Kalevala (Kirby 1907)/Runo 12
Runo II.—Lemminkainen's First Expedition to Pohjola
Argument
Kyllikki forgets her oath and goes to the village, whereupon Lemminkainen is enraged and resolves to divorce her immediately, and to set forth to woo the Maiden of Pohja (1-128). His mother does her utmost to dissuade him, telling him that he will very probably be killed. Lemminkainen, who is brushing his hair, throws the brush angrily out of his hand and declares that blood shall flow from the brush if he should come to harm (129-212). He makes ready, starts on his journey, comes to Pohjola, and sings all the men out of the homestead of Pohjola; and only neglects to enchant one wicked cowherd (213-504).
Then did Ahti Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukolainen
Live awhile a life of quiet
With the young bride he had chosen,
And he went not forth to battle,
Nor went Kylli to the village.
But at length one day it happened
In the early morning hours,
Forth went Ahti Lemminkainen
To the place where spawn the fishes,10
And he came not home at evening,
And at nightfall he returned not.
Kyllikki then sought the village,
There to dance with sportive maidens.
Who shall now the tidings carry,
Who will now convey a message?
Ainikki ’twas, Ahti’s sister,
She it was who brought the tidings,
She it was conveyed the message.
“Ahti, O my dearest brother,20
Kyllikki has sought the village,
Entered there the doors of strangers,
Where the village girls are sporting,
Dancing with unbraided tresses.”
Ahti then, for ever boyish,
He the lively Lemminkainen,
Grew both sorrowful and angry,
And for long was wild with fury,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“O my mother, aged woman,30
Wash my shirt, and wash it quickly
In the black snake’s deadly venom,
Dry it then, and dry it quickly
That I may go forth to battle,
And contend with youths of Pohja,
And o’erthrow the youths of Lapland.
Kyllikki has sought the village,
Entered there the doors of strangers,
There to dance with sportive maidens,
With their tresses all unbraided.”40
Kyllikki made answer promptly,
She his favoured bride responded:
“Ahti, O my dearest husband,
Do not now depart to battle!
I beheld while I was sleeping,
While my slumber was the deepest,
From the hearth the flames were flashing,
Flashing forth with dazzling brightness,
Leaping up below the windows,
To the furthest walls extending,50
Then throughout the house blazed fiercely,
Like a cataract in its fury,
O’er the surface of the flooring,
And from window unto window.”
But the lively Lemminkainen
Answered in the words which follow:
“Nought I trust in dreams of women,
Nor rely on woman’s insight.
O my mother who hast borne me,
Bring me here my war-shirt quickly,60
Bring me, too, my mail for battle,
For my inclination leads me
Hence to drink the beer of battle,
And to taste the mead of combat.”
Then his mother spoke in answer:
“O my son, my dearest Ahti,
Do thou not go forth to battle!
In the house is beer in plenty,
In the barrels made of alder,
And behind the taps of oakwood.70
It is seasoned now for drinking,
And all day canst thou be singing.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“But for home-brewed ale I care not,
Rather would I drink stream-water,
From the end of tarry rudder,
And this drink were sweeter to me
Than the beer in all our cellars.
Bring me here my war-shirt quickly,
Bring me, too, my mail for battle.80
I will seek the homes of Pohja,
And o’erthrow the youths of Lapland,
And for gold will ask the people,
And I will demand their silver.”
Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,
“O my son, my dearest Ahti,
We ourselves have gold in plenty,
Silver plenty in the storeroom.
Only yesterday it happened,
In the early hours of morning,90
Ploughed the slave a field of vipers,
Full of twining, twisting serpents,
And a chest-lid raised the ploughshare,
And the chest was full of money.
Coins by hundreds there were hidden,
Thousands there were squeezed together,
To our stores the chest was carried,
In the loft we stored it safely.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“Nought I care for home-stored treasures.100
I will win me marks in battle,
Treasures won by far are better,
Than the gold in all our storerooms,
Or the silver found in ploughing.
Bring me here my war-shirt quickly,
Bring me, too, my mail for battle,
I will go to war in Pohja,
To destroy the sons of Lapland.
