|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 2 2015, 11:25pm
Post #1 of 16
(5384 views)
Shortcut
|
|
The Kalevala, Finnish mythology, and Tolkien references (Part 3)
|
Can't Post
|
|
This is about Finland's ancient national epic, Kalevala, and related topics.
Part 1
Introduction
Tolkien and Finnish Influences
Creation Myth: World Born out of Eggshell Shards
Väinämöinen - Birth of Humanity & Pellervo - God of Fertility and Plants
The World-Tree, Sea Monster, and a Surprise Giant Clad in Copper
Barley Sowing, Slash-and-Burn, and the Gratitude of Eagle & Cuckoo
Part 2
Väinämöinen vs. Joukahainen: the Magical Battle of the Bards - War of Wizard Sayings
The Fate of Aino, Pohjola's Fair Maiden
Väinämöinen's Lamentation and the Spirit Salmon
Unhorsed by an Adversary, Saved by the Eagle, Trading with the Mistress of the Northland
(This post was edited by Altaira on May 3 2015, 2:07am)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 3 2015, 12:00am
Post #2 of 16
(5362 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Challenges by Maiden on the Rainbow - and an Axe Accident
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Louhi's daughter, the beautiful maiden of Pohjola, sat in vault of the heavens atop the rainbow, weaving wondrous cloth.
Pohyola's fair and winsome daughter,
Glory of the land and water,
Sat upon the bow of heaven,
On its highest arch resplendent,
In a gown of richest fabric,
In a gold and silver air-gown,
Weaving webs of golden texture,
Interlacing threads of silver;
Weaving with a golden shuttle,
With a weaving-comb of silver;
Merrily flies the golden shuttle,
From the maiden's nimble fingers,
Briskly swings the lathe in weaving,
Swiftly flies the comb of silver,
From the sky-born maiden's fingers,
Weaving webs of wondrous beauty.
Väinämöinen was on his way home from the dark lands of Pohjola and happened on a place where he could hear the buzzing caused by the heavenly shuttle high above him.
Upon rising his eyes upward and noticing the maiden weaving on the rainbow, he halted the horse at once and addressed her: "Come, fair maiden, to my snow-sledge, By my
side I wish thee seated." The maiden asked about his intentions, and he truthfully spoke about his wishes for a fair wife to bake him honey bread, brew ale, sing and walk proud
in the halls of Kalevala. The maiden told Väinämöinen how she had been walking on a meadow the day before and heard the thrush singing. She had asked the thrush whether
a maiden might live happier "as a maiden with her father, or as wife beside her husband." The thrush thus informed her:
"Bright and warm are days of summer,
Warmer still is maiden-freedom;
Cold is iron in the winter,
Thus the lives of married women;
Maidens living with their mothers
Are like ripe and ruddy berries;
Married women, far too many,
Are like dogs enchained in kennel,
Rarely do they ask for favors,
Not to wives are favors given."
  
1) Scene from "Pohjan neiti" (The Maiden of Pohjola), the first opera made in the Finnish language (1898)
2) Cover art for a Polish edition of Kalevala in 1958
3) Art by Joseph Alanen in 1919
Väinämöinen dismissed thrush's advice and noted that a maiden is like a child as long as she stays within her father's house, only becoming a revered mistress with marriage; he mentioned
being a hero of no small renown, and then again asked her to come with her.
The maiden presented a task for him, as she would only deem him a hero if he could split a hair with an edgeless knife and snare a bird's egg with a snare that the maiden would not be able
to see. Väinämöinen performed the tasks without effort and again asked the maiden to join him in the sledge. But the maiden gave him a new task, asking him to peel sandstone as if it was
tree-bark, and to cut her a whip-stick from the ice while making no splinters or fragments. After he had managed these wonders, she still presented him the final impossible task:
"I will go with that one only
That will make me ship or shallop,
From the splinters of my spindle,
From the fragments of my distaff,
In the waters launch the vessel,
Set the little ship a-floating,
Using not the knee to push it,
Using not the arm to move it,
Using not the hand to touch it,
Using not the foot to turn it,
Using nothing to propel it."
