“I have a recipe which has come down through the ages,” said the woman, “a recipe for making the Sampo; but no magician has ever yet been wise enough, strong enough to make use of it. Here it is, written in runes on a white whalebone:

“ ‘Take the tips of two swan feathers;

Add the milk of a young heifer;

Add a single grain of barley;

Mix and stir with wool of lambkin;

Heat the mixture, quickly, rightly;

In a magic caldron boil it;

On a magic anvil beat it;

Hammer its lid of many colors;

Furnish it with wheels and levers;