Magic Songs of the Finns

Author(s): J. Abercromby
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Folklore, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Mar., 1890), pp. 17-46
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1253688 .
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MA GIC SONGS OF THE FINNS.
ROM the earliest recorded times, spells, charms, in-
cantations,
and
exorcising
formulas have been in use.
They
were
employed
in the
past by peoples enjoying
a
higher
civilisation,
like the
Babylonians, Egyptians,
Greeks,
and
Romans,
and are current at this moment
among
those whose culture has never reached the
stage
of
making
pottery,
like the Australians. We
must, therefore,
believe
that
magic songs
and charms were a
very early expedient
for defence
against
the
dangers
of the unseen world. In-
deed, they
are almost the inevitable result of an animistic
view of nature. When once man
supposed
that
every
visible
object,
whether
possessed
of
organic
life or
no,
is
inhabited
by
a
spirit
in its nature but a double of
himself,
and
capable
of
injuring
or
benefiting
him,
he would natu-
rally imagine
the invisible
personage
could be influenced
and controlled in the same
way
as an
ordinary
individual.
A Finnish hunter before
starting
for the forest could
sing:
O
Kuutar/l
bake a suet
cake,
A
honeyed bannock, adivadtdr,2
With which I'll make the Forest
kind,
Will make the Backwoods well
disposed
Upon my hunting days,
During
the times I seek for
game.
(Loitsu-runoja,
p.
201.)
After he has made an
offering
he can
say:
Approve,
0
Forest,
of
my salt-my
dish of
oats,
0
Tapioa,
(Z. R., p. 226.)
1
Moon's
daughter,
or Mrs. Moon.
2
Sun's
daughter,
or Mrs. Sun.
3
The forest
god.
VOL. 1.
C
Magic
Songs of
lte Finns.
When about to
undergo
a water-cure the
patient may
recite:
O
pure
water! water's Mistress!
Water's Mistress ! water's Master!
Make me now both well and
healthy,
Beautiful as
formerly,
Since I
pray
in chosen
language,
Since I
give
thee as an
offering
Blood in order to
appease thee,
Salt as well to reconcile thee.
(L. R., p. 232.)
If the
presence
of a
spirit
is considered
undesirable,
it
may
be
appealed
to either
by
threats or
promises
to
remove elsewhere. As
spirits,
like
men,
are not of
equal
strength,
and
may prove quite
as
obstinate,
it
may
become
necessary
to threaten them with the
vengeance
of a
greater
and more
powerful spirit
who
happens
to be on the other
side. For
naturally they
divide into two
classes,
good
and
bad,
according
as
they
seem such in their behaviour to-
wards man. In this case the man of
understanding
and
magic
lore will menace the recalcitrant
spirit
with the
anger
of his
strong ally,
the
powerful
beneficent
spirit,
just
as a small
boy
threatens a
bully
that he will tell his
big
friend,
who will
certainly punch
the
tyrant's
head.
For
instance,
rust in corn is thus addressed in a Finnish
spell:
Depart,
O Rust,
to tufts of
grass,
"Frog
"! get inside a
lump
of
clay,
If thou should raise
thy
head from
there,
Ukko will
split thy
head in two
With a silver
knife,
with a
golden
club.
(Z. R.,
p. I50.)
Another
incantation,
for a somewhat similar
purpose,
ends
much in the same
way:
If that should be of no
avail,
Yet there is Ukko in the
sky.
1
The thunder
god.
i8
Magic Songs of
the
Fizns.
May
Ukko smash
thy head,
0
may
he crush it into
pulp
With his
copper waggon-his
iron cart.
(L. R., p. I5.)
A
sleigh,
with
posting
horses,
is all that a
spirit requires
in
order to take his
departure,
a Finn is
quite ready
to furnish
him with that. One formula
begins:
If thou should ask to travel
post-
Should for a
driving-horse beseech,
I'll
give thee, troth,
a
posting-horse-
Procure for thee a dark
grey nag,
That thou
may journey
to
thy home,
To thine own
country may
return.
(L. R., p. 20.)
In the
year
I880 Dr. L6nnrot edited and
published
a
very large
collection of
magic songs, Loitsu-runoja,
abounding
in curious
ideas,
quaint expressions, and,
to us
moderns,
strange ways
of
regarding nature,
which demand
the attention of folk-lorists. He has classified their con-
tents under a number of
headings
to denote their
purpose.
After a
long
introduction the
collection
begins
with
eighteen general formulas,
which he terms:
Preliminary,
Defensive, Envy, Vengeance, Origination, Reparation,
Inflammation, Expulsion, Posting, Pain,
Reproaching,
Ecstasy, Distress,
Boasting, Stilling, Menacing, Exorcising,
and
Fastening
formulas. Then follow
forty liberating
or
healing
charms for as
many
ailments or other
evils;
fifty-
one classes of
magic spells
and charms to be recited on
such occasions as when
divining, going
out
hunting,
fish-
ing,
at a
marriage, etc.; seventy-three
classes of
prayers
which
hardly
differ from
many
of the
preceding; and,
finally, fifty-one
births or
origins
of animals and
things.
Altogether
there are
893 magic songs
under
233 separate
heads.
They are,
without
exception,
in the same metre as the
Kalevala,
the readers of which must be
already acquainted
C 2
I9
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
with the
general
nature of Finnish
spells,
charms,
and
incantations. The
Preliminary
formulas were used when
the wizard was about to
begin operations.
Defensive
charms were of use when
going
on a
journey
to avert the
attacks of witches and evil wishers.
Envy
formulas ward
off the baleful effects of envious
glances.
The
Vengeance
formula
inspires any
kind of
enemy
with fear. In
healing
the sick the
Origination
formula was
employed
to detect
the
origin
of a disease should that be uncertain. In the
Reparation
formula the
originator
or cause of
any
disease
or
injury
was invoked to come and
repair
the
damage
he
had committed. The Inflammation formulas were useful
for snake-bites and
inflammatory
wounds. The
Expulsion
charms were
employed
in
many diseases,
but
especially
in
such as were
thought
to
originate
from "elfshots" and
witchcraft. The
Posting
formula
might
be recited after
an
Expulsion
or
Menacing
formula. The Pain formula
assuaged pain,
aches,
and contusions. The
Reproaches
were used after a bite from a snake or from
any animal,
also in cases of
toothache,
hurts from
fire, cold, stones,
etc.
By
means of the
Ecstasy
formula a wizard's
nature became
hardened and
invigorated.
The Distress
formula was
available in sudden attacks of
pain
and
disease. In the
Boasting
formula a
wizard,
by
dint of
brag, hoped
to
inspire
other
wizards, witches,
and
opponents
with
alarm,
and
himself with confidence. Great
pain
was
assuaged by
reciting
the
Stilling
formula. The
Menaces were
sung
after an
Expulsion
formula whell that had
proved
in-
sufficient.
Diseases, curses,
and evils
wrought by
witch-
craft were
conjured away by
means of the
Exorcising
formula. When this had been
effected,
these evil
spirits
were
pinned
to the
spot by
the
recitation of a
Fastening
formula.
It is
undoubtedly
a matter of
regret
that
Lonnrot has
not
given
these
magic songs
in their
original
form.