 
1) Maiden of Northland by the Russian artist Aleksandr Novoselov (here in color)
Väinämöinen thought himself to be the champion amongst all ship builders, and set to building the vessel. He collected the required pieces of wood and went to a mountain of steel, a hill
of iron. For two days the work progressed without incident, but on the third fateful day two evil spirit beings, Hiisi and Lempo *) disturbed his work and caused a grievous injury:
On the evening of the third day,
Evil Hisi grasps the hatchet,
Lempo takes the crooked handle,
Turns aside the axe in falling,
Strikes the rocks and breaks to pieces;
From the rocks rebound the fragments,
Pierce the flesh of the magician,
Cut the knee of Wainamoinen.
Lempo guides the sharpened hatchet,
And the veins fell Hisi severs.
Quickly gushes forth a blood-stream,
And the stream is crimson-colored.
Väinämöinen, bleeding and in pain, chastised his axe for having mistaken his foot for a pine or a birch. Then he began an incantation to stop the bleeding, but could not remember the magic
words for iron necessary to thwart the flow. (His forgetting the words is not clear in the translation.)
Every word in perfect order,
Makes no effort to remember,
Sings the origin of iron,
That a bolt he well may fashion,
Thus prepare a look for surety,
For the wounds the axe has given,
That the hatchet has torn open.
But the stream flows like a brooklet,
Rushing like a maddened torrent,
Stains the herbs upon the meadows,
Scarcely is a bit of verdure
That the blood-stream does not cover
As it flows and rushes onward
From the knee of the magician,
From the veins of Wainamoinen.
Väinämöinen tore moss and cottongrass in an effort to close the wound, but blood kept trickling through. In desperation he wept and swiftly continued on his way in the sledge, soon
arriving to a small hamlet of three cottages. He called upon the lowest house, asking for anyone who knew the words of iron (although the connection with iron is lost in the translation):
"Is there any one here dwelling, That can know the pain I suffer, That can heal this wound of hatchet, That can check this crimson streamlet?" A little boy was playing on the floor and
replied that no such healer lived there but to look in yonder cottage. Väinämöinen arrived at the house in the middle and repeated his plea. An old woman was lying under covers and
replied that no such healer lived there but to look in yonder cottage. Väinämöinen drove a little distance and arrived at the uppermost house, once more asking for help. An old man
sitting by the hearth calmly told him that much more severe flows had been closed:
"Greater things have been accomplished,
Much more wondrous things effected,
Through but three words of the master;
Through the telling of the causes,
Streams and oceans have been tempered,
River cataracts been lessened,
Bays been made of promontories,
Islands raised from deep sea-bottoms."
**********
Notes:
Yes, Väinämöinen built the ship on an "iron hill" according to the original text. But this is most likely just a small coincidence.
*) According to the ancient Finnish religion, Lempo was a spirit being or possibly a god - often but not always depicted as female. Most likely Lempo was the goddess of love (lempi = the old-fashioned word for love in Finnish). Even as the goddess of love Lempo could be ambivalent or even evil, because before the modern concept of romantic love came to be, love was often regarded as capricious, outlandish and even dangerous force which could take control over a person, take away reason and lead to ruin. According to one research in the event of a wife having committed adultery, the lempi that had turned sour, into lempo, was to be banished. Sometimes Lempo appears in ancient "aphrodisiac spells" or love spells meant to call forth arousal, typically as part of marriage rituals.
|
|
Attachments:
|
alanen_runo8_labBW (Custom).jpg
(46.1 KB)
|
|
|
tumblr_miezhbPOJo1r7bfg9o3_500 (Custom).jpg
(46.9 KB)
|
|
|
350px-Scene_from_Pohjan_neiti (Custom).jpg
(47.5 KB)
|
|
|
Aleksandr Novoselov, Pohjan tytär (Custom).jpg
(46.8 KB)
|
|
|
16-Illus.-by-M.-Bylina-for-Polish-edition-of-Kalevala-1958 (Custom).jpg
(45.6 KB)
|
|
|
Joseph Alanen_Väinämöinen ja Pohjan neito_1919.jpg
(47.8 KB)
|
|
|
s137_vainamoinen ja pohjanneito (Custom).jpg
(45.2 KB)
|
|
|
_34W1234 (Custom).jpg
(46.3 KB)
|
|
|
Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 3 2015, 7:51am
Post #3 of 16
(5329 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Wow - thanks for posting this! I will look forward
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
to reading it all when I'm a bit more awake. At a glance the translated verse forms remind me of 'Hiawatha'. In a National Geographic video on the sources of FOTR that I bought years ago, there was some mention of the Kalevala as source material for Tolkien, and there was some singing of it. I haven't been able to play the video for ages, but can still remember the music.
