Kalevalatranslated by Francis Magoun, 1963
The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, compiled by Elias Lonnrot (1802-1884) from ancient oral poetry. Two central characters in The Kalevala, are magician Vainamoinen and the enchantress Louhi. Old and wise Vainamoinen is the master of the universal magic of music, he can gain power over persons and things by knowing their genealogy or origins. In the center of the song cycle is the magic-laden conflict between Kalevala and Pohja (North Farm), the latter is ruled by the enchantress Louhi, who commands storms and deep cold.
Vainamoinen
There are 50 poems.
Poem 46
The mistress of North Farm, Louhi, conjures up a bear to destroy the cattle of the Kaleva District. Vainamoinen lays low the bear, from which a traditional ceremonial banquet is then given in the Kaleva District. Vainamoinen sings, plays his harp, and wishes for the Kaleva District the same joyous life in times to come.
~ ~ ~
The news got to North Farm, the report to the cold settlement that Vainamoinen’s district had recovered, the Kaleva District freed of those magically induced plaques, of those unusual diseases.
Louhi, mistress of North Farm, gat-toothed dame of North Farm,
she got very angry at that. She uttered a word, spoke thus:
“I still remember another trick, indeed know another way.
I will conjure up a bear from the heath, one with curved claws from the backwoods
to attack the livestock in Vainamoinen’s district, the cattle in the Kaleva District.”
She conjured up a bear from the heath, a bear from the desolate parts
to attack those clearings of Vainamoinen’s district, the cattle lands of the Kaleva District.Steadfast old Vainamoinen uttered these words:
“Good friend, craftsman Ilmarinen, forge me a new spear,
forge a spear with a three-cornered point, with a copper shaft.
There is a bear to be taken, a bear with a valuable pelt to be laid low
to stop if from harming my geldings, wanting my mares,
laying low my cattle, scattering my cows.”
The craftsman forges a spear, neither long nor short;
he forged a middle-sized one: a wolf was standing on the blade,
bruin on the steel tip, an elk was shuffling along the on the ferrule,
a colt was wandering along on the shaft, a wild reindeer was kicking on the grip.
New snow was then falling, a little fine fresh snow as much as a ewe born in the autumn, a hare born in the winter.A Bear Hunter’s Charms
Old Vainamoinen said, uttered a word, spoke thus:
“It is my desire, my desire to go to Woodland,
to the forest’s girls, to the hazy-blue maidens’ farmyards.
I am setting out to the forest away from men, away from people for outdoor work.
Take me on, forest, as one of your men, as one of your people, Tapio (forest god)
Help me to have good luck, to lay low the fine fellow of the forest.“Darling, mistress of the forest, Tellervo, Tapio’s wife,
fasten up your dogs, keep your curs
in a woodbine shanty, in an oakwood shed.
“Bear, apple of the forest, chunky honey-paws!
When you hear me coming, hear the splendid man stepping along,
make fast your claws in your fur, your teeth in your gums
so that they will never touch me, never stir when you are on the move.
My bear, my darling, honey-paws, my beauty,
throw yourself flat on a tussock, on a lovely crag
while the tall evergreens are swaying above, first being heard above.
Then bear, turn around, honey-paws, turn yourself about,
as does a ruffed grouse on her nest, a wild goose about to brood.”Then old Vainamoinen heard the dog barking,
the hound baying loudly in tin-eye’s farmyard,
in stub-nose’s cattle yard. He uttered a word, spoke thus:
“I thought a cuckoo was calling, the lovely bird singing;
no cuckoo is calling, no lovely bird singing at all.
Here my dog is doing finely, my animal excellently at the door of the bear’s house,
in the farmstead of the distinguished man.”
Steadfast old Vainamoinen then encountered the bear;
he upset the satiny beds, overturned the lovely couches.
He says these words, made this remark:
“Thanks be, God, be praised, sole Creator,
for having given me the bear as my share, the gold of the wilderness as my booty”.He looks at his gold. He uttered a word, spoke thus:
“My bear, my darling, honey-paws, my beauty, do not get angry without any reason.
It was not I who killed you;
you slipped from a shaft-bow, you misstepped from an evergreen branch,
your wooden pants torn through, your evergreen coat ripped across.
‘Autumn weather is slippery, the cloudy days dark.’
Golden cuckoo of the forest, lovely shaggy-haired one,
now leave your home deserted, leave your dwelling place empty,
your birch-branch home, your cottage of willow withes.
Start, splendid one, to go, glory of the forest, to step along,
light-shod one to go, blue-stockings, to trip along away from this little farmyard,
from these narrow trails
to a crowd of people, a group of men.