Several
of the same
contents,
sometimes as
many
as
twenty,
have
been welded into one to fill
up
the
deficiences which each
20
Magzc Songs of
the Finns.
individual one contained. This he did on the score that a
collector is never
given
a charm
complete;
either
through
the
forgetfulness
of the
reciter,
or fear lest
by doing
so it
should become
inoperative
when he
again requires
it for
his own
purposes.
Though
the births or
origins
come last in the
collection,
I
propose
to take them
first,
on account of their
greater
variety
of
contents,
and
perhaps
their
greater
interest. It
does not seem difficult to understand what
may
have led
the Finns to
lay
stress
upon knowing
the
name,
origin,
and
birthplace
of a malevolent
Being,
such as a
disease,
a
pain,
a beast of
prey,
etc. To do so was
highly natural,
was
only
to act in
conformity
with
every day's experience.
If a wizard were called in to exorcise the evil
spirit, say
of
Ague,
he would feel confident that a charm in which it was
conjured
to
depart
under the name of Rheumatism would
be of no avail. He would be sure
Ague
would refuse to
budge
unless addressed
by
his
proper
name,
and
might
even
strongly
resent
being
called Rheumatism. In fact it
would be like
serving
a man with a summons in which
someone else's name had been
substituted,
thereby
ren-
dering
it
inoperative.
It was therefore the business of a
wizard to find out the real name of the evil
Being,
which in
the case of disease was tantamount to
correctly diagnosing
the
symptoms.
With the
ravages
of wild beasts it would be
just
the same. If
through
them a farmer lost his cows or
his horses
pasturing
in the
forest,
he would
naturally
think
that
reciting
charms
against
wolves would be useless if the
damage
had been committed
by
a bear. He would feel
bound to ascertain the true cause of the mischief. But in
the collection of
origins
about to
follow,
several will be
found that seem to be rather
fragments
of
ordinary songs,
with a
sly
vein of sarcastic humour
running through
them,
than serious incantations or
magic songs.
In the
original
the
origins
are
given
in
alphabetical order,
but here I have
roughly
classified them under the
following
heads;
21
Magic
Songs
of
the Finns.
Mankind-man,
wizard.
Animals-bear, cat,
dog,
elk, horse,
pig,
seal, wolf-
snake, viper-lizard,
snail.
Birds-raven,
titmouse.
Fish-pike.
Insects-cabbage-worm, wasp.
Vegetable kingdom-birch, flax, oak,
trees.
Metals-copper,
iron.
Instruments-arrow, boat,
net.
Diseases-ague, cancer, colic,
rickets
(atrophy),
scab,
skin
eruption,
stitch
(pleurisy), swelling
on the
neck,
toothworm
(toothache),
whitlow.
Miscellaneous-ale,
brandy, cow-house-snake, fire,
injuries
caused
by spells, law-courts,
particles
of chaff in the
eye,
rust in
corn, salt, salves,
sharp frost, stone,
water.
With
regard
to the
translation,
I have tried to make it
as literal as is
compatible
with
intelligibility,
and with-
out
doing
too
great
violence to
English
idiom. For I
think folk-lorists
require
a
greater
adherence to the letter
than a translation from a
purely
literary point
of view
ought
to exhibit.
Yet,
as the
original
is in
metre,
a certain
rhythmical
measure has been
preserved
when
that could be
done without loss in other more
important
directions. In
Finnish,
the second line of a
couplet
is
nearly
always
a
repetition
in other words of its
predecessor,
and
stands in
apposition
to it. If there is no
subject
or no verb in the
second
line,
this must be
understood from the line
above,
though
sometimes it is vice versd. As I think
intelligi-
bility
is
gained by placing
the
parallel
members of the
couplet
side
by side,
instead of one
below the
other,
I
have
given
two Finnish lines in one line in
English.
The
apposition
is
marked
by
a dash when
any portion
of the
first
member-subject, verb,
or
preposition-has
to be un-
derstood in the
second member to
complete
its
meaning.
When a
varian't
(v.)
consists of a
single couplet
or
only
half a
one,
it is
given
in the
body
of
the
text;
when of
22
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
several,
it is added at the end. A
capital
F before an
English
word,
both in round
brackets,
means that the
latter is the literal
meaning
in Finnish of the word it
follows. To save an inordinate number of
footnotes,
a
word is
put
in
single
inverted commas to show that it must
not or need not be taken
quite literally.
For
instance,
in
nine cases out of ten the
epithet 'golden'
means
'dear,
precious'; 'fiery', 'holy'
are
occasionally synonymous
with
'terrible', 'awful',
'dangerous'.
'Iron' as an attribute
may
also denote ' iron-coloured'. ' Toad' as a term of abuse
might equally
be translated
'fiend, wretch,
loathsome
creature'. Double inverted commas are used to call atten-
tion to certain
epithets applied
to animals or
personified
objects.
In Finnish words the dotted vowels are the
narrowed
open
sounds of the
corresponding
undotted
vowels: a = a in
hand,
6 - French
eu,
iu = French
u,
=
y
in
you.
The double consonants must be sounded twice.
The main stress is
always
on the first
syllable.
The first 'birth' is
evidently
a late
composition,
and throws
no
light upon early
Finnish
speculation regarding
the
origin
of man.
I.-THE ORIGIN OF MAN.
The
strange phenomenon [called]
man, great
creature of the
tribe,
Was made from a clod of earth-fashioned
from a cake
[of
mould].
To him the Lord
give
breath,
the Maker breathed it from his
mouth.
II.-THE ORIGIN OF THE WIZARD
(noita).
Of course I know the wizard's birth-the fortune-teller's
(arpoja)
origin.
There the sorcerer
(noita)
was born-fortune-tellers took their
rise
Behind the limits of the
north,
in
Lapland's
flat and
open land;
23
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
There the sorcerer was
born,
there the fortune-teller was bred
Upon
a bed of
pine-boughs, upon
a
pillow
made of stone.
The word
noita,
here translated
wizard, sorcerer,
is the
equivalent
of the
Lapp
noaidde,
with the same
meaning.
It is a native
word,
and
probably
of the same
origin
as the
Votyak
nodes, nodo,
"
wise",
for nodes
mutt,
"wise
man",
is
the word used in their translation of St.
Matthew, just
as
noaidde is used in the
Lapp
version as the
equivalent
of
magus,
wise
man,
magician. Among
the
epithets applied
to the noida are
"fire-throated", "vehement","
oblique-
eyed,
and
"Laplander".
Another common word for
"wizard,
wise
man",
but with a less bad
connotation,
is
tietdj,
a
derivative from
tietedi,
to
know,
to
understand,
literally
'the
knower,
he that understands how to do
something".
The
arpoja
is the man who makes use of an
arpa,
"lot,
instrument of
divination",
to divine
by.
It is a
question
whether this word is not a loan-word from the Scandina-
vian
varp, "casting".
A third common word for "witch
sorcerer" is velho, from the Russian volkhvo, "a
magus,
magician".
III.-THIE ORIGIN OF THE BEAR.
(a.)
Where was "broadforehead"
born,
was "
honey-paws" produced?
There was "broadforehead"
born,
was
"
honey-paws" produced,
Close to the
moon,
beside the
sun, upon
the Great Bear's
shoulders,
From there was he let down to earth-to a
honeyed
wood's
interior,
Into a verdant thicket's
edge,
into a liver-coloured cleft.