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 3 2015, 9:24pm
Post #6 of 16
(5294 views)
Shortcut
|
Thank you for commenting! When referring to the translations being like songs, I suppose you mean the actual translated verses (in italics throughout these threads)? 
That reminds me - at some point I will make an "interlude post" again (like the one about the oak) regarding rune singers.
I meant to mention in the first post of this thread, but once again for anyone reading this, everything in italics in these posts is taken straight from the first Kalevala translation into English, by Johan Martin Crawford in 1887/1889.
I would like to read the tale you mention, in case you ever happen by it again and/or find out what it's called. Three tasks is of course a common theme in many stories and myths, and the number three keeps repeating from poem to poem in Kalevala - many events take place on the third day, for example, like the spirits' mischief in the poem above.
You know, I think you're right!  But it's a happy ruin. 
|
|
|
Kim
Valinor
May 4 2015, 2:14am
Post #8 of 16
(5278 views)
Shortcut
|
No wonder that part felt so familiar! 
Agreed with the image of spinning a rainbow.
|
|
|
Brethil
Half-elven
May 4 2015, 2:19am
Post #9 of 16
(5278 views)
Shortcut
|
What a great pleasure, to come in from a busy day and read this!
I will give it more brain power when I am more awake - but my immediate reaction, the gold and silver as the colors in the heavenly vault at the maiden's fingers recall the Two Trees and their colors, and the 'weaving' of them by Yavanna. Its so beautifully described too, the comb working the golden and silver threads. Just lovely. 
|
|
|
Annael
Immortal
May 5 2015, 12:18am
Post #10 of 16
(5244 views)
Shortcut
|
about the rhyme scheme.
I've been studying Dante's Commedia and Dante invented a new rhyming scheme for his epic poem called terza rima. it works beautifully in Italian, in part because most Italian words put the emphasis on the penultimate syllable, but is not an easy rhyme scheme to use in other languages.
Here's a video of Roberto Benigni reciting Dante:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igC8UcnAZHE
Makes me wonder what Shakespeare's iambic pentameter sounds like in other languages.
People with soul can identify with another person's basic human struggle without either judgment or indifference.
-- Thomas Moore
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on May 5 2015, 12:20am)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 6 2015, 9:11pm
Post #11 of 16
(5196 views)
Shortcut
|
I finally noticed that your post linked to the first post in the thread, not the actual poem post "Challenges...". So, on the off chance that your comment about the translations being like songs referred to the poems' names in the first post, I will say more thanks. The poems' "titles" / post subjects listed in the first post were made up by me as I went along the poems one by one, since the original poems only have running numbers.
Coming up next: The origin of iron, and the Blacksmith Ilmarinen.
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 6 2015, 9:31pm
Post #12 of 16
(5191 views)
Shortcut
|
Once again, you have keen eyes for references, Brethil! Thank you for pointing this out.
("Trees of Valinor" by HelenKei in DeviantArt)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 6 2015, 9:56pm
Post #13 of 16
(5190 views)
Shortcut
|
Thank you for your thoughts - it it interesting to try and compare how poetry in one language could be translated into another without sacrificing the rhythm in the process, especially when emphasis is put on different syllables. Dante's rhyming scheme sounded lovely in that video but I don't envy the translators who have to work around the emphasis problem with that one!
Unfortunately my knowledge of Shakespeare's poetry is still very limited, but based on the few sonnets I have seen in both of "my" languages (ENG and FIN), I would tentatively suggest that while the poetic quality of the language was preserved in the translation, it did not manage to carry over rhythm typical to the iambic pentameter. There may be several translations in existence - maybe some do it better than others.
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 8 2015, 7:32am
Post #14 of 16
(5152 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Origin of Iron - and the Blacksmith Ilmarinen
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
(In the previous poem it seemed as if Väinämöinen had forgotten the incantation of the origin of iron, which is essential to recite in order to stop bleeding caused by metal tools. However, in this poem it becomes apparent that he did remember that part and had forgotten something else essential instead. The original poems in Kalevala are so archaic and poetic in form that misinterpretations do happen, but in this case there seems to be a minor difference between poems 8 and 9.)