“There my inclination leads me
And my understanding drives me,110
And my own ears shall inform me,
And my own eyes show me truly,
If in Pohjola a maiden,
In Pimentola a maiden,
Is not longing for a lover,
For the best of men desirous.”
Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,
“O my son, my dearest Ahti,
Kyllikki at home is with thee,
Fairest she of all the housewives.120
Strange it were to see two women
In a bed beside one husband.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“Kyllikki has sought the village.
Let her go to all the dances,
Let her sleep in all the houses,
Where the village girls are sporting,
Dancing with unbraided tresses.”
Still his mother would dissuade him,
And the aged woman warned him:130
“Yet beware, my son, and go not
Unto Pohjola’s dread homestead,
Destitute of magic knowledge,
Destitute of all experience,
There to meet the youths of Pohja,
And to conquer Lapland’s children!
There the Laplanders will sing you,
And the Turja men will thrust you,
Head in clay, and mouth in charcoal,
With your arms where sparks are flying,140
And your hands in glowing embers,
There upon the burning hearthstones.”
Lemminkainen heard and answered:
“Once some sorcerers would enchant me,
Wizards charm, and snakes would blast me,
As three Laplanders attempted
Through the night in time of summer,
On a rock all naked standing,
Wearing neither clothes nor waistband;
Not a rag was twisted round them,150
But they got what I could give them,
Like the miserable codfish,
Like the axe on stone that’s battered,
Or against the rock the auger,
Or on slippery ice a sabot,
Or like Death in empty houses.
“Otherwise indeed they threatened,
Otherwise events had happened,
For they wanted to o’erthrow me,
Threatened they would sink me deeply160
In the swamp when I was walking,
That in mire I might be sunken,
In the mud my chin pushed downward,
And my beard in filthy places.
But indeed a man they found me,
And they did not greatly fright me.
I myself put forth my magic,
And began my spells to mutter,
Sang the wizards with their arrows,
And the archers with their weapons,170
Sorcerers with their knives of iron,
Soothsayers with their pointed weapons,
Under Tuoni’s mighty Cataract,
Where the surge is most terrific,
Underneath the highest cataract,
’Neath the worst of all the whirlpools.
There the sorcerers now may slumber,
There repose beneath their blankets,
Till the grass may spring above them,
Through their heads and caps sprout upward,180
Through the arm-pits of the sorcerers,
Piercing through their shoulder-muscles,
While the wizards sleep in soundness,
Sleeping there without protection.”
Still his mother would restrain him,
Hinder Lemminkainen’s journey,
Once again her son dissuaded,
And the dame held back the hero.
“Do not go, O do not venture
To that cold and dreary village,190
To the gloomy land of Pohja.
There destruction sure awaits you,
Evil waits for thee, unhappy,
Ruin, lively Lemminkainen!
Hadst thou hundred mouths to speak with,
Even so, one could not think it,
Nor that by thy songs of magic
Lapland’s sons would be confounded,
For you know not Turja’s language,
Not the tongue they speak in Lapland.”200
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
As it chanced, his hair was brushing,
And with greatest neatness brushed it.
To the wall his brush then cast he,
To the stove the comb flung after,
And again he spoke and answered,
In the very words which follow:
“Ruin falls on Lemminkainen,
Evil waits for him unhappy,210
When the brush with blood is running,
And the comb with blood is streaming.”
Then went lively Lemminkainen,
To the gloomy land of Pohja,
’Spite the warnings of his mother,
’Gainst the aged woman’s counsel.
First he armed him, and he girt him,
In his coat of mail he clad him,
With a belt of steel encompassed,
And he spoke the words which follow:220
“Stronger feels a man in armour,
In the best of iron mail-coats,
And of steel a magic girdle,
As a wizard ’gainst magicians.
Then no trouble need alarm him,
Nor the greatest evil fright him.”
Then he grasped his sword so trusty,
Took his blade, like flame that glittered,
Which by Hiisi’s self was whetted,
And by Jumala was polished.230
By his side the hero girt it,
Thrust in sheath with leather lining.
How shall now the man conceal him,
And the mighty hero hide him?