Sinisirkku,l
forest
maiden,
rocked and
swayed
him to and fro
In a
golden cradle,
in silver
straps,
Under a fir with
branching crown,
under a
bushy pine.
I
"Blue siskin or finch."
24
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
"Broadforehead" then was
christened,
the
"scanty-haired
one" was
baptised
0o
Close to
'fiery' rapids,
at the
eddy
of a
'holy'
stream.
i Who undertook to christen him? The
King
of Himmerkki
1
himself,
v.
Juhannes, priest
of
gods,
He undertook to christen--to
baptise
the
"scanty-haired".
v. Promised to christen him.
The
Virgin Mary,
mother
dear,
the
holy
little
serving-maid,
Both acted as his
godmother
and to the
christening
carried
him.
What was the name
they gave
him?
"Hulking
fellow"
" Little
Hay-stack",
"Lovely shaggy
coat of
hair", "Honey-paws",
"The
Corpulent".
Variants.
10-I2 Beside the river
Jordan,
at an
eddy
of the
holy stream,
E'en Christ was at the
christening,
the
Almighty
at the
baptism.
(b.)
My
dear
"broadforehead", my
beloved, my lovely
little
"honey-
paws",
Of
course,
I know
thy
stock-where thou wast
born,
"broad.
forehead",
Wast
gotten,
thou "blue
stumpy tail",
wast
formed,
"claw-
footed one".
There was
"
broadforehead" born-aloft within the
sky,
On the Moon's
points, upon
the
Sun, upon
the Seven Stars'
back,
Beside the maidens of the
Air,
near Nature's
daughters.
Fire shot in flashes from the
sky,
air turned
upon
a
whorl2
While "broadforehead" was
produced-"
lover of
honey"
took
his
shape.
1
Himmerkki
=
Swedish
Himnmel-rike,
kingdom
of
heaven.
2
In Karelia
ilmza,
"air",
is sometimes used for
maailna,
4
world",
which
may
be the
meaning
here. But in
general
terms the
meaning
is clear
enough
that when the bear was born there was a
great com-
motion,
and Nature's
general arrangements
were
disturbed.
"Whorl"
might
also be taken as short for
"
the Lord's
whorl", i.e.,
the sun.
25
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
From there was he let down to earth-into a
honeyed
thickets'
edge,
To be well nursed
by Hongatarl-well
rocked
by
Tuometar,2
Close to a stunted fir-tree
root,
under an
aspen's branching head,
At the
edge
of
"Forest-castle",3
at the
'golden'
forest home.
Then was "broadforehead"
christened,
the "dark
grey-haired
one" was
baptised
Upon
a
honeyed knoll,
At the mouth of
Sara-joki4 sound,
in the arms of
Pohja's5
daughter.
There he swore his oath on the knee of
Pohja's dame,
In the
presence
of the well-known6
God,
under the Blessed's
beard,
To do the innocent no harm-no
injury
to harmless
folk,
To walk in summer
properly,
to
trudge along beseemingly,
To live a life of
joyousness
Upon
a
swamp,
on
rising knolls,
at the farthest end of
rutting
[v.
playing]
heaths,
To rove shoeless in summer-in autumn
stockingless,
In the worst season to
abide-pass
the winter's cold in laziness
Within an oaken room near
"
Firbranch castle's"3
edge,
Beside a handsome fir-tree's root
(F. shoe),
in a recess of
junipers.
(c.)
A maiden walked
along
the air's
edge-a girl along
the 'navel'
of the
sky,
Along
the outline of a
cloud, along
the heaven's
boundary,
In
stockings
of a bluish
hue,
in shoes with ornamented
heels,
A wool-box in her
hand,
under her arm a hair-filled
pouch.
She
flung
the wool on the waters-cast the hair
upon
the
waves,
Upon
the clear and
open
sea,
on the illimitable waves.
1
Fir's
daughter,
or Mrs. Fir.
2
Wild
bird-cherry's
(Prunus
padus)
daughter.
3 =
Metsola,
the Forest home.
"
Golden",
as an attribute of the
forest,
means
"abounding
in
game".
4
Sedge
River.
5
Pohja
means the north.
Pohjola,
the northern home,
6
Or manifest.
26
Magic Songs
of
the Finns.
These the wind rocked to and fro-the restless breeze
swang
back and
fore,
The water's current
(F. breath) swayed,
As if five tufts of
spinning-wool,
as if six hanks of flax
To a
honeyed
forest's
edge-a honeyed [v. pagan] promontory's
point.
I i The forest
mistress,
Mielikki,l
the careful wife of
Tapio's home,
Ran
waist-deep
into the
water-up
to her
garter
in the
wet,
Snatched the tuft from the
water,
stuffed the wool into her
bosom,
Speedily
she tied it
up, neatly
folded it
up,
Placed it in a
maple
basket-in a
pretty
little cradle.
She walked then to a
grove
of firs-to a blue wood's
interior,
To a
'golden'
hillock's side under a
'copper'-breasted
hill.
She saw a fir with
branching head,
with
branching
head with
golden sprays,
Lifted the
swaddling bands,
raised
up
the
golden
chains
To the stoutest of the
boughs-the
widest
spreading
branch of fir
She rocked her
friend,
swang
her
darling
to and fro
Under five woollen
coverlits-eight sheepskin coverings,
In a blue wood's interior-the centre of a
'golden' ring.2
She tended wee "
broadforehead"
there,
reared the
"
splendid
coat of hair"
In a den of
spruce-a
bush of tender fir.
(
v. Under a little shed of oak.
"Broadforehead"
grew magnificent-shot up
to be
extremely
grand,
Short of foot and bent of
knee,
with flattened
nose,
and
corpulent,
Broadheaded,
with a
stumpy
nose and
splendid shaggy
coat of
hair.
As
yet
he had no teeth-no claws whatever had been formed.
The forest
mistress, Mielikki, expressed
herself in words:
" I'd
put
together
claws for him-would also
procure
teeth
If he would not
begin
to harm-not
hurry
off to evil deeds."
Therefore "broadforehead" swore his oath on the forest
mistress' knees
In
presence
of the well-known
God,
below the
Almighty's
countenance,
1
(The
benevolent,
the
friendly."
2
i.e.,
a
place
surrounded
by
trees where there was
plenty
of
game.
27
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
That he would never do a
wrong-not perpetrate
atrocious deeds.
The Maker was himself the
judge,
the Maker's children-
jurymen.
The forest
mistress,
Miliikki,
the careful wife of
Tapio's home,
Started to make a search for
teeth,
to make
inquiries
after claws
From hard-wooded
rowans,
from
rough
and
dried-up junipers,
From
tough
and
knotty
roots,
from resinous and hardened
stumps.
From them she did not
get
a claw-she did not
light upon
a
tooth.
A
pine
was
growing
on a
heath,
a fir stretched
upwards
on a
knoll,
A silver
bough
was on the
pine,
a
golden
branch
upon
the fir.
The woman
(kapo)
seized them with her
hands,
From them she
put together
claws,
Fastened them in the
jaw-bones, planted
them in the
gums.
