen sets up his forge, and after four days' arduous work produces the magic sampo.

"i will forge for thee the sampo,

hammer thee the lid in colors,

from the tips of white-swan feathers,

from the milk of greatest virtue,

from a single grain of barley,

from the finest wool of lambkins,

since i forged the arch of heaven,

forged the air a concave cover,

ere the earth had a beginning."

the sorceress is so pleased with the sampo—by means of which she daily grinds out treasure untold—that, after hiding it away safely in a mountain, she authorizes ilmarinen to woo the maid of beauty, who assures him also she never will marry. saddened by this refusal, ilmarinen longs for home, whither he is wafted in louhi's magic boat of copper.

meanwhile wainamoinen has been building a magic boat in which to sail northward. he is aided in this work by lemminkainen, who, seeing the maid of beauty, boldly kidnaps her. but the maiden consents to be his spouse only if he will promise never to fight, a pledge he readily gives in exchange for hers to forego all village dances. these vows duly exchanged, the young couple are united, and all goes well as long as both scrupulously keep their promise.

rune xii. the time comes, however, when lemminkainen goes fishing, and during his absence his wife secretly attends a village dance. when the husband returns, his sister informs him his bride has broken her promise, whereupon lemminkainen vows it is time he too should break his, and, harnessing his sleigh, starts off for lapland to fight. on arriving there he enters sundry houses, and finally meets in one of them a minstrel, whose song he roughly criticises. then, seizing the man's harp, lemminkainen chants all sorts of spells, until all present are under their influence save a blind shepherd, whom lemminkainen allows to go, and who hastens down to the river of death, declaring he will there await the singer's arrival.

runes xiii and xiv. lemminkainen now asks louhi for her second daughter, whom she refuses to give him, declaring that after deserting her first daughter he can obtain her second only by catching the wild moose ranging in the fields of hisi (death), by bridling his fire-breathing steed, and by killing with his first arrow the great swan swimming on the river of death. the first two tasks, although bristling with difficulties, are safely accomplished by lemminkainen, but when he reaches the river of death, the blind shepherd—who is lying there in wait for him ruthlessly slays him, chops his body into pieces, and casts them into the stream.

rune xv. after vainly awaiting lemminkainen's return, his aged mother, seeing blood drip from his hair-brush, concludes evil must have befallen her son. she therefore hastens northward, and threatens to destroy louhi's magic sampo unless the sorceress will reveal what has become of lemminkainen. louhi then confesses that she sent him down to hades to hunt the death swan, so lemminkainen's mother hastens down to the river of death, only to learn her son has perished. hastening back to the blacksmith ilmarinen, the frantic mother beseeches him to make her a rake with a handle five hundred fathoms long, and armed with this implement begins to dredge the river. presently she fishes out one by one the garments and various fragments of her son! thanks to powerful incantations she restores lemminkainen to life, speech, and motion, whereupon the youth thanks her, and graphically relates how he came to his death. but, although he is home once more, lemminkainen is always thinking of the beautiful maiden he wooed, and he still longs to kill the swan swimming on the river of death!

runes xvi and xvii. leaving lemminkainen, the poem now relates how wainamoinen built a boat, asking the god of the forest to supply him with the necessary material for its different parts. when questioned, the trees one after another declare they are unfit for ship-building, until the oak proffers its strong trunk. wainamoinen now constructs his vessel, but discovers he lacks three "master words" to finish it properly. after vainly seeking these words among birds and animals, he crosses the river of death in a boat, only to find the magic formula is unknown even to the angel of death! the words are, however, well known to wipunen, a giant of whom he goes in quest. prying open the monster's lips to force him to speak, wainamoinen stumbles and accidentally falls into the huge maw and is swallowed alive. but, unwilling to remain indefinitely in the dark recesses of the giant's body, wainamoinen soon sets up a forge in the entrails of the colossus, thus causing him such keen discomfort that the monster proposes to eject his guest, who flatly refuses to be dislodged until he learns the magic words. having thus cleverly secured what he is seeking, wainamoinen returns home and completes a boat, which proves self-propelling, and speedily bears him to the northland to woo the maiden of the rainbow.

thus the ancient wainamoinen

built the boat with magic only,

and with magic launched his vessel,

using not the hand to touch it,

using not the foot to move it,

using not the knee to turn it,

using nothing to propel it.

thus the third task was completed,

for the hostess of pohyola,

dowry for the maid of beauty

sitting on the arch of heaven,

on the bow of many colors.