***
Väinämöinen rose from his sledge and hastened to the cottage without assistance, taking a seat. Two maidens arrived bringing a silver pitcher and a golden goblet, but they were instantly
overflowing with his blood. The old man questioned the sage:
"Tell me who thou art of heroes,
Who of all the great magicians?
Lo! thy blood fills seven sea-boats,
Eight of largest birchen vessels,
Flowing from some hero's veinlets,
From the wounds of some magician.
Other matters I would ask thee;
Sing the cause of this thy trouble,
Sing to me the source of metals,
Sing the origin of iron,
How at first it was created."
The old man claimed to remember other words needed but had forgotten the origin of iron. Väinämöinen remembered and started singing, describing how "Of the mothers air is oldest,
Water is the oldest brother, And the fire is second brother, And the youngest brother, iron." He sang about the supreme god Ukko, the first creator and maker of the heavens. Ukko divided
air from water, and water from earth. He then rubbed his hands together on his knee, and thus were created the three daughters of Ukko, lovely maidens already fully grown:
Then arose three lovely maidens,
Three most beautiful of daughters;
These were mothers of the iron,
And of steel of bright-blue color.
Tremblingly they walked the heavens,
Walked the clouds with silver linings,
With their bosoms overflowing
With the milk of future iron,
Flowing on and flowing ever,
From the bright rims of the cloudlets
To the earth, the valleys filling,
To the slumber-calling waters.
Ukko's eldest daughter sprinkled black milk, while the second daughter poured white milk, and the youngest daughter's milk was red. From the black milk grew mellow and resilient iron
that was good for forging; the white milk formed into durable, light-colored steel; and the red milk turned into hard and brittle cast iron.
The Origin of Iron (Ukko's three daughters) by the Russian artist Vladimir Fomin, 1998 - larger picture here
Time passed. Iron wanted to meet his elder brother, Fire. Upon the meeting Fire began to roar and attempted to consume his beloved younger brother. Iron made an escape and hid from
Fire by sinking himself in the cool and peaceful waters of swamps and springs *). For many ages Iron was preserved in hiding, shielded from Fire in his dark and damp dwellings. Then one
day a wolf ran over the swamp and a bear roamed in the moors, disturbing the peat. In their pawprints, Iron rose to the surface.
The eternal hammerer, Blacksmith Ilmarinen was born as a grown man at night:
Then the blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
Came to earth to work the metal;
He was born upon the Coal-mount,
Skilled and nurtured in the coal-fields;
In one hand, a copper hammer,
In the other, tongs of iron;
In the night was born the blacksmith,
In the morn he built his smithy,
Sought with care a favored hillock,
Where the winds might fill his bellows;
Found a hillock in the swamp-lands,
Where the iron hid abundant;
There he built his smelting furnace,
There he laid his leathern bellows,
Hastened where the wolves had travelled,
Followed where the bears had trampled,
Found the iron's young formations,
In the wolf-tracks of the marshes,
In the foot-prints of the gray-bear.
 
Ilmarinen by Nicolai Kochberg - larger picture here and here
Ilmarinen addressed the sleeping Iron, taking pity on that most useful of metals that had been hiding in low conditions, treaded by the wolf and the bear. "Hast thou thought and well
considered, What would be thy future station, Should I place thee in the furnace, Thus to make thee free and useful?" Poor iron took fright and was terrified when hearing his destroyer,
Fire, mentioned. Ilmarinen spoke to him soothingly, ensuring him that Fire would not harm his nearest kindred. He called Iron to dwell, grow and prosper in his room and furnace, thus
becoming swords for men and buckles for women.
Ere arose the star of evening,
Iron ore had left the marshes,
From the water-beds had risen,
Had been carried to the furnace,
In the fire the smith had laid it,
Laid it in his smelting furnace.
Ilmarinen starts the bellows,
Gives three motions of the handle,
And the iron flows in streamlets
From the forge of the magician,
Soon becomes like baker's leaven,
Soft as dough for bread of barley.
Then out-screamed the metal, Iron:
'Wondrous blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
Take, O take me from thy furnace,
From this fire and cruel torture.'