Then she let
go
her "little shock"-sent her
darling
out
To
tramp
the countries of the
North-scurry through woody
tracts.
She sent him forth to
tramp
a
swamp-ramble through bushy
copse,
To
pass
the sides of fields run wild-scramble o'er
sandy
heaths,
But no
permission
did she
give
to come where cattle
range,
Within the sound of
cattle-bells,
on tracts where
tinkling
bells
are heard.
Variants.
I-4
The
prominent
bridegroom, George,
son of the
supreme
man,
I-8
Kuihtana1 was
moving upon
the
waters,
Dropt
wool on the
waters, kept dealing
out tufts of
wool,
Six
years they
moved about-bobbed
up
and down for seven
summers,
Moved
[lightly]
as a hank of
flax,
rolled
[lightly]
as a shock of
wool.
1
"The emaciated or
complaining
creature." The name does not
occur elsewhere that I know of. The word
may
be a mistake for
Kuip5ana
=
"long-necked", king
of the
forest,
and
supposed
to be
an alias of
Tapio.
28
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
1
The
Virgin Mary,
mother
dear,
the
holy
little
serving-maid.
i
c
The
honeyed Virgin Mary
saw the wool-tuft on the water.
A considerable
portion
of this last
piece (c)
will be found
in the
Kalevala,
xlvi, 363,
etc.
(d.)
"Shaggy," I remember thy birth, thy bringing up, "horror of
the land".
(v. I remember "
shaggy's" birth,
the
bringing up
of "evil soot".
There wast thou
born,
"cunning one"l-brought up,
O
"horror
of the
land",
In furthest limits of the
North,
in
Lapland's wide-extending
woods-
( On an alder-mountain's
slopes-the
shoulders of a
pine-branch
hill.
v. Under a birch-tree's
triple root,
in the recess of two
stumps.
Thy
father is
Putkinen,2
thy
mother Putkitar,3
Thy
other kinsfolk
Putkinens,
thou art
thyself
a Putkinen.
v.
Thy
kin are in a
grove
of
firs, thy
den is in a
clump
of
pines.
On moss thou wast
begotten-reared
in a heather
clump,
In a dense
copse
of willows-a
grove
of wild bird
cherry-trees,
On the north side of a brook-the south
(F. sun)
side of a hill.
v. On the lee-side of a stone-the north side of a hill.
Indeed I was there
myself
as
highest juryman,
While the 'reindeer-cow' was
being
made-the 'cow' fashioned.
The
open-handed Pohja
dame knocked out a head from a
knoll,
Dashed out a back from a
pine-teeth
from a
water-compassed
stone,
{ Eyes from
quartz
stone-ears from the
stuffing
of a
shoe,
v. Eyes from a moonshine stone-feet from a tuft of
spinning
e wool,
Then rattled off to the
christening,
carried him off to be
bap-
tized.
1
Or
"
tangled
ball".
2
From
putki,
angelica, bearwort, cows-parsnip; plants
on which
bears are said to feed.
3
Mrs. Putkinen.
29
30
Magic Songs of
the Fznns.
Iv.-THE ORIGIN OF THE CAT.
I know of course cat's
origin-the
incubation of "
greybeard".
The cat was
gotten
on a stove-has a
girl's nose,
a hare's
head,
A tail of Hiisi's
plait
of
hair,
claws of a
viper,
v. A tail of snake's
venom,
Feet of
cloudberries,
the rest of its
body
is of the wolfs race.
V.-THE ORIGIN OF THE DOG.
(a.)
Whelp's genesis
is from the
wind, dog's origin
from
chilly
wind.
v. a
pup's
from
shining
of the sun.
{ The old woman Louhiatar, mistress of
Pohjola,
the whore,
v. Untamola's'
[Ulappala's2]
blind
one,
the
wholly
blind of
Vdinold3
Slept
with her back to the wind-her side to the north-west.
The wind made her
pregnant, chilly
wind made her womb
heavy.
Why
is her womb
heavy?
She bore a
dog
in her
womb,
A
puppy dog
below her
spleen,
an
earthly
creature in her liver
Of one month
old,
of two months old.
She at the end of three months' time
Began
to throw her litter-to
lighten
her
belly,
From her womb she threw a
dog-a whelp
from under her
spleen.
Who carried the
swaddling
clothes-the
pup's
coarse
swaddling
bandages
?
The furious Pineforest Crone carried the
swaddling clothes,
Rocked
[the pup]
in her own
linen,
dandled it in her
lap,
Caused the
whelp
to tread
[the ground]-the "woolly
tail" to
mark the
way.
1
An alias of
Pohjola,
derived from uni,
"
sleep".
2
"A
remote,
distant
land;
a
wide, open, flat,
barren
district;
a
land behind the
open sea", ulatpa
is another name for
Pohjola.
3
"<
Vdindmoinen's home." In the old
Kalevala,
in a variant to
ii,
89, 90,
Untamoinen is the
parallel
word to
Vdindmoinen,
and at
xvi,
27I,
"the waters of the Viena"
(the Dwina, falling
into the White
Sea),
are
parallel
"to the
open ulaffa" (open sea).
Vdind is the Finnish and
Esthonian word for the other
Dvina,
falling
into the Gulf of
Riga.
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
The best maiden of
Pohjola
Was
standing
near a
wall,
was underneath the window
front,
Engaged
in
melting virgin honey,
The
honey
hardened on her
finger-points,
with it she smeared
[its]
teeth.
A useful
dog
was the
result,
a
neat,
white-collared dog was
got
That does not eat one
up,
that does not bite the
very
least.
Variants.
2. The choice
[v.
little]
woman,
Penitar' [v.
Peniatar].
(b.)
I know of course
dog's genesis,
I
guess
a
puppy's origin.
He was made on a dust
heap-prepared
on a
meadow,
Begotten
of
eight fathers,2
born of one mother.
Earth's
mistress, Manuhutar,3
knocked out a head from a
knoll,
Procured
legs
from fence stakes-ears from a
water-lily's leaves,
Struck out
gums
from the east
[wind],
formed the muzzle from
wind.
Parts of
(a)
will be found in the old
Kalevala,
vii, 206,
etc.
In a variant added at the end of that edition it
says:
"That the blind old man of
Uloppala-another
name for
Pohjola-slept
with his own
mother,
threw himself
power-
less on her
breasts,
on the surface of a
swamp,
on a
hillock,
where
muddy
water moves." After this she becomes
preg-
nant with a
dog,
as in the versions here
given.
VI.-THE ORIGIN OF THE ELK.
Where was the elk born-the son of Rock4 reared ?
There was the elk born-the son of Rock reared
On the surface of a
windy
marsh,
In a dense
clump
of wild bird cherries-a thick
grove
of willows.
Its back is from a bent
birch-tree,
1
Derived from
Peni,
"
a
pup, whelp".
2
Compare
this with the
Zyrian expression
for a bastard-a
"
twelve
father child".
3
A derivative of
manu,
"the
dry land,
continent".
4
Karin
poika.
31
32
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
Its
legs
from
fence-stakes,
its head from a root of
ash,
The rest of its
body
from rotten wood-its hair from horsetail
grass.