rune xviii. wainamoinen's departure in the magic vessel is noted by ilmarinen's sister, who immediately informs her brother a suitor is starting to woo the girl he covets. jumping into his sled ilmarinen drives off, and both suitors approach the maiden's dwelling from different points at the self-same time. seeing them draw near, the witch louhi bids her daughter accept the older man—because he brings a boat-load of treasures—and to refuse the empty-handed youth. but the daughter, who prefers a young bridegroom, declares that the smith who fashioned the incomparable sampo cannot be an undesirable match. when wainamoinen therefore lands from his ship and invites her to go sailing with him, she refuses his invitation. heavy-hearted, wainamoinen is obliged to return home alone, and, on arriving there, issues the wise decree that old men should never woo mere girls or attempt to rival young men.

rune xix. in his turn ilmarinen now woos the rainbow maiden, and is told by louhi that ere he can claim his bride he must plough the serpent-field of hades, bring back from that place the tuoni-bear safely muzzled, and catch a monster pike swimming in the river of death helped by the maiden of the rainbow, ilmarinen accomplishes these three difficult feats, by first forging the plough, noose, and fishing eagle required.

runes xx, xxi, xxii, xxiii, and xxiv. now extensive preparations are made for the marriage of ilmarinen and the maiden of the rainbow. not only is the mighty ox of harjala slain and roasted, but beer is brewed for the first time in the northland, and many verses are devoted to describe the processes by which this national drink was brought to its state of perfection! when at last ilmarinen appears to take away his bride, the rainbow maiden seems unwilling to go, and objects that a wife is her husband's slave, and has to spend all her days in pleasing him, his father, and his mother. although her lament is touching indeed, the bride-advisor directs her to please her new relatives, admonishes ilmarinen to treat her kindly, and watches the two set off, the rainbow maiden shedding bitter tears at leaving her beloved home.

rune xxv. the bride and bridegroom are next warmly welcomed by ilmarinen's family, old wainamoinen himself singing at their bridal feast, and again instructing the bride to be all love and submission and to expect nothing save bitterness and hardship from marriage. having concluded his song by praising the father who built the house, the mother who keeps it, and having blessed bridegroom and bride, wainamoinen departs for the land of the dead, to borrow an auger to repair his sled, which has fallen to pieces while he sang.

rune xxvi. meanwhile lemminkainen, angry because he alone has received no invitation to the wedding banquet, decides, in spite of his mother's advice, to go forth and take his revenge. although he has to overcome a flaming eagle, pass through a pit of fire, slay a wolf and a bear, and destroy a wall of snakes mounting guard at the entrance of lapland before he can reach his destination, his spells and incantations safely overcome these and other dire perils. runes xxvii and xxviii. reaching northland at last, lemminkainen slays the husband of louhi, from whom he escapes before she can attack him. his mother now warns him his foes will pursue him and advises him to go to the isle of refuge, situated in the centre of the tenth ocean, and abide there for three years, pledging himself not to fight again for sixty summers.

rune xxix. we now have a description of the isle of refuge, where lemminkainen tarries three whole years with the sea-maidens, who bid him a tender farewell when he sails away again. he has, however, proved neglectful toward one of them, a spinster, who curses him, vowing he will suffer many things in return for his neglect. true to her prediction, he encounters many dangers on the homeward journey, and finds his house reduced to ashes and his parents gone! but, although he mourns for them as dead, he soon discovers them hiding in the forest, to escape the fury of the lapps.

rune xxx. to punish these foes lemminkainen now sets out for the north, taking with him tiera, hero of the broadsword, who is to help him. aware of his coming, louhi bids her son frost stop them by holding their vessel fast in the ice, but lemminkainen trudges over the ice, hurls the frost-god into the fire, and, somewhat discouraged, returns home.

runes xxxi, xxxii, and xxxiii. during this time a slave, kullerwoinen, the son of evil, has been sold to ilmarinen to serve as his shepherd. the rainbow maiden therefore sends him forth with her cattle, giving him a loaf of bread as sole sustenance. when the son of evil attempts to cut this bread, he breaks his knife, for the housewife has baked a flint-stone in it. in his anger the shepherd conjures up wolves and bears, which devour the cattle, and which he drives home in their stead after dark. when the rainbow maiden therefore unsuspectingly tries to milk them, she is instantly devoured by these wild beasts.

runes xxxiv and xxxv. having thus effected his revenge, the spirit of evil hurries away to his tribe-folk, who bid him perform sundry tasks, in the course of which he crowns his evil deeds by assaulting a sister who was lost in infancy, and whom he therefore fails to recognize. on discovering the identity of her ravisher, the unhappy girl throws herself into the river, where she perishes.

rune xxxvi. forbidden by his mother to commit suicide in punishment for his crime, kullerwoinen decides to seek death on the field of battle. although the various members of his family see him depart without regret, his mother assures him nothing can destroy her love for her son.