The blacksmith voiced his doubts that if Iron was to be removed from the furnace he might grow evil and turn against his kin, causing blood-letting; Iron was to cut wood and stone
alone, not flesh. Iron was desperate to escape from Fire and made an oath:
Straightway Iron made this promise,
Vowed and swore in strongest accents,
By the furnace, by the anvil,
By the tongs, and by the hammer,
These the words he vowed and uttered:
'Many trees that I shall injure,
Shall devour the hearts of mountains,
Shall not slay my nearest kindred,
Shall not kill the best of heroes,
Shall not wound my dearest brother;
Better live in civil freedom,
Happier would be my life-time,
Should I serve my fellow-beings,
Serve as tools for their convenience,
Than as implements of warfare,
Slay my friends and nearest kindred,
Wound the children of my mother.'
The master smith Ilmarinen removed Iron from the furnace, placed it upon the anvil and "Hammers well until it softens, Hammers many fine utensils, Hammers spears, and swords, and axes,
Hammers knives, and forks, and hatchets, Hammers tools of all descriptions." But still something was lacking. Iron would not be hammered into steel nor hardened properly to be of use.
Ilmarinen considered the matter and thought up a solution by steeping birch ashes and making a lye as quenching water to harden Iron into steel. Then he tasted the lye on his tongue
and realized it would not be good enough for quenching Iron.
Ilmarinen tattoo by Tuomas Koivurinne in DeviantArt
A bee flew in from the meadow and danced in the air inside the blacksmith's forge. Ilmarinen saw his chance to make the quenching water more agreeable to Iron:
Thus the smith the bee addresses,
These the words of Ilmarinen:
"Little bee, thou tiny birdling,
Bring me honey on thy winglets,
On thy tongue, I pray thee, bring me
Sweetness from the fragrant meadows,
From the little cups of flowers,
From the tips of seven petals,
That we thus may aid the water
To produce the steel from iron."
But unbeknownst to both Ilmarinen and the bee, a hornet, evil Hiisi's creature sat on the cottage cable and heard them. The hornet flew out on a mission to damage Ilmarinen's plan.
Swiftly flew the stinging hornet,
Scattered all the Hisi horrors,
Brought the blessing of the serpent,
Brought the venom of the adder,
Brought the poison of the spider,
Brought the stings of all the insects,
Mixed them with the ore and water,
While the steel was being tempered.
(In the original poem, the hornet's malicious "gifts" included black mash of the worm, venom of the ant, and grudge of the frog.) The hornet dropped his offerings in the lye, and
Ilmarinen mistook the insect for the bee, thinking that sweet and fragrant honey had now made the lye suitable for steel-making. He removed the poor Iron from the furnace and
cast him in the lye.
The Iron, now sunk in bitter and poisonous waters, grew furious and broke his word -
Ate his words like dogs and devils,
Mercilessly cut his brother,
Madly raged against his kindred,
Caused the blood to flow in streamlets
From the wounds of man and hero.
This, the origin of iron,
And of steel of light blue color.
Thus Iron was born from the milk shed by the supreme god Ukko's three daughters; tamed and forged by the eternal hammerer, blacksmith Ilmarinen; and broke his oath
because of the hornet's mean prank, making blood flow from wounds to this very day.
 
The bee and the hornet
**********
Artist Veera Voima sings the origin of Iron (lyrics almost straight from the poem and in the Kalevala metre; rauta = iron in Finnish).
Notes:
*) The iron being risen from the swamp is historically correct, because most of the iron produced in Finland since the Iron Age until as late as the 18th century was made from the iron ore found in swamps or lakes; it was also used to make red ochre.
In ancient times, wounds caused by iron tools and weapons were healed in part by speaking the incantation for the origin of iron. The intention was to remind iron of its oath and of the fact that it is in debt to mankind who had drawn it from the swamp and refined it from its former state of mire. Iron was not authorized to shed blood and it was told to repair the damage it had done.
|
|
Attachments:
|
hiilihinkalo.jpg
(27.5 KB)
|
|
|
rauta2.jpg
(23.6 KB)
|
|
|
rauta_Vladimir Fomin 1998 (Custom).jpg
(48.3 KB)
|
|
|
Ilmarinen The Eternal Hammerer_2 (Custom).jpg
(45.4 KB)
|
|
|
nicolai kochergin_kalevala_05_ilmarinen crafts the sampo_04 (Custom).jpg
(45.7 KB)
|
|
|
ilmari10 (Custom).gif
(27.8 KB)
|
|
|
images_Ilmarinen.jpg
(12.5 KB)
|
|
|
Bee+in+purple_(Custom).jpg
(36.9 KB)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
May 19 2015, 8:37pm
Post #15 of 16
(5078 views)
Shortcut
|
After the origin of iron had been recited, the old man rose from the hearth and addressed iron in a long ritualistic speech:
"Once thou wert of little value,
Having neither form nor beauty,
Neither strength nor great importance,
When in form of milk thou rested,
When for ages thou wert hidden
In the breasts of God's three daughters,
Hidden in their heaving bosoms,
On the borders of the cloudlets,
In the blue vault of the heavens..."