This short
piece may
be
compared
with the humorous
description
in the Kalevala,
xiii, I05-I94,
of the
elk,
made
by
the Hiisi
folk,
after which Lemminkainen had such a
wild-goose
chase. There are several Finnish riddles in
which Hiisi's elk means a
pine-tree pure
and
simple.
Hiisi's
elk has Ioo
horns,
its skin is
eaten,
its blood is
sold,
its
flesh is burnt ? Answer.-A
pine,
its bark
(eaten
in seasons
of
scarcity),
tar and wood.
Father was
seeking lynxes,
was
hunting
Hiisis
elks;
he struck down an elk in Hiisz's
land,
its bones rattled down
on the
heath,
he carried off the blood to Abo ? Answer.-
A tar-burner is
seeking
tarwood in the
forest,
lops
off the
branches,
and carries the tar to a town.
An elk was killed in Hiisi's
land,
the bones were charred
upon
the
heath,
the blood was carried to a town? Answer.
-Tar-burning;
a
pine-tree,
the
branches,
the tar.
As Hiisi's name is of
frequent
occurrence,
a word of
explanation
is due to those who are not conversant with
Finnish
mythology.
The Finns have several words for
"devil, fiend",
such as
Hiisi,
and its diminutive
Hitto,
Lempo,
Perkele, Piru, Pirulainen, paha
henki
(evil spirit).
Paholainen
(the
Evil
One), fuutas.
Of
these,
Perkele and
Piru are derived from the Sclavonic
Perkunas,
Perun
(the
thunder
god);
Juntas
is
thought
to be the New Testament
Judas;
the others are native words. To Finnish ears Hiisi
sounds less bad than
Perkele; " Go to Hiisi" means " Go to
the
deuce",
while " Go to Perkele" means "Go to the Devil".
The reason
probably
is that the latter is the Biblical word
for
Devil,
and therefore connotes all that the Christian
doctrine teaches of him. Hiisi in the
genitive,
before the
adjective "big", corresponds
with the
English expression
"devilish
big"
or "deuced
big". Originally
he seems to
have been a mountain or a wooded mountain
divinity.
In
the
magic songs
he and his
people
are sometimes said to
Magic Songs of
the
Finns.
inhabit a
mountain;
and in one
couplet, given
below,
Hiisi
stands as a
parallel
word to
mountain, just
as we have seen
above that
Tapio
can be used as a
synonym
of forest.
Indeed,
in the middle of the sixteenth
century, Bishop
Agricola
uses the
plural
of hiisi in the sense of
"
heights,
wood-grown heights, grove",l though
in his metrical
epitome
of Finnish
mythology
occurs the
line,
"Hiisi
procured
profit
from the
forest",
that
is,
he aided a hunter in
obtaining game.
In course of time we shall find
"
Hiisi's
dog"
or cat used as an
epithet
for disease in
general
and for
toothache in
particular;
"his seal"
(phoca)
is
rickets,
atrophy;
"his
fungus"
is a tumour or a
boil;
" his bird" is
the
wagtail-Lenmpo's
is the raven; he is the ancestor of
the
wolf;
from his Ioo-horned ox with
I,0oo
nipples
on its
breast
magic
salves and ointments are obtained. This
wonderful animal must
surely
be a
pine
or
fir-tree,
with
its innumerable
projecting points
like
nipples.
VII.-THE ORIGIN OF THE HORSE.
The horse's
origin
is from Hiisi-the choice foal's from a
mountain,
In a room with a door of fire-a
smithy
with an iron
ridge.
Its head is made of
stone,
its hoofs of
rock,
Its
legs
are constructed of
iron,
its back is made of steel.
In several riddles Hiisi's
horse,
or
simply
a
horse,
means
thunder and
lightning,
or fire and
flame,
fire and smoke.
For instance:
A horse
neighed
from Hiisi's
land;
the
knocking
of its
collar,
the
shaking
of the harness was heard here ?
Answer.-Thunder
in the
clouds,
and
lightning.
A horse
neighed
in Hiisi's
land,
the collar shoke,
the
harness
gleamed
in this direction ? Thunder and
lightning.
A horse is in its
stall,
its tail is above the door ? The
fire in a stove and the flame at its
mouth;
fire and smoke.
x
Virittdja; ii, p.
171.
33
D
VOL. 1.
Magic Songs of
tic Finns.
I have
given
these
examples
to
suggest
that a
singer
in
a
joking
humour
might occasionally
have in mind
some-
thing
other than a real animal when
narrating
its
origin.
VIII.-THE ORIGIN OF THE PIG.
The
origin
of a
pig
is known-of "downwards-carried snout"
is
guessed.
Tynymys1
is
thy mother, Kynymys2
is
thy
father.
v.
Kyndnen2
[v.
St.
Kynonen]
is
thy
father.
With snout and hoofs
plough up
the
ground,
with snout rout
up
the
turf,
[But] pray
don't tear the fences down-don't roll
away
the
gates.
A
couple
of
amusing
Finnish stories about
pigs
will be
found in the Folk-Lore
Journal,
v,
p. 164.
IX.-THE ORIGIN OF THE SEAL.
A fellow rises from the sea-raises himself from out the waves
That counts the ocean
isles-keeps
watch on water's fish.
Six flowers
[v. cups]
are in his
hand,
six at the
tip
of
every
flower,
All are full of
train-oil,
They congealed
into seals.
O seal! "round
boy"
That roves about the
sea,
"
rough
creature" of the ocean
fields,
Refuse3 was
thy father,
Refuse was
thy mother,
Thou art Refuse
thyself.
Go
hence,
whither I
command,
Into the sea's black
mud-[its]
blue
clay,
Into a
dragon's (F. salmon-snake)
throat.
1
A
derivative from
tyny, tynis,
"
a
hog".
2
L"
Provided with a short
stump,
snout"
(kyna).
3
Hylky
(refuse)
seems to be a
pun
on
hylke,
a seal.
34
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
35
X.-THE ORIGIN OF THE WOLF.
(a.)
O
great hungry wolf, excessively
fat
'dog'!
I know
thy stock,
I
know, sly brute,
thine
origin.
A
country girl,
a
dry-land lass,
was
travelling
on her
way,
Trod over
swamps,
trod over
lands,
trod over
sandy heaths,
Trod over
places
trod
before,
trod over
quite
untrodden
ground.
She
plucked
flowers from withered
grass-pellicles
from tufts
of
grass,
Wound them about her
winding-cloth-into
her tattered head-
attire.
At last she sat
upon
a stone at a verdant thicket's
edge.
There she combed her locks-she brushed her
hair,
She caused her
pearls
to rattle-her
golden
ornaments to clink.
A
pearl dropt
down
among
the
grass-a golden
trinket with a
crash,
From this the
"crafty
one" was born-the
"hairy
foot" was
reared,
The
"woolly
tail" has
thriven,
the wolfish breed was bred.
(b.)
0
everlasting "gad about",
an evil son for all
thy
life,
Whence is
thy stock,
from
what,
"dread
one",
thine
origin
?
Is it from wind or from the
sky-from
a lake's
deep eddy
(F. navel)
?
It's not from
wind,
not from the
sky,
not from a lake's
deep
eddy.
"Dread
one,"
I know thine
origin-thine upbringing,
"horror
of the land".
Syojatfdr' spat
on the waters-" defective shoulder"2 on the
waves,
1
The
Ogress,
from
syobj,
"an
eater, devourer",
with a suffix to
denote a woman.