There no one will ill-treat you, you will not live in poor style;
there one is fed honey, fresh mead is given to drink to a stranger who arrives,
to one who wants to be invited.
Set out now from here as if you were really setting out from this little nest
to under a splendid rooftree, to under a beautiful roof.
Slide along quietly on the snow like a water lily on a pond,
float along lightly on the evergreen branch, drag like a squirrel on a branch.”Then old Vainamoinen, eternal singer,
walked over the clearings playing, over the heaths singing loudly
with his splendid guest, with his furry fellow.
The music is already heard as far as the house, the noise clear to under the roof.
The people in the house suddenly said, the handsome group spoke up:
“Hear this noise, the words of the musician of the wilderness,
the warbling of a crossbill, the wound of the pipe of a forest maid.”
Steadfast old Vainamoinen got to the farmyard.
The people came tumbling out of the house, the handsome group remarked:
“Now the gold is coming, the silver wandering along,
a lovely piece of money stepping along, a coin stepping along the trail.
Did the forest give up a honey-eater, the master of the wilderness yield up a lynx
since you come singing, shuffling along caroling on skis?”Steadfast old Vainamoinen then said these words:
“The otter has been charmed, God’s game enchanted:
for that reason we come singing, shuffling along caroling on skis.
But it will not be an otter, neither an otter nor a lynx;
the splendid fellow himself is coming along, the glory of the wilderness stepping along,
the old man wandering along, the broadcloth coat moving along.
If our guest happens to be wanted, fling open the doors;
but if the guest is hated, slam them to.”In answer the people say, the handsome crowd speaks:
“Hail, bear, your arrival, hail, honey-paws, your paying a visit
to this clean farmyard, this lovely farmstead!
I always hoped for that, ever since I have been grown up
I have looked forward to Tapio’s ringing out, to the forest’s pipe shrilly sounding,
to the gold of the woodland coming along,
the silver of the wilderness coming to this little farmyard, to these narrow trails.
I have been hoping for this as for a good year,
been looking forward as to the coming of summer
just as a ski to new-fallen snow, a left ski to good smooth skiing,
a maiden to a young suitor, a pink-cheeked girl to a mate.
Evenings I used to sit by the windows, mornings on the storehouse steps,
for weeks by the gates, for months at the entrance to the lanes,
winters in the cattle yards. I stood on the snow so that it got hard-packed,
till the hard-packed snow got to be wet ground,
till the wet ground got to be gravelly places,
the gravelly places to be loamy places, the loamy places to be verdant.
I reflected every morning, every day reflected as to where the bear was lingering so long,
the lovely fellow of the wilderness spending his time
whether he might have gone to Estonia, run away from Finnish soil.”Then old Vainamoinen uttered these words:
“Where shall I take my guest, lead my golden one?
Shall I perhaps take him to the shed, put him in the hay barn?”
In answer the people say, the handsome group spoke up:
“You will take our guest yonder, lead our golden one
under the splendid ridgepole, under the lovely roof.
There food has been prepared, drinks got ready,
all the floorboards cleaned, the floors swept;
all the women are dressed in fresh clothes
with pretty head ornaments, in white clothes.”Then old Vainamoinen uttered a word, spoke thus:
“My bear, my bird, honey-paws, my bundle,
you still have ground to cover, heath to clamber upon.
Set out, now, gold, to get going dear one, to step along the ground,
black-stockings, to go along boldly, cloth pants, to go ahead,
to walk along the chickadee’s path, the sparrow’s course
to under five rafters, to under six rooftrees.“Look out, wretched women, lest the cattle be frightened,
the small livestock scared, the mistress’s livestock suffer harm
while the bear is coming into the dwellings, hairy-muzzle pushing his way in.
Away, lads, from the porch, girls, away from the doorjambs
while the fellow is coming into the house, the splendid man stepping along.“Bear of the forest, apple, handsome chubby fellow of the forest,
do not fear the maidens or be afraid of the girls with luxuriant hair;
do not fear the women, do not feel sorry for those with stockings down at the heels.
Whatever women are in the house, they will all retire to the inglenook
when the man comes into the house, when the big boy walks in.”Old Vainamoinen said:
“Welcome here, God, under the splendid rooftree, under the lovely ceiling!
Where shall I now take my darling, lead my furry fellow?”
In reply the people say: “Welcome, welcome on your arrival!
Put your bird over there, lead your golden one to the end of the deal bench,
to the tip of the iron bench
for the pelt to be examined, the fur to be looked over.
Do not worry about that, bear,
do not take it amiss when the hour comes to feel your fur, the time comes to view your coat.