There a little time he hid him,
And the mighty one concealed him,
'Neath the beam above the doorway,
By the doorpost of the chamber,
In the courtyard by the hayloft,
By the gate of all the furthest.240
Thus it was the hero hid him
From the sight of all the women,
But such art is not sufficient,
And such caution would not serve him,
For he likewise must protect him
From the heroes of the people,
There where two roads have their parting,
On a blue rock’s lofty summit,
And upon the quaking marshes,
Where the waves are swiftly coursing,250
Where the waterfall is rushing,
In the winding of the rapids.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Spoke the very words which follow:
“Rise ye up from earth, O swordsmen,
You, the earth’s primeval heroes,
From the wells arise, ye warriors,
From the rivers rise, ye bowmen!
With thy dwarfs arise, O woodland,
Forest, come with all thy people,260
Mountain-Ancient, with thy forces,
Water-Hiisi, with thy terrors,
Water-Mistress, with thy people,
With thy scouts, O Water-Father,
All ye maidens from the valleys,
Richly robed, among the marshes,
Come ye to protect a hero,
Comrades of a youth most famous,
That the sorcerers’ arrows strike not,
Nor the swords of the magicians,270
Nor the knife-blades of enchanters,
Nor the weapons of the archers.
“If this be not yet sufficient,
Still I know of other measures,
And implore the very Highest,
Even Ukko in the heavens,
He of all the clouds the ruler,
Of the scattered clouds conductor.
“Ukko, thou of Gods the highest,
Aged Father in the heavens,280
Thou amidst the clouds who breathest,
Thou amid the air who speakest,
Give me here a sword of fire,
By a sheath of fire protected,
That I may resist misfortune,
And I may avoid destruction,
Overthrow the powers infernal,
Overcome the water-sorcerers,
That all foes that stand before me,
And the foes who stand behind me,290
And above me and beside me,
May be forced to own my power.
Crush the sorcerers, with their arrows,
The magicians, with their knife-blades,
And the wizards with their sword-blades,
All the scoundrels with their weapons.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
From the bush his courser whistled,
From the grass, the gold-maned courser.300
Thereupon the horse he harnessed,
In the shafts the fiery courser,
In the sledge himself he seated,
And the sledge began to rattle.
O’er the horse his whip he flourished,
Cracked the whip, and urged him onward,
Started quickly on his journey.
Rocked the sledge, the way grew shorter,
And the silver sand was scattered,
And the golden heather crackled.310
Thus he drove one day, a second,
Drove upon the third day likewise,
And at length upon the third day
Came the hero to a village.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Drove the rattling sledge straight onward
Forth along the furthest pathway,
To the furthest of the houses,
And he asked upon the threshold,
Speaking from behind the window:320
“Is there some one in this household
Who can loose my horse’s harness,
And can sink the shaft-poles for me,
And can loose the horse’s collar?”
From the floor a child made answer,
And a boy from out the doorway:
“There is no one in this threshold,
Who can loose your horse’s harness,
Or can sink the shaft-poles for you,
Or can loose the horse’s collar.”330
Little troubled Lemminkainen,
O’er the horse his whip he brandished,
With the beaded whip he smote him,
Drove the rattling sledge straight onward,
On the midmost of the pathways
To the midmost of the houses,
And he asked upon the threshold,
And beneath the eaves he shouted:
“Is there no one in this household
Who will hold the horse-reins for me,340
And the chest-bands will unloosen,
That the foaming steed may rest him?”
From the stove a crone responded
From the stove-bench cried a gossip:
“There are plenty in this household
Who can hold the horse-reins for you,
And the chest-bands can unloosen,
And can sink the shaft-poles for you.
Perhaps ten men may be sufficient,
Or a hundred if you need them,350
Who would raise their sticks against you,
Give you, too, a beast of burden,
And would drive you homeward, rascal,
To your country, wretched creature,
To the household of your father,
To the dwelling of your mother,
To the gateway of your brother,
To the threshold of your sister,
Ere this very day is ended,
Ere the sun has reached its setting.”360
Little heeded Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“May they shoot the crone, and club her,
On her pointed chin, and kill her.”