2
Lapa-lieto.
Elsewhere she is called
Lapa-hiitto,"
shoulder Hiisz".
Lafa
can also
be
translated
"hip-bone",
36 Magic Song's of
the
Finns.
Then Kuolafar'
appeared,
from out the sea rose
Kuolatar,
V . from out the sea rose Nuoratar2
[v. Maaratar]
Upon
a treeless isle-a stoneless
reef.
She rubbed her two
palms,
scrubbed both of
them,
Obtained a little
scurf,
[Then] flung
it on the waters-on the
undulating
sea
Over her left shoulder.
A wind wafted it ashore into a secluded forest.
There wast thou
born,
O
"windy
throat",
there didst
arrive, O
"hairy
nose",
Didst
appear
on the
open sea,
wast reared in a secluded forest.
(c.)
Wolfs
origin
is
known-where the wolf was born.
{ The old woman Loveatar, mistress of Poh/ola, the whore,
v. A crone of
Viro,3 a
rampant quean,
an old woman
raging
mad
When
bringing
forth her
sons-giving
birth to her children
J
In the hollow of a
frosty pool,
in an
icy
well's recess
v.
on the lid of an
icy
well
The fruit of her womb is not
born,
the fcetus is not
brought
to
birth.
She removed to another
place,
was delivered of her sons
In a dense
grove
of wild bird
cherries,
'mid branches broken
by
the wind.
The fruit of the womb was born
there,
the fcetus
brought
to
birth.
There she
begat
a
splendid4
boy
That eats
up bone,
bites
flesh,
draws blood
quite
fresh.
When she had
begotten
him she said:
"Alas for
my
wretched
son,
seeing my
wretched son is one
That eats
up bone,
bites
flesh,
draws blood
quite fresh,
Were I to
bring him to a room
(he
would destroy
my room),
v.
fire would burn
my
room,
Vere I to build for him a bath
(he
would reduce my bath to bits)
v.
water would
sweep my
timberwork
away."
1
From
kuola,
"slaver,
drivel".
2
From
nuora, "a
cord,
rope",
3
Esthonia.
4
Ironical,
2Miagic So;ngs of
the Finns.
37
Old Vaind'mbinen said:
'
Just
let him live in
happiness
Near a wilderness where
squirrels live,
in a secluded forest."
XI.-THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE.
(a.)
I
know,
"crafty one",'
thine
origin-thine upbringing,
"horror
of the
land",
Why thou, O snake,
wast born in
grass-wast
formed on the
earth
by spells,
0 'worm'.
Thou wast
born,
"
crafty one",'
wast
reared,
"
horror of the
land",
Upon
a
rugged
rock,
upon
the earth's
lowlying depths.
v.
Upon
a smooth rock in a dark secluded forest.
Hiisi ran
along
the
earth,
Hiisi
ran,
the earth
perspired.
He ran o'er
swamps,
ran over
lands,
o'er
Lapland's ample
wooded
tracts,
Sweat trickles from his
hair,
from his beard a lather
pours.
The "dread one" as he ran
succumbed-wearied as he
sped
along.
The "
strong
one" sank
upon
a stone-fell to the
ground upon
a
rock,
Swooned
upon
a
hilltop, slept
on a boulder in a mead.
He
slept
awhile
upon
the hill-for
long upon
the
point
of
rock,
He snored
extremely
as he
slept,
snorted as he
lay asleep,
From the 'toad's' mouth saliva
poured-froth
from
"ugly's"
jaws,
Foam from the
"strong
one's"
nose,
a clot from
Le;npo's
stumpy
nose
Upon
fresh
quartz
stone
(F.
thunderstone) upon
a
rugged
rock.
Syojdtir
was
passing by
and ate the slaver on the rock.
The slaver burns her in the
throat-caused a
pricking
in her
teeth.
She
spat
it from her mouth on the
waters, dropt
the slaver on
the waves.
Wind rocked it to and
fro,
the ocean swell
kept swaying
it
Upon
the clear and
open sea,
upon
the
lumpy
waves.
1
Or
"
tangled
ball".
Magic
Songs of
the
Finns.
Water stretched it
long,
and twisted it into a
'distaff',I
A wind then wafted it
ashore,
water drew it to a
cape,
A current
flung
it on a rock into a
high
cliff's
cavity.
A wind blew it
hard,
a chill wind dried it
by degrees.
The sun baked it into a
spiral
form in the cliff's cave
upon
the
beach,
At the side of a
speckled
stone-the bosom of an evil
flagstone.
Hiisi
gave
life to
it,
Piru
gave
it
eyes by spells,
Lempo
formed the
jawbones,
the " vile one" assembled the
teeth,
Hence came
"
Tuoni's2
grub",
" Tuoni's
grub",
" worm of the
earth".
Origin
was
given
to the
snake,
a name was
given
to the "evil
one".
(b.)
Oho ! "evil
pagan", thy
stock is
known,
AJuutas started off to run-a
weak-legged
man to totter off.
The wretch became
dizzy
with
anxiety
as he had done an evil
deed.
He ran all
day,
he ran for
two,
forthwith he ran a third besides.
The villain came from the east-the
'
toad' from the
place
of
dawn.
When he had come a
long distance,
at the close of the third
day,
TheJuutas,3
as he
ran,
succumbed-wearied as he tottered
on,
Fell to the
ground upon
a
rock,
flopped upon
a
heap
of
stones,
v.
UponJesus'
stone of
joy,4 upon
the Creator's rock of
sports,
J
Sank
upon
a mountain
slope, drooped upon
a weathered
stone,
v.
upon
the south
(F. sun)
side of a hill.
He snorted as he
slept
[v.
died],
he
violently
writhed.
fesus pursued
his
way,
was
travelling
on a
journey
With three of his
disciples-two
talkative
companions.
Juutas
sprang
from the
path-"
worn out shoe" from the
rock,
Piru
began
to
hurry
off-made sudden efforts for a bolt.
Slaver ran from the 'toad's'
mouth-slime from the nostrils of
the
scamp.
1= snake
;
cf.
xI,f,
line
5.
2
The
god
of death.
3
v.
Ruotus, Herod.
4
A stone where festivities and
sports
are held.
38
Ma'gic
Songs of
the Finns.
The sun baked it
hard,
Piru stretched it
long.
St. Peter sees the 'toad's' slaver on the
rock,
The evil one's slime
upon
the weathered rock.
2 He looks at
it,
he turns it
[to see]
what the clod on the rock is.
He
began
to talk about it.
"What would become of that and into what would it take
shape,
If
thou, Lord,
bestowed
life,
if
thou,
0
God, gave
it
eyes by
spells
?"
25
The
great
Creator
says,
the
spotless
God
speaks
thus:
" Evil would come from
evil,
a 'toad' from a 'toad's'
seed,
A hideous one from a fatherless
one,
a useless one from a
motherless."
St. Peter
says-breaks
forth in words a second time:
"Kindly
accord it
life,
O
Lord,
form
eyes
for it
by spells,
0
God,
Let it move
through
withered
grass, go rustling through grassy
tufts,
Creep among
roots of
trees,
observe the heather stalks."
