Kalevala (Kirby 1907)/Runo 49
Runo XLVIX.—False and True Moons and Suns
Argument
Ilmarinen forges a new moon and sun but cannot make them shine (1-74). Väinämöinen discovers by divination that the moon and sun are hidden in the mountain of Pohjola, goes to Pohjola and conquers the whole nation (75-230). He sees the moon and sun in the mountain, but cannot enter (231-278). He returns home to procure tools with which to break open the mountain. While Ilmarinen is forging them, the Mistress of Pohjola, fearing that it may go ill with her, releases the moon and sun (279-362). When Väinämöinen sees the moon and sun reappear in the sky, he salutes them, hoping that they will always go brightly on their course, and bring happiness to the country (363-422).
Still the sun was never shining,
Neither gleamed the golden moonlight,
Not in Väinöla’s dark dwellings,
Not on Kalevala’s broad heathlands.
Frost upon the crops descended,
And the cattle suffered greatly,
And the birds of air felt strangely,
All mankind felt ever mournful,
For the sunlight shone no longer,
Neither did there shine the moonlight.10
Though the pike knew well the pike-deeps,
And the bird-paths knew the eagle,
And the wind the vessel’s journey,
Yet mankind were all unknowing
If the time was really morning,
Or if perhaps it still was night-time,
Out upon the cloudy headland,
And upon the shady island.
And the young men then took counsel,
And the older men considered20
How to live without the moonlight,
And exist without the sunlight,
In that miserable country,
In the wretched land of Pohja.
And the girls took likewise counsel,
And their cousins too considered;
And they hastened to the smithy,
And they spoke the words which follow:
“Smith, from ’neath the wall arise thou,
From the hearthstone rise, O craftsman,30
That a new moon thou may’st forge us,
And a new sun thou may’st make us.
Ill it is without the moonlight,
Strange it is without the sunlight.”
From the hearth arose the craftsman,
From beneath the wall the craftsman,
That a new moon he might forge them,
And a new sun he might make them,
And a moon of gold constructed,
And a sun he made of silver.40
Came the aged Väinämöinen,
And beside the door he sat him,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“O thou smith, my dearest brother,
What art thou in smithy forging,
Hammering thus without cessation?”
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Answered in the words that follow:
“Out of gold a moon I’m shaping,
And a sun of silver making,50
In the sky I then will place them,
Over six of starry heavens.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Answered in the words that follow:
“O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,
What you make is wholly useless.
Gold will never shine like moonlight,
Silver will not shine like sunlight.”
Thus the smith a moon constructed,
And a sun completely finished,60
Eagerly he raised them upward,
Raised them to the best position,
Raised the moon to fir-tree’s summit,
Set the sun upon a pine-tree.
From his head the sweat was streaming,
From his forehead sweat was falling,
With the greatness of his efforts,
And the weight that he was lifting.
Thus the moon was now uplifted,
In his place the sun was stationed,70
Moon amid the crown of fir-tree,
Sun upon a pine-tree’s summit,
But the moon shed forth no lustre,
And the sun was likewise rayless.
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Spoke aloud the words which follow:
“Time it is the lots to shuffle,
And the signs with care to question
Where the sun is hidden from us,
And the moon has vanished from us.”80
Then the aged Väinämöinen,
He the great primeval sorcerer,
Hastened alder-sticks to cut him,
And arranged the sticks in order,
And began the lots to shuffle,
With his fingers to arrange them,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
“Leave I ask of the Creator,
Seek an answer that misleads not.90
Tell me, signs of the Creator,
Lots of Jumala, instruct me,
Where the sun is hidden from us,
And the moon has vanished from us,
Since no more as time elapses,
In the sky do we behold them?
“Speak, O lot, and tell me truly
With man’s reason speak unto me,
Speak thou faithful words unto us,
Make thou faithful compacts with us!100
If the lot should lie unto me,
Then its worth I hold as nothing,
And upon the fire will cast it,
And will burn the signs upon it.”
And the lot spoke words most faithful,
And the signs made answer truly,
For they said the sun was hidden,
And the moon was also sunken,
Deep in Pohjola’s stone mountain,
And within the hill of copper.110
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Uttered then the words which follow:
“I to Pohjola must journey,
On the path of Pohja’s children,
And will bring the moon to shining,
And the golden sun to shining.”
Forth he journeyed, and he hastened
Unto Pohjola’s dark regions,
And he walked one day, a second,
And at length upon the third day120
Came in view the gate of Pohja,
And appeared the rocky mountains.