Then again he hurried onward,
Thundering on upon his journey,
On the highest of the pathways,
To the highest of the houses.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Reached the house to which he journeyed,370
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in thiswise:
“Stop the barker’s mouth, O Hiisi,
And the dog’s jaws close, O Lempo,
And his mouth securely muzzle,
That his gagged teeth may be harmless,
That he may not bark a warning
When a man is passing by him.”
As he came into the courtyard,
On the ground he slashed his whiplash,380
From the spot a cloud rose upward,
In the cloud a dwarf was standing,
And he quickly loosed the chest-bands,
And the shafts he then let downward.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Listened with his ears attentive,
But no person there observed him,
So that no one present knew it.
Out of doors he heard a singing,
Through the moss he heard them speaking,390
Through the walls heard music playing,
Through the shutters heard a singing.
In the house he cast his glances,
Gazed into the room in secret,
And the house was full of wizards,
And the benches full of singers,
By the walls there sat musicians.
Seers were sitting in the doorway,
On the upper benches sorcerers,
By the hearth were soothsayers seated,400
There a Lapland bard was singing,
Hoarsely singing songs of Hiisi.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Thought it wise to change his figure,
To another shape transformed him,
Left his hiding place, and entered,
Thrust himself into the chamber,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“Fine a song may be when ended,
Grandest are the shortest verses,410
Wisdom better when unspoken,
Than in midmost interrupted.”
Then came Pohjola’s old Mistress,
On the floor advancing swiftly,
Till she reached the chamber’s middle,
And she spoke these words in answer:
“Once there was a dog among us,
And a shaggy iron-haired puppy,
Eating flesh, of bones a biter,
One who licked the blood when freshest.420
Who among mankind may you be,
Who among the list of heroes,
Boldly thus the house to enter,
Pushing right into the chamber,
Yet the dogs have never heard you,
Nor have warned us with their barking?”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“Surely I have not come hither,
Void of art and void of knowledge,
Void of strength and void of cunning,430
Taught not magic by my father,
And without my parents’ counsel,
That the dogs should now devour me,
And the barkers should attack me.
“But it was my mother washed me,
When a boy both small and slender,
Three times in the nights of summer,
Nine times in the nights of autumn,
And she taught me all the pathways,
And the knowledge of all countries,440
And at home sang songs of magic,
Likewise too in foreign countries.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Soon began his songs of magic,
All at once began his singing,
Fire flashed from his fur-cloak’s borders,
And his eyes with flame were shining,
With the songs of Lemminkainen,
As he sang his spells of magic.450
Sang the very best of singers
To the worst of all the singers,
And he fed their mouths with pebbles,
And he piled up rocks above them,
On the best of all the singers,
And most skilful of magicians.
Then he sang the men thereafter
Both to one side and the other,
To the plains, all bare and treeless,
To the lands, unploughed for ever,460
To the ponds, devoid of fishes,
Where no perch has ever wandered,
To the dreadful falls of Rutja,
And amid the roaring whirlpools,
Underneath the foaming river,
To the rocks beneath the cataract,
There to burn as if ’mid fire,
And to scatter sparks around them.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Sang his songs against the swordsmen.470
Sang the heroes with their weapons,
Sang the young men, sang the old men,
And the men of age between them,
And his songs spared one man only,
And he was a wicked cowherd,
Old, with eyes both closed and sightless.
Märkahättu then, the cowherd,
Spoke the very words which follow:
“O thou lively son of Lempi,
Thou hast banned the young and old men,480
Banned the men of age between them,
Wherefore hast not banned me likewise?”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“Therefore ’tis that I have spared thee,
That thou dost appear so wretched,
Pitiful without my magic.
In the days when thou wast younger,
Thou wast worst of all the cowherds,
Hast destroyed thy mother’s children,
And disgraced thy very sister,490
All the horses hast thou crippled,
All the foals hast thou outwearied,
In the swamps or stony places,
Plashing through the muddy waters.”
Märkahättu then, the cowherd,
Greatly vexed, and greatly angry,
Through the open door went quickly,
Through the yard to open country,
Ran to Tuonela’s deep river,
To the dreadful river’s whirlpool,500
Waited there for Kaukomieli,
Waited there for Lemminkainen,
Till on his return from Pohja,
He should make his journey homeward.