Summary

Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland…

Grant, kind Ukko, God above me,
Thou Creator, full of mercy,
Grant that I again may visit
My beloved home and country.
Better dwell in one’s own country,
There to drink its healthful waters
From the simple cups of birch-wood,
Than in foreign lands to wander,
There to drink the rarest liquors
From the golden bowls of strangers.”
Louhi, hostess of Pohyola,
Thus replied to the magician:
“What reward wilt thou award me,
Should I take thee where thou willest,
To thy native land and kindred,
To thy much-loved home and fireside,
To the meadows of Wainola,
To the plains of Kalevala?”
Source: Gutenberg

Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland…

Northland’s ugly hostess, Louhi,
Will not give to me her daughter,
Fairest maiden of Pohyola,
Till I kill the swan of Mana,
With my bow and but one arrow,
In the river of Tuoni.”
Lemminkainen’s mother answers,
In the sacred stream and whirlpool.
“Let the swan swim on in safety,
Give the water-bird his freedom,
In the river of Manala,
In the whirlpool of Tuoni;
Leave the maiden in the Northland,
With her charms and fading beauty;
With thy fond and faithful mother,
Go at once to Kalevala,
To thy native fields and fallows.
Source: Gutenberg

Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland…

And the lake-trout to the whiting,
And the whiting to the gray-pike:
“Have the heroes of Wainola
Died, or have they all departed
From these fertile shores and waters?
Where then are the ancient weavers,
Weavers of the nets of flax-thread,
Those that frighten us with fish-poles,
Drag us from our homes unwilling?”
Hearing this wise Wainamoinen
Answered thus the deep-sea-dwellers:
“Neither have Wainola’s heroes
Died, nor have they all departed
From these fertile shores and waters,
Two are born where one has perished;
Longer poles and finer fish-nets
Have the sons of Kalevala!”
Source: Gutenberg

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