Then with all his strength he shouted,
As he came to Pohja’s river,
“Bring me here a boat directly
Which shall take me o’er the river.”
As his shouting was not heeded,
And no boat for him provided,
Wood into a heap he gathered,
And the dead twigs of a fir-tree.130
On the shore he made a fire,
And thick clouds of smoke rose upward;
To the sky the flame rose upward,
In the air the smoke ascended.
Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress
Came herself unto the window,
And, at the sound’s opening gazing,
Then she spoke the words which follow:
“What’s the flame that’s burning yonder,
Where the Sound of Saari opens?140
For a camp too small I think it,
But ’tis larger than a fisher’s.”
Then the son of Pohja’s country
Hurried out into the open,
And he looked about and listened,
Seeking thus for information.
“On the river’s other margin,
Is a stately hero marching.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Once again commenced his shouting.150
“Bring a boat, O son of Pohja,
Bring a boat for Väinämöinen.”
Answer made the son of Pohja,
And in words like these responded:
“Here the boats are never ready;
You to row must use your fingers,
And must use your hands for rudder,
Crossing Pohjola’s deep river.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Pondered deeply and reflected,160
“Not as man should he be reckoned
Who retreats upon his pathway.”
Like a pike in lake then plunging,
Powan-like in sluggish river,
Through the sound he swam right quickly,
Speedily the strait he traversed,
And he moved one foot, a second,
And he reached the shore of Pohja.
Then spoke out the sons of Pohja,
And the evil army shouted:170
“Go into the yard of Pohja,”
And on this the yard he entered.
Then exclaimed the sons of Pohja,
And the evil army shouted:
“Enter now the house of Pohja.”
And on this the house he entered,
On the floor his foot he planted,
Grasped he the door-handle firmly,
Forced his way into the dwelling,
And beneath the roof he entered,180
There the men the mead were drinking,
And the honey-drink imbibing.
All the men with swords were girded,
And the heroes aimed their weapons
At the head of Väinämöinen,
Thus to slay Suvantolainen.
Then they questioned the intruder
In the very words that follow:
“What’s your news, you wretched fellow,
What’s your need, O swimming hero?”190
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
“Of the moon are curious tidings,
Of the sun are wondrous tidings.
Where is now the sun imprisoned,
Whither has the moon been taken?”
Answered then the sons of Pohja,
And the evil army answered:
“Thus it is the sun is hidden,
Sun is hidden, moon imprisoned,200
In the stones of many colours,
In the rocks as hard as iron,
And from this, escape they cannot,
And release shall never reach them.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Answered in the words that follow:
“If the sun from rock ascends not,
Nor the moon from rocky mountain,
Let us join in closest conflict,
Let us grasp our trusty sword-blades.”210
Sword they drew, and tried their sword-blades,
Drew from out the sheaths their weapons;
At the point the moon was shining,
On the hilt the sun was shining,
On the back a horse was standing,
At the knob a cat was mewing.
After this the swords they measured,
And they thus compared their weapons,
And the sword of aged Väinö
Was a little trifle longer,220
Longer, as a grain of barley,
As the width of straw-stalk longer.
Out into the yard they hastened,
On the grass to meet in conflict,
And the aged Väinämöinen
Struck a blow with lightning swiftness,
Struck a blow, and struck a second,
And he sheared, like roots of turnips,
Off he shore, like heads of flax-plant,
Heads of all the sons of Pohja.230
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Sought for where the moon was hidden,
Likewise would release the sunlight
From the rocks of varied colour,
From the depths of steely mountain,
From the rocks as hard as iron.
Then he walked a little distance,
But a very little distance,
When he saw a copse all verdant,
In the copse a lovely birch-tree,240
And a large stone block beneath it,
And a rock beneath the stone block,
And there were nine doors before it,
In the doors were bolts a hundred.
In the stone a crack perceiving,
In the rock some lines engraven,
Then he drew his sword from scabbard,
On the coloured stone he scraped it,
With the sharp point of his sword-blade,
With his gleaming blade he scraped it,250
Till the stone in two divided,
And in three he quickly split it.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Looked into the stone all pictured;
Many serpents ale were drinking,
In the wort the snakes were writhing,
In the coloured stone were hiding,
In the cracks of liver-colour.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Uttered then the words that follow:260
“Thus it is the hapless Mistress
Has so little ale acquired,
For the snakes the ale are drinking,
In the wort the snakes are writhing.”