No one will damage your fur nor by looking change your coat
into the rags of miserable people, into the clothes of poor wretches.”Then old Vainamoinen took the pelt off the bear,
laid it away up in the storehouse loft; he put pieces of the meat in a cauldron,
into a gilded copper kettle, a cooper-bottomed pot.
The pots were already on the fire, the copper-sided vessels on the flame,
brimful, crammed full of pieces of meat;
in with them lumps of salt which had been imported from rather far away,
brought by rowing through the Oresund, unloaded from a ship.
When the stew had been cooked, the kettles taken off the fire,
then indeed the booty is brought, the crossbill carried to the end of the long deal table
to golden bows to drink mead in long draughts, to partake of beer.
The table was made of pine, the dishes cast of copper,
the spoons of silver, the knives fashioned of gold.
All the bowls were brimful, the dishes full to overflowing
with pieces of the lovely gift of the forest,
of the booty of the wilderness gold.Then old Vainamoinen uttered these words:
“Old man of the knoll with your golden chest, master of Tapio’s farm,
Woodland’s honeyed wife, lovely mistress of the forest,
handsome man, Tapio’s son, handsome man with a red-peaked hat,
Tellervo, Tapio’s maid, together with the rest of Tapio’s people!
Come now to your steer’s wedding party, to your shaggy one’s feast!
Now there is plenty ready to eat, plenty to eat, plenty to drink,
plenty for yourself to keep, plenty to give a neighbor.”Thereupon the people speak thus, the fair company said:
“Where was the bear born, where did the valuable pelt grow up?
Do you think it was born on straw, grew up in the inglenook of a sauna?”Then old Vainamoinen uttered these words:
“The bear was not born on straw nor on the chaff of a kiln.
The bear was born, honey-paws given birth to
at the Moon’s, in the womb of the Sun,
on the shoulders of the Great Bear,
at the virgin’s of the air, at Nature’s daughters.
A virgin was treading the border of the sky, a maiden the heavenly pole;
she was walking along the edge of a cloud, along the border of the heavens
in blue stockings, in particolored shoes with heels
with a basket of wool in her hand, a basket of down under her arm.She threw a tuft of wool onto the waters, dropped the down onto the billows.
That the wind rocked, the turbulent air moved,
the spirt of the water swayed, a wave drove ashore,
to the shore of a honeyed wilderness, to the tip of a honeyed headland.
Darling, mistress of the forest, keen-eyed wife of Tapio’s Domain
seized the tuft of wool from the waters, the soft bits of wool from the billows.
Then she placed it cunningly, swaddled it nicely
in a Maplewood box, in a fine swinging cradle
She picked up the diaper strings, carried the golden straps
to the bushiest bough, to the broadest leafy branch.
After she to got there, she swung, rocked her darling
under a luxuriant crown of a fir, under a flourishing pine tree.
Then she brought forth the bear, brought up the fine-coated one
on the edge of a honeyed copse, inside a honeyed wilderness.
The bear grew to be handsome, grew up to be very fine looking
with short legs, with bandy legs, with a soft snubby muzzle,
a broad head, a snub nose, a fine shaggy coat.“Not yet had either teeth or claws been fashioned.
Darling, mistress of the forest, uttered these words:
‘I would form claws for it, try to find teeth, too,
if it would not get into wrongdoings, not take to evil deeds.’
Accordingly the bear swore an oath on the knees of the mistress of the forest,
in the presence of illustrious God, looking up at the face of the Almighty,
to do no evil, begin no bad deeds.
Darling, mistress of the forest, keen-eyed wife of Tapio’s Domain,
set out to search for a tooth, to inquire about claws
from firmly rooted rowans, from rough junipers,
from matted roots, from hard resinous pine stumps.
Not a claw did she get there, not a tooth did she find.
An evergreen was growing on a heath, a fir rising on a knoll;
on the evergreen was a silver branch, a gold branch on the fir.
These the maiden seized with her hands, from them made claws,
attached them to the jawbone, set them in the gums.
Then she let her furry fellow go, sent her darling forth;
she put him to rove a fen, to run over a copse,
to walk on the edge of a clearing, to clamber on the heath.
She bade him walk nicely, to run along gracefully,
to live joyous times, to spend splendid days
on the expanses of the fen, in the farthest parts of the world beyond the playing fields,
to go without shoes in summer, without short socks on in the autumn,
to survive the worser times, to take it easy in winter cold spells
inside a chokecherry house, on the side of an evergreen stronghold,
at the foot of a lovely fir, in the corner of a juniper grove,
under five wooly mantles, under eight cloaks.