The early days of iron were repeated in verse, with the old man reminding iron how he had been lying on the marshes, trampled on by animals,
raised from the swamp, and forged by the blacksmith Ilmarinen. He scolded iron:
"Now forsooth thou hast grown mighty,
Thou canst rage in wildest fury;
Thou hast broken all thy pledges,
All thy solemn vows hast broken,
Like the dogs thou shamest honor,
Shamest both thyself and kindred,
Tainted all with breath of evil.
Tell who drove thee to this mischief,
Tell who taught thee all thy malice,
Tell who gavest thee thine evil!"
The old man concluded that it had not been iron's father, mother, brother nor sister, but iron himself that had done mischief and should now make
amends. He then proceeded to plead with blood to stop it from flowing:
"Crimson streamlet, cease thy flowing
From the wounds of Wainamoinen;
Blood of ages, stop thy coursing
From the veins of the magician;
Stand like heaven's crystal pillars,
Stand like columns in the ocean,
Stand like birch-trees in the forest,
Like the tall reeds in the marshes,
Like the high-rocks on the sea-coast,
Stand by power of mighty magic!"
He suggested that should blood want to keep flowing, it was better to do so through vein, muscle and bone, instead of falling to the ground.
When still further pleading was to no avail, the old man called for the supreme god Ukko for help:
"If these means be inefficient,
Should these measures prove unworthy,
I shall call omniscient Ukko,
Mightiest of the creators,
Stronger than all ancient heroes,
Wiser than the world-magicians;
He will check the crimson out-flow,
He will heal this wound of hatchet."
"Ukko, God of love and mercy, *)
God and Master Of the heavens,
Come thou hither, thou art needed,
Come thou quickly I beseech thee,
Lend thy hand to aid thy children,
Touch this wound with healing fingers,
Stop this hero's streaming life-blood,
Bind this wound with tender leaflets,
Mingle with them healing flowers,
Thus to check this crimson current,
Thus to save this great magician,
Save the life of Wainamoinen."
Finally the bleeding halted. The old man sent his son to the smithy to prepare ointments from herbs and nectar. On the way to the smithy the boy
came by an oak tree and asked if there was sweet sap flowing in its branches. The oak answered: "Yea, but last night dripped the honey
Down upon my spreading branches, And the clouds their fragrance sifted, Sifted honey on my leaflets, From their home within the heavens."
The boy collected oak splinters and herbs, and then boiled them in a cauldron for three days. When he examined the salve and found it wanting,
he added different herbs collected from faraway lands and steeped the balsam for nine more days and nights. He then tried the salve on an aspen
tree that had been split in half, and the halves grew back together and the tree thrived once again. Next he tried the salve by spreading it over
rocks that had crumbled down, and the rock halves also clung together and formed larger, whole standing stones.
The boy brought his balsam to his father, who tasted it on his tongue and found it worthy. The old man anointed Väinämöinen with the salve and
chanted ancient words:
"Do not walk in thine own virtue,
Do not work in thine own power,
Walk in strength of thy Creator;
Do not speak in thine own wisdom,
Speak with tongue of mighty Ukko.
In my mouth, if there be sweetness,
It has come from my Creator;
If my bands are filled with beauty,
All the beauty comes from Ukko."
When Väinämöinen had received the healing balsam, he started in great pain and tossed without rest.
When the wounds had been anointed,
When the magic salve had touched them,
Straightway ancient Wainamoinen
Suffered fearful pain and anguish,
Sank upon the floor in torment,
Turning one way, then another,
Sought for rest and found it nowhere,
Till his pain the gray-beard banished,
Banished by the aid of magic,
Drove away his killing torment
To the court of all our trouble,
To the highest hill of torture,
To the distant rocks and ledges,
To the evil-bearing mountains,
To the realm of wicked Hisi.