Off he cut the heads of serpents,
Broke the necks of all the serpents,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
“Never while the world existeth,
From this very day henceforward,270
Let our ale by snakes be drunken,
And our malt-drink by the serpents.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen,
He the great primeval sorcerer,
Sought with hands the doors to open,
And the bolts by spells to loosen,
But to hands the doors would yield not,
By his spells the bolts were moved not.
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Spoke his thoughts in words that follow:280
“Man unarmed is weak as woman;
Weak as frog, without a hatchet.”
And at once he wended homeward,
Head bowed down, in great vexation,
For the moon was not recovered,
Neither had the sun been captured.
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“O thou aged Väinämöinen,
Wherefore didst forget to take me,
As your very trusty comrade?290
I had brought the locks to creaking,
And the bars asunder broken,
And released the moon for shining,
And had raised the sun for shining.”
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words that follow:
“Unto spells the bolts will yield not,
And the locks my magic breaks not;
Strength of hands will never move them,
And no strength of arm will force them.”300
To the smith’s forge then he wandered,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,
Forge me now a mighty trident,
And a dozen hatchets forge me,
And a bunch of keys enormous,
From the stone the moon to rescue,
From the rock the sun deliver.”
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,310
Forged the hero what he needed,
And a dozen hatchets forged him,
Forged a bunch of keys enormous,
And of spears a mighty bundle,
Not too large and not too little,
But of middle size he forged them.
Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress,
Old and gap-toothed dame of Pohja,
Then with wings herself provided,
And extended them for flying,320
Near the house at first was flying,
Then her flight extended further,
Straight across the lake of Pohja
Unto Ilmarinen’s smithy.
Then the smith his window opened,
Looking if the wind was blowing;
’Twas no wind that there was blowing,
But a hawk, and grey in colour.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Spoke aloud the words that follow:330
“Bird of prey, what brings thee hither,
Sitting underneath my window?”
Hereupon the bird spoke language,
And the hawk at once made answer:
“O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,
Thou the most industrious craftsman,
Truly art thou very skilful,
And a most accomplished craftsman.”
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Answered in the words that follow:340
“But indeed ’tis not a wonder
If I am a skilful craftsman,
For ’twas I who forged the heavens,
And the arch of air who welded.”
Hereupon the bird spoke language,
And the hawk at once responded:
“What is this, O smith, thou makest,
What, O blacksmith, art thou forging?“
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Answered in the words that follow:350
“Tis a neck-ring I am forging,
For the aged crone of Pohja,
That she may be firmly fettered
To the side of a great mountain.”
Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress,
Old and gap-toothed dame of Pohja,
Felt on this her doom was coming,
On her head the days of evil,
And at once to flight betook her,
Swift to Pohjola escaping.360
From the stone the moon released she,
From the rock the sun released she,
Then again her form she altered,
And to dove herself converted,
And her flight again directed
Unto Ilmarinen’s smithy,
To the door in bird-form flying,
Lit as dove upon the threshold.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Asked her in the words which follow:370
“Why, O bird, hast thou flown hither?
Dove, why sit’st thou on the threshold?”
From the door the wild bird answered,
And the dove spoke from the threshold:
“Here I sit upon the threshold,
That the news I now may bring thee.
From the stone the moon has risen,
From the rock the sun is loosened.”
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Hastened forth to gaze around him,380
And he stood at door of smithy,
Gazing anxiously to heaven,
And he saw the moon was gleaming,
And he saw the sun was shining.
Then he went to Väinämöinen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“O thou aged Väinämöinen,
Thou the great primeval minstrel,
Come to gaze upon the moonlight,
Come to gaze upon the sunlight.390
Now they stand in midst of heaven,
In their old accustomed places.”
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Hurried out into the open,
And at once his head uplifted,
And he gazed aloft to heaven.
Moon was risen, sun was loosened,
In the sky the sun was beaming.
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Made a speech without delaying,400
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
“Hail, O Moon, who beamest yonder,
Thus thy fair cheeks well displaying,
Golden sun who risest yonder,
Sun who once again arisest!
“Golden Moon from stone delivered,
Fairest Sun from rock arisen,
Like the golden cuckoo rise you,
Like the silver dove arise you,410
Lead the life ye led aforetime,
And resume your former journeys.
“Rise for ever in the morning,
From this present day hereafter.
Bring us always happy greetings,
That our wealth increases ever,
Game for ever in our fingers,
Fortune at the points of fish-hooks.
“Go ye on your path with blessings,
Go ye on your charming journey,420
Let your crescent now be beauteous,
Rest ye joyful in the evening.”