"canst not fathom love maternal,

canst not smother her affection;

bitterly i'll mourn thy downfall,

i would weep if thou shouldst perish,

shouldst thou leave my race forever;

i would weep in court or cabin,

sprinkle all these fields with tear-drops,

weep great rivers to the ocean,

weep to melt the snows of northland,

make the hillocks green with weeping,

weep at morning, weep at evening,

weep three years in bitter sorrow

o'er the death of kullerwoinen!"

kullerwoinen, armed with a magic sword, does great slaughter among his foes, and returns home only to find all his kin have perished. while he mourns their death, his mother's spirit bids him follow his watch-dog—the only living creature left him. during this strange promenade, coming to the spot where he assaulted his sister, kullerwoinen falls upon his magic sword and dies, an episode which inspires wainamoinen with these words of wisdom:

"if the child is not well nurtured,

is not rocked and led uprightly,

though he grow to years of manhood,

bear a strong and shapely body,

he will never know discretion,

never eat the bread of honor,

never drink the cup of wisdom."

rune xxxvii and xxxviii. meantime ilmarinen, after grieving three months for the loss of the rainbow maiden, proceeds to fashion himself a wife out of gold and silver, but, as she is lifeless and unresponsive, he offers her to wainamoinen,—who refuses her,—and travels northward once more to woo a sister of his former bride. on arriving at louhi's house,—undeterred by many evil omens which have crossed his path,—ilmarinen sues for a bride. louhi reproaches him for the treatment her first daughter has undergone, but, although the second maiden refuses to follow him, he boldly carries her off by force. she is, however, so unhappy with him that the blacksmith finally changes her into a sea-gull.

"i have changed the hateful virgin

to a sea-gull on the ocean;

now she calls above the waters,

screeches from the ocean-islands,

on the rocks she calls and murmurs,

vainly calling for a suitor."

runes xxxix, xl, and xli. to comfort himself, ilmarinen concludes he would like to have the sampo, and persuades wainamoinen and lemminkainen to accompany him northward to get it. this time they sail in a magic ship, which is stranded on the shoulders of a huge pike. wainamoinen kills this fish, and from its bones and sinews fashions the first harp, an instrument so wonderful that none but he can play it, but, whenever he touches its strings, trees dance about him, wild animals crouch at his feet, and the hearts of men are filled with rapture.

all of northland stopped and listened.

every creature in the forest,

all the beasts that haunt the woodlands,

on their nimble feet came bounding,

came to listen to his playing,

came to hear his songs of joyance.

the music which he makes is so touching that it draws tears even from the player's eyes, tears which drop down into the sea, where they are transformed into pearls, which are brought to him by a duck.

gathered wainamoinen's tear-drops

from the blue sea's pebbly bottom,

from the deep, pellucid waters;

brought them to the great magician,

beautifully formed and colored,

glistening in the silver sunshine,

glimmering in the golden moonlight,

many-colored as the rainbow,

fitting ornaments for heroes,

jewels for the maids of beauty.

this the origin of sea-pearls

and the blue-duck's beauteous plumage.

runes xlii and xliii. having lulled the spirits of evil to sleep with magic music, wainamoinen and ilmarinen go in quest of the sampo, which they find hidden in the bosom of a magic mountain and bear away in triumph. the spell they have laid upon all living creatures is broken only when louhi discovers her loss and sets out in pursuit of the robbers of her treasure.

in various guises she attacks them, finally transforming herself into a huge eagle and pouncing down upon the sampo, which she tries to bear away in her talons. but wainamoinen fights this aggressor to such good purpose that it drops the sampo into the sea, where it is dashed to pieces! not only has wainamoinen lost the sampo,—whose fragments he collects and buries so that they may bring prosperity to his people,—but his magic harp has also fallen overboard during his fight with louhi.

runes xliv and xlv. wainamoinen therefore proceeds to construct a second harp from the wood of the birch, while louhi, who has returned northward but who still owes him a grudge, sends down from the north nine fell diseases,—colic, pleurisy, fever, ulcer, plague, consumption, gout, sterility, and cancer,—all of which wainamoinen routs by means of the vapor baths which he discovers.