The old man drove the pain away, cut lengths of silk into bandages and wrapped them around Väinämöinen's foot while uttering a blessing:
"Ukko's fabric is the bandage,
Ukko's science is the surgeon,
These have served the wounded hero,
Wrapped the wounds of the magician.
Look upon us, God of mercy,
Come and guard us, kind Creator,
And protect us from all evil!"
Väinämöinen by MartaNael in DeviantArt (looking rather dwarvish...)
Väinämöinen was eased from his pain and felt his strength returning. No longer was his blood flowing forth, no more were pain and trouble hindering
his walking. The old sage turned his eyes heavenwards with gratitude and offered his thanks for Ukko's aid:
"O be praised, thou God of mercy,
Let me praise thee, my Creator,
Since thou gavest me assistance,
And vouchsafed me thy protection,
Healed my wounds and stilled mine anguish,
Banished all my pain and trouble,
Caused by Iron and by Hisi.
O, ye people of Wainola,
People of this generation,
And the folk of future ages,
Fashion not in emulation,
River boat, nor ocean shallop,
Boasting of its fine appearance,
God alone can work completion,
Give to cause its perfect ending,
Never hand of man can find it,
Never can the hero give it,
Ukko is the only Master."
*) In the original poem Ukko is not called "god of love and mercy" (remember Lempo as the god[dess] of love) - instead he is referred to as "Creator above" and "heavenly god."
|
|
Attachments:
|
alanen_runo9_labBW (Custom) (2).jpg
(46.3 KB)
|
|
|
metsäranta (Custom).jpg
(44.3 KB)
|
|
|
tumblr_nhw2i5iY0q1r2jj5io1_1420771758_cover.jpg
(10.9 KB)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
Jun 16 2015, 6:40pm
Post #16 of 16
(4965 views)
Shortcut
|
|
How the Blacksmith Ilmarinen was Tricked and Flown by a Giant Fir Tree
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Väinämöinen had not heeded the warning that Louhi gave him upon leaving Pohjola; he had lifted his eyes to heaven while still on his journey, to admire the maiden
spinning the rainbow, and dire mistfortune had befallen him like Louhi, mistress of the Northland, had foretold. He had almost perished from the wound in his foot.
Rescued by the old man's treatment, the salve made by his son, and finally the divine intervention by the supreme god Ukko, Väinämöinen was once again in good health
and harnessed his steed, making his way homeward in his sledge. On the third day he arrived in the familiar meadows of Kalevala, and there he spoke aloud words of ill
wishes for his adversary Joukahainen: "May the wolves devour the dreamer, Eat the Laplander for dinner, May disease destroy the braggart, Him who said that I should never
See again my much-loved home-land, Nevermore behold my kindred, ..."
The old sage had promised Louhi that he would make the blacksmith Ilmarinen forge the magical Sampo for her. Before he went to visit Ilmarinen, Väinämöinen sang a wondrous
incantation, creating a giant fir tree whose branches lifted to heavens, and then the Moon and starts to shine on the treetop:
Sang aloft a wondrous pine-tree,
Till it pierced the clouds in growing
With its golden top and branches,
Till it touched the very heavens,
Spread its branches in the ether,
In the ever-shining sunlight.
Now he sings again enchanting,
Sings the Moon to shine forever
In the fir-tree's emerald branches;
In its top he sings the Great Bear.
Väinämöinen continued his way, crestfallen and plagued by guilt, for having promised Ilmarinen as ransom for his own chance to arrive home in safety. In time he came by the blacksmith's
forge, hearing the beating of a heavy hammer from within. He entered and was addressed by the blacksmith, who asked him where he had been hiding for so long. Väinämöinen told
Ilmarinen that he had spent the week in the dark and dismal northland, where there also lived a fair maiden, famous beauty who would not accept a hero of Väinämöinen's talent for a lover,
but could be attainable for the blacksmith if he forged a magic Sampo in exchange. Ilmarinen realized straightaway that the old magician had promised him as ransom, and vowed never to
set foot in the northern shores of Pohjola. Väinämöinen then told of another magnificent sight he had witnessed: there was a formidable fir tree growing in the nearby meadow. Ilmarinen refused
to believe such a tale unless he could see it with his own eyes, and so the mage and the blacksmith set out to see the tree.