Immediately
the Lord
gave
life-God made it
eyes by spells,
To the vomit of the evil man-the slaver of the hideous 'toad'
From that then the
"
cunning
one"
originated-the
evil
'pod'
increased,
A snake
began
to hiss-a black 'worm' to
writhe,
To move on its
belly along
the
ground,
to crawl
upon
its
stomach.
Variants.
2 . He turns it with his
stick,
v. He tried it with his
finger.
25. GoodJesus
made
reply:
" No need to
give
an evil
being
life."
(c.)
Whence is 'autumn worm's'
origin-'
winter worm's' occurrence ?
Hence 'autumn worm'
originated--'
winter worm' has occurred.
Kihokuola,
Aj'Y's2
son,
v. Ikoma,3 v. Kihama,4 v. Kilamo sat
upon
a
stone,
1
"Bubbling
slaver."
2
Supposed
to be another name for
Ukko,
the thunder
god,
and to
have the same
meaning;
cf.
Lapp. aija,
"
grandfather, thunder",
and
the Esthonian
dijo-le,
"
go
to the devil"
3
"
The
sobber,
stammerer"
(?)
4 "The hisser"
(?)
39
40
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
The
"good
for
nothing"
sat on a
stone,
the
" useless fellow"
slept
on a rock.
From it he
slipt
off
suddenly
down on the north side of a stone.
Slaver
dript
from the beast's mouth-saliva from the 'toad's'
jaws.
Syoijfitdr
remarked it-ate
up
the slaver on the
stone,
Spat
it
upon
the
waters--splashed
it down
upon
the waves.
The
spittle
moves
upon
the
sea,
the flat
lump
rolls
upon
the
waves,
The 'froth'-
upon
the
mighty
waters,
Wind came and
gathered
it
together,
waves drifted it
against
a
rock,
Into the inside of an iron
[coloured]
reed,'
into the side of a
thick
grass.
Hence its
origin arose,
its
production
was
produced.
Whence was life obtained for
it,
whence was its
poison flung
?
Thence was life obtained for
it,
thence was the
poison flung,
From the fire of
hell,
from the flame of the evil
power.
(d.)
0
underground
black
'worm',
0
'grub',
the hue of death
(Tuoni),
I know
thy
stock with all
thy bringing up.
Syojftitr
is
thy
mother,
a water-devil2
thy parent.
Syojatar
was
rowing
on the
water,
" fire-throat" was
bobbing
up
and down
In a
copper
boat wtth a red sail.
6
Syojaitr spat
on the water-let
drop
a
lump upon
the
waves,
A wind rocked it to and
fro,
a water current
swayed it,
Rocked it for six
years,
for seven
summers,
Upon
the clear and
open
sea-the illimitable waves.
The water stretched it
long,
the sun baked it
soft,
The water's
surge
directed
it,
the billows drive it
ashore,
The ocean breakers dash it
against
the sides of a thick tree.
1
Or
"pipe,
tube";
"
closed-up
reed or tube" is an
epithet
of the
watersnake in the
Kalevala,
xv, 592.
2
Vetehinen.
llfagic
Songs
of
lthe Finns.
41
Three of Nature's
daughters (Luonnotar)
were
walking
On the shore of the
raging sea,
at the
edge
of the ocean's
swell,
They
saw the
[spittle]
on the shore and
spoke
with these words:
"
What would become of that
If the Creator
gave
it
life-put eyes
in its head
by spells
?"
Hiisi
happened
to
overhear,
the bad man to observe
[it all].
He himself
began
to
create,
Hiisi
gave
life to
it,
To
Sy6jiatar's spittle-the
hideous 'toad's' slaver.
Then it turned into a
snake-changed
into a black 'worm'.
Variants.
6 She combs her
head,
brushes her
hair,
A hair
disappeared
from the
brush,
a hair fell into the water.
(e.)
Pain's
daughter, girl
of
Death,
fell
asleep upon
a
field,
Threw herself down
upon
a
slope-against
the side of a
speckled
stone.
A
great
blast of wind came-a bitter
tempest
from the
east,
And made the
girl parturient, quickened
her into
pregnancy.
Then the
offspring
was
born,
the evil
progeny
was
yeaned,
A snake
began
to
hiss,
a 'red ant' to move
about,
A 'worm of the earth' to crawl-to stick a little 'needle'
Into a human
being's
skin or into a creature's
[kave]
'hair'.
(f.)
A tree was
growing
on
holy groundl-a
reed on undefiled
land,
The reed
grew up against
the tree-the
sedge
under shelter of
[its]
moss.
Piru blew into the
reed,
made the
'ring'
clatter.
From it a 'worm'
appeared,
rather round and rather
long,
Then it turned into a
'distaff',
twisted into a
snake,
Into a crawler on the
ground-a wriggler
on the
path.
(g.)
Black 'worm'!
O
hissing viper, 'grub'
of the hue of
Death
(Tiuoni),
Or,
in a
churchyard.
MAagic Songs of
the Finns.
Of course I know
thy stock,
I know all
thy bringing up,
Of what thou wast
formed,
"useless
wretch",
from what thou
hast
originated,
O
"cunning
one".l
Tuoni's iron-toothed
crone,
crooked
fingered, crumple jawed,
Was
spinning
on a summer's
day-at midnight
of an autumn
night.
Blood
spashed
from the distaff-from the
copper spinning-
staff.
From that wast thou
formed,
O
"useless
wretch",
from that
didst
originate,
O
"
cunning
one".'
(h.)
Evil
Beings (kehnot)
formed a
snake,
wretches
span
a
viper,
A snake was
formed,
a
malignant viper
was fashioned
In a
single
summer
night-an evening
hour in autumn.
Of what was the head
placed
on the evil one ?
5
The head was made of an evil bean.
Of what were the
malignant
creature's brains ?
Of the foam of a
mighty
torrent
[v.
of
'fiery' rapids].
8
Whence has the fiend2 its
eyes
? From the seeds of
Lemjpo's
flax.
9
Whence the ears on the 'toad's' head? From leaves of
Lempo's
birch.
Of what was the snout formed ? Of a
scrap
of Tuoni's
pick.
(
v.
Of the evil one's
thong.
Of what was the mouth
prepared
? Of
Syoija'tr's clasp.
v.
Of a
stump
of
Lempo's
feather.
I2 Whence was the tongue obtained? From the
tip
of Keito's
spear.
13
Whence were the teeth
procured
? From needles of Manala's3
[v.
Hiisi's]
girl.
I4
Whence
[came]
the wretch's
gums?
From the
gums
of
Kalma's4
girl.
15
Of what was the
body
made ? Of an evil maiden's
hair-plait.
1
Or
"tangled
ball."
2
Siitoa,
a loan word from the Russian
zhid,
"
a
Jew."
3
The
place
of the dead
underground.
4
A
god
of
death,
the
grave.
42
Magic
Songs of
the Finns.
43
i6 Of what was the back
composed?
Of Hiisi's
pole
for
raking
coal.
7
Whence has the evil one a tail ? From the
hair-plait
of Hiiss's
girl.
i8 From what were the
guts
knotted
up?
From Hiisi's belt
appendages.
19
Whence has the
vagabond
life? From Hiisi's hearth of coals.
Whence has the bane its
disposition?