rune xlvi. hearing that wainamoinen prospers in spite of all she can do, louhi is so disappointed that she sends a magic bear to devour him and his brother. but, hearing this monster is coming, wainamoinen directs the blacksmith to make him a wonderful spear, with which he slays the bear, whose skin and flesh prove a boon to his people.

runes xlvii and xlviii. still angry, louhi steals from wainamoinen the sun, moon, and fire, and thus all the homes in kalevala are cold, dark, and cheerless. gazing downward, ukko, king of the heaven, wonders because he sees no light, and sends down a flash of lightning, which, after striking the earth, drops into the sea and is swallowed by a pike. this fiery mouthful, however, proves so uncomfortable, that the fish swims madly around until swallowed by another. learning that the fire-ball is now in a pike, wainamoinen fishes until he secures that greedy denizen of the deep. opening his quarry, he seizes the lightning, which burns his fingers so badly that he drops it, until he decides to convey it to his people in the wood of an elm.

rune xlix. although fire is thus restored to mankind, the sun and the moon are still missing. ilmarinen therefore forges a magnificent silver moon and golden sun, in the vain hope of replacing the orbs which louhi has stolen, and which are hidden in the cave where she once treasured the sampo. discovering this fact by magic means, wainamoinen starts out in quest of sun and moon, and, by changing himself into a pike to cross the river, reaches the land of louhi, defeats her sons, and finds the orbs he is seeking guarded by a multitude of snakes. although wainamoinen slays these keepers, he cannot recover the captive sun or moon until louhi, who has meantime assumed the form of an eagle and then of a dove, sends them back to kalevala, where their return is hailed with joy.

"greetings to thee, sun of fortune;

greetings to thee, moon of good-luck;

welcome sunshine, welcome moonlight;

golden is the dawn of morning!

free art thou, o sun of silver,

free again, o moon beloved,

as the sacred cuckoo's singing,

as the ring-dove's liquid cooing.

rise, thou silver sun, each morning,

source of light and life hereafter,

bring us daily joyful greetings,

fill our homes with peace and plenty,

that our sowing, fishing, hunting,

may be prospered by thy coming.

travel on thy daily journey,

let the moon be ever with thee;

glide along thy way rejoicing,

end thy journeyings in slumber;

rest at evening in the ocean,

when thy daily cares have ended,

to the good of all thy people,

to the pleasure of wainola,

to the joy of kalevala!"

rune l. meanwhile there had been dwelling in the northland a happy maiden named mariatta, who, wandering on the hillsides, once asked the cuckoo how long she would remain unmarried, and heard a magic voice bid her gather a certain berry. no sooner had she done so than the berry popped into her mouth, and soon after she bore a child, which being the offspring of a berry was to be called flower. because her mother indignantly cast her off, she wandered about seeking a place where she could give birth to her child. she was finally compelled to take refuge in the manger of the fiery steed of hisi, where her infant was charitably warmed by the firesteed's breath. but once, while the mother was slumbering, the child vanished, and the mother vainly sought it until the sun informed her she would find it sleeping among the reeds and rushes in swamp-land.

mariatta, child of beauty,

virgin-mother of the northland,

straightway seeks her babe in swamp-land,

finds him in the reeds and rushes;

takes the young child on her bosom

to the dwelling of her father.

mariatta soon discovered him there, growing in grace and beauty, but priests refused to baptize him because he was considered a wizard. when wainamoinen sentenced the mother to death, the infant, although only two weeks old, hotly reproached him, declaring that, although guilty of many follies, his people have always forgiven him. hearing this, wainamoinen, justly rebuked, baptized the child, who in time grew up to be a hero and became the greatest warrior in the land.

wainamoinen, having grown feeble with passing years, finally built for himself a copper vessel, wherein, after singing a farewell song, he sailed "out into the west," and vanished in the midst of the sunset clouds, leaving behind him as an inheritance to his people his wondrous songs.

thus the ancient wainamoinen,

in his copper-banded vessel,

left his tribe in kalevala,

sailing o'er the rolling billows,

sailing through the azure vapors,

sailing through the dusk of evening,

sailing to the fiery sunset,

to the higher-landed regions,

to the lower verge of heaven;

quickly gained the far horizon,

gained the purple-colored harbor,

there his bark he firmly anchored,

rested in his boat of copper;

but he left his harp of magic,

left his songs and wisdom-sayings,

to the lasting joy of suomi.

the poem concludes with an epilogue, wherein the bard declares it contains many of the folk-tales of his native country, and that as far as rhythm is concerned—

"nature was my only teacher,

woods and waters my instructors."