From there I just now got my booty, brought this quarry of mine.”The young people speak thus, the old people keep saying:
“Why was the forest favorably disposed, the forest favorably disposed, the wilderness amenable,
the master of the wilderness delighted, lovely Tapio obliging
that he gave his precious one, lost his honey darling?
Was it obtained by a spear or fetched by an arrow?”
Steadfast old Vainamoinen uttered these words:
“The forest was very favorably disposed toward us, the forest favorably disposed, the backwoods amenable,
the master of the wilderness delighted, lovely Tapio obliging.
Darling, mistress of the forest, Tellervo, Tapio’s maid,
maiden of the forest, fair of form, little maiden of the forest
set out to show the way, to make blazes,
to point out the sides of the trail, to direct the journey.
She cut blazes along on the trees, made marks on the hills
to the doors of the splendid bear, to the edge of its preserve.
Then after I had got there, reached my destination,
there was no obtaining by spear, no going about shooting;
it fell from a shaft-bow, stumbled from an evergreen branch;
dead branches broke its breastbone, twigs splint open its belly.”Then he uttered these words, remarked, spoke thus:
“My bear, my pet, my bird, my darling!
Now leave your head ornament here, stick out your teeth,
thrust out your sparse teeth, open your jaws wide!
Do not take offense if something should happen to us,
a crash of bones, a cracking of skulls, a loud rattling of teeth.I will now take the nose from the bear as a help to my present nose;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.
I will take an ear from the bear as a help to my present ear;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.
I will take an eye from the bear as a help to my present eye;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.
I will take the forehead from the bear as a help to my own forehead;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.
I will take the muzzle from the bear as a help to my own muzzle;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.
I will take the tongue from the bear as a help to my own tongue;
I am not taking it as something unlucky nor will it be all by itself.“Him I would now call a man, rate as a lucky person
who would enchant the tight-locked teeth loose, get the set of teeth
from the steely jaw with an iron grip.”
No one else came, there was no such man.
He himself enchants the tight-locked teeth, exorcises the set of teeth loose,
kneeling on it with his bony knees, holding it with his iron grip.
He took the teeth from the bear, he uttered a word, spoke thus:
“Bear of the forest, apple, handsome chubby fellow of the forest!
Now you have a journey to make, a trip to make boldly
from this little nest, from a lowly cottage
to a finger home, a roomier dwelling.
Set out now, gold, to go, lovely in your fur, to step along
the side of pigs’ trails, across the tracks of young pigs
toward the scrub-grown hill, to the high hill,
to the bushy pine, to the hundred-branched evergreen.
It will be nice for you to live there, lovely to pass your time
within hearing of a cowbell, near the tinkling of a little bell.”
Steadfast old Vainamoinen now came home from there.
The young people speak thus, the handsome crowd remarked:
“Where did you take your booty, where did you bring your prey?
Perhaps you left it on the ice, sank it in the slush,
knocked it down into the ooze of the fen, buried it in the heath.”
Steadfast old Vainamoinen uttered a word, spoke thus:
“Indeed I did not leave it on the ice, sink it in the slush;
there dogs would keep disturbing it, bad birds would be all over it.
Nor did I knock it down into the fen, bury it in the heath;
there grubs would destroy it, black ants devour it.
I took my booty, brought my trifling prey
to the top of a golden knoll, to the shoulder of a copper ridge.
I put the skull in a fine tree, in a hundred-branched evergreen,
on the bushiest bough, on the leafiest spray
as a joy to men, as an honor to passers-by.
I laid it with the gums to the east, I left it with the eyes to the southwest.
I did not put it right in the crown; had I put it in the crown,
there the wind would damage it, the cold spring treat it badly.
Nor did I put it on the ground; had I put it on the ground,
pigs would have shifted it, the creatures with lowered snouts would have turned it over.”Then old Vainamoinen burst out singing
in honor of the splendid evening, as a source of joy for the closing day.
Old Vainamoinen said, remarked, spoke thus:
“Stay now, torch holder, alight so that I may see to sing.
My turn to sing is coming, my mouth desires to ring out.”
Then he sang so that it resounded, sang joyfully throughout the evening.
At last he said his say, finally said:“Grant us another time, God, in the future, steadfast Creator,
to rejoice at such festivities, to do it another time
at the festivities of a chubby lad, at the feast of a long-haired one.
In any event allow, God, another time, true Creator,
blazes to be made, trees to be marked
among the manly folk, the manly bands.
In any event allow, God, another time, true Creator,
Tapio’s horn to sound, the woodland pipe to sound out shrilly
in this little farmyard, in this confined farmstead.
By day I would it might be sung, by night that joyous music be made
in these parts, in these districts, in these great farms of Finland,
among the rising generation, among the people growing up.”