From
'fiery' rapids'
froth.
2 IWhence was the heart thrown ? From
Sybjditdr's
heart's core.
22 Whence was its
poison flung
? From an
angry
torrent's foam.
Variants.
5
The head was made of broken
pots.
v. Of an evil man's
(spirit's)
thumb.
5
Of the end
(F. head)
of a shirt-wearer's'
thong.
5
Of a
belt-ring
of Vdinotdr.2
5
Of an evil one's shirt
lappet.
v. Of the belt
clasp
of one
behind a stream.
5
Of the breast
clasp
of
Sybjdtdr
[v. Ritikainen].
8 The
eyes
were made of mussel
pearls (F. seeds).
8 One
eye
was of a mussel
pearl (F. stone),
the other of a
golden
bean. v. the other of an iron
Lv. Riga]
bean.
8 One
eye
of a
golden
[v.
Tuoni's]
mussel
shell,
the other of a
bird
cherry's berry.
v. the other of a seed of flax.
9 They
were
composed
of willow leaves. v. Of river horsetail
were the ears.
i2 From the
spear
of
Aij'fs [v.
Keito's]
son. v. From
Lempo's
[v. Keito's] spear.
12 From a
fiery pointed
sword. v. From the sword of Kaleva's
son.
I2 From the hair of Hiisi's
girl.
v. From a female creature's3
hair.
I2 It's Hiisi's
hayfork.
1
An
epithet
of Ruotus
(Herod)
in the
Kalevala,
1, 237.
It means
a man in his bare
shirt, staying
at home and
unoccupied
with work.
2
Vainambinen's
daughter.
Elsewhere she is identified with Pain's
daughter, Kiuutar,
whose character suits her in this instance.
3
Or,
'full
grown creature',
emdkave.
44 Magic Songs of
the Finns.
12 A Hiitolainen's
hayfork,
a Piitolaizen's iron
goad.
I2 The
pricking
tool of sudden death.
I2
[One fork]
is the shoe-awl of Keito's
son,
the other fork of
the
tongue
was
brought-was
obtained from a comb of
Vainola.
I3
From
spikes
of Tuoni's
barley-ears,
from
pannicles
of
growing
corn,
The other halves of the teeth are from the teeth of Tuoni's
pike.
14
From the
gums
of Tuoni's
girl.
v. The
gums
were from a full-
grown
fish.
14
From shoots of Tuoni's'
growing
corn
[v. barley]-husks
of
Hiisi's
oats,
Which are
twining [v. blowing]
into
stalks,
which are
becoming
bloody.l
14
From a tender
grain
of wheat-a husk of tender oats
Which is
turning
into
food-rolling
in its blood.
I5
The
body
is made of the
top
of
Lempo's
skull [v.
crack].
I5
Of the end of a hornet's
sting (F. rod)-of
a devil's
thong,
15
Is a
Kyroldinen's
ploughing whip-a
Virolaznen's2 fence-rail.
15
Is a
Kyytbidinen's3
[v.
Kyyniilinen's4]
ploughing whip-an
Ahtolainen's5 fence-rail.
15
Is an Ahikainen's6 [v.
Affotars,7 Ajatar's8]
fence-rail-a Mana-
lainen's
travelling-staff.
15
The lace of a Virolainen's
bark-shoe,
a Kerolainen's distaff.
I5
A Keitolainen's
boot-lace,
a
Lempolainen's hair-plait
band.
I5
A
hair-plait
of
Lempo's girl-of
an evil brood.
15
A Hiitolainen's9
hair,
a beard-hair of one that's damned.
1
The line seems to
mean,
"
which are
already growing
into
straw,
are
becoming
fit for food." 2 An Esthonian.
3
An
epithet
of the
viper
or
adder,
from the
stripes, kyyti,
on its
skin.
4
A derivative from
kyy,
a
viper
or adder.
5
An inhabitant of
Ahtola,
the abode of the
sea-god
Ahto
(dimi-
nutive of
Ahtz).
6
=
Ahtikainen =
Alholainen.=
A
a=
Ahdotar
=
Ahto's wife.
8
Ajatar,
in the
plural,
is found in the Finnish
Bible,
Levit.
xvii, 7,
where the
original
is
literally
"the
hairy ones",
in
English
versions
"devils, he-goats, satyrs".
9
An inhabitant of
Hiitola, Hiisi's
home; here it means Hell.
Mag-ic Songs of
the Pinns.
45
i6 The belt from the belt of
Tapio's wife,
the shirt-belt of a
shirt-wearer.
i6 It's Hiisi's
hay [v. coal]
fork,
the evil
spirit's toasting-fork.
i6 A woman
(kapo)
had
dropt
on a
path,
Air's
girl
had fallen
asleep,
A
copper
quiver
on her
back,
a
copper
arrow within
it,
From that the back was fashioned-the back-bone was com-
posed.
17
From an evil willow-shoot. v. From the sheath of Kaleva's son.
17
From the
shirt-string
of a shirt-wearer.
I8 From the shirt-belt of a shirt-wearer.
9
The life from Hiisi's
glowing
coals. v. From the fire of Hell.
19
From Satan's charcoal hill.
19 From evil
steam,
from the
spray
of Hiisi's
rapids.
21
[The
heart
is]
the heart's core of
Syoadtdr-a fragment
of
Mammotar'sl liver.
22 From the
surge
of Hiisi's stream.
XII.-THE ORIGIN OF THE VIPER
(ADDER).
(a.)
Night's girl,
Dusk's
maiden,
who
keeps
the
long evening
watch,
Was
spinning
a
stony thread-twisting
a
gravelly
one
On a stone distaff-a
copper spinning
staff.
The
stony
thread broke-the
gravelly
one in her
fingers
From the
stony
distaff-the
copper spinning
staff.
What was the end of the broken end ? from that an evil brood
was
gotten,
From that
"striped
back"2
originated-the
"worm of Manala"
was bred.
(b.)
Sturdy
old Vdindmoinen
Was
splitting
mountains, cutting
[v.
rolling]
down rocks
1 Elsewhere she is also identified with
Sybdtdar,
and stone
originated
from a bit of her liver. A common
epithet applied
to the earth is
"liver-coloured". She is
probably
an earth
goddess,
and obtains
her name from
mamma, mammo,
"a
breast,
a mother".
2
Kyytoldinen,
Magic Songs of
the Finns.
In iron
gloves, protected by copper
mitts.
He had seized a
fiery-pointed sword,
Kept swinging
his sword in an iron mountain's
rift,
In the
space
between two rocks-the recess between five
boulders.
[His] golden ring
fell
rattling
down into the iron mountain's
rift,
Into the
space
between two rocks-the recess between five
boulders.
From that the
"crafty
one"1
originated-" striped
back"2 was
produced.
Some of these lines
(I, 4, 5)
are introduced in the
Kalevala, xxxix, 93-IIo,
and 1.
6,
in the Old
Kal., xxi, 72
(var.),
where Vdindm6inen
is
trying
a new
sword,
forged
for him
by
Ilnarinen,
previous
to his
departure
for
Pohjola.
He is
probably making essay
of a sword in this
fragment
also.
1Or,
"
tangled
ball".
2
Kyytoldinen.
J.
ABERCROMBY.
(To
be
continued.)
46