 
1) Statue of Ilmarinen by Robert Stigell (1888), flanking the main entrance to the "Old Student House" (originally a meeting place for university students, inaugurated 1870)
2) Ilmarinen by Georgy Adamovich Stronk (1956)
Ilmarinen stood in amazement, beholding the wondrous tree, when Väinämöinen spoke to him: "Climb this tree, dear Ilmarinen, And bring down the golden moonbeams, Bring the Moon and
Bear down with thee From the fir-tree's lofty branches." Ilmarinen accepted the suggestion and climbed the fir-tree, reaching its upper branches before the fir spoke to him: "O thou senseless,
thoughtless hero, Thou hast neither wit nor instinct; Thou dost climb my golden branches, Like a thing of little judgment, Thus to get my pictured moonbeams, Take away my silver starlight,
Steal my Bear and blooming branches."
Väinämöinen saw that his scheme was working, and quickly sang a storm-wind to whip the fir-trees branches, telling the wind to take the smith and carry him into the darksome northland.
Now the storm-wind quickly darkens,
Quickly piles the air together,
Makes of air a sailing vessel,
Takes the blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
Fleetly from the fir-tree branches,
Toward the never-pleasant Northland,
Toward the dismal Sariola.
Through the air sailed Ilmarinen,
Fast and far the hero travelled,
Sweeping onward, sailing northward,
Riding in the track of storm-winds,
O'er the Moon, beneath the sunshine,
On the broad back of the Great Bear,
Till he neared Pohyola's woodlands,
Neared the homes of Sariola,
And alighted undiscovered,
Was Dot noticed by the hunters,
Was not scented by the watch-dogs.
 
1) Art by Robert Wilhelm Ekman (1808-1873)
2) Art by S. A. Keinänen (1892) - here Ilmarinen seems to ride the (normal-sized) fir tree itself
 
1) Ilmarinen flies over the Moon, by Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1892)
2) From a Kalevala-themed set of Tarot cards
Louhi, the ancient mistress of Pohjola, was standing in the open courtyard and noticed Ilmarinen, asking him who he was that he could arrive without the dogs taking notice. Ilmarinen answered
in a vague manner that he had not come to Pohjola to be barked at by dogs. Louhi then asked him if he was aware of the whereabouts of the skilled blacksmith Ilmarinen, whose arrival had been
eagerly awaited for a week. Ilmarinen admitted to being the mighty smith himself. Louhi hastened to her halls and addressed her daughter:
"Come, thou youngest of my daughters,
Come, thou fairest of my maidens,
Dress thyself in finest raiment,
Deck thy hair with rarest jewels,
Pearls upon thy swelling bosom,
On thy neck, a golden necklace,
Bind thy head with silken ribbons,
Make thy cheeks look fresh and ruddy,
And thy visage fair and winsome,
Since the artist, Ilmarinen,
Hither comes from Kalevala,
Here to forge for us the Sampo,
Hammer us the lid in colors."
Art by Nikolai Kochberg
The fair maiden quickly went to her wooden storehouse and soon came out dressed in all her finery, wearing silver bands in her head and golden necklaces on her bosom, eyes bright and cheeks
flushed in joy. Louhi led Ilmarinen in her dining hall and offered him all food and drink of the best quality, and then spoke to him:
"O thou blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
Master of the forge and smithy,
Canst thou forge for me the Sampo,
Hammer me 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?*
Thou shalt have my fairest daughter,
Recompense for this thy service."
Ilmarinen told her that he could indeed forge the magical Sampo, "Since I forged the arch of heaven, Forged the air a concave cover, Ere the earth had a beginning."
Louhi. Mistress of the Northland
|
|
Attachments:
|
510801937_8a505839f3 (Custom).jpg
(34.9 KB)
|
|
|
Ilmarinen by Georgy Adamovich Stronk 1956 (Custom).jpg
(40.2 KB)
|
|
|
ekman-VÄinÄmÖinen laulaa loitsuja (Custom).jpg
(46.4 KB)
|
|
|
16eb7e6bfd1b5c6f49fed5592f505c47b7cd68e0.jpg
(39.1 KB)
|
|
|
Ilmarinen lentää kuun yli 1892.jpg
(14.0 KB)
|
|
|
kalevala6S (Custom).jpg
(28.1 KB)
|
|
|
nicolai kochergin_kalevala_05_ilmarinen crafts the sampo_03 (Custom).jpg
(48.5 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
Beautiful and wondrous
[
Wonderful, as usual!
[