Back she came from out the storeroom,
Dancing back into the courtyard,
And her eyes were brightly shining.
As she moved, her earrings jingled,
And her countenance was charming,
And her lovely cheeks were rosy.
Gold was shining on her bosom,
On her head was silver gleaming.250
Then did Pohjola's old Mistress,
Lead the smith named Ilmarinen,
Into Pohjola's great castle.
Rooms of Sariola the gloomy.
There she set a meal before him,
Gave the hero drink in plenty,
And she feasted him profusely,
And at length she spoke as follows:
"O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,
Thou the great primeval craftsman,260
If you can but forge a Sampo,
With its many-coloured cover,
From the tips of swans' white wing-plumes,
From the milk of barren heifer,
From a little grain of barley,
From the wool of sheep of summer,
Will you then accept this maiden,
As reward, my charming daughter?"
Then the smith named Ilmarinen
Answered in the words which follow:270
"I will go to forge the Sampo,
Weld its many-coloured cover,
From the tips of swans' white wing-plumes,
From the milk of barren heifer,
From a little grain of barley,
From the wool of sheep of summer,
For 'twas I who forged the heavens,
And the vault of air I hammered,
Ere the air had yet beginning,
Or a trace of aught was present."280
Then he went to forge the Sampo,
With its many-coloured cover,
Sought a station for a smithy,
And he needed tools for labour;
But no place he found for smithy,
Nor for smithy, nor for bellows,
Nor for furnace, nor for anvil,
Not a hammer, nor a mallet.
Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen,
Spoke aloud the words which follow:290
"None despair, except old women,
Scamps may leave their task unfinished;
Not a man, how weak soever,
Not a hero of the laziest!"
For his forge he sought a station,
And a wide place for the bellows,
In the country round about him,
In the outer fields of Pohja.
So he sought one day, a second,
And at length upon the third day300
Found a stone all streaked with colours,
And a mighty rock beside it.
Here the smith his search abandoned,
And the smith prepared his furnace,
On the first day fixed the bellows,
And the forge upon the second.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,
Heaped the fuel upon the fire,
And beneath the forge he thrust it,310
Made his servants work the bellows,
To the half of all their power.
So the servants worked the bellows,
To the half of all their power.
During three days of the summer,
During three nights of the summer.
Stones beneath their heels were resting,
And upon their toes were boulders.
On the first day of their labour
He himself, smith Ilmarinen,320
Stooped him down, intently gazing,
To the bottom of the furnace,
If perchance amid the fire
Something brilliant had developed.
From the flames there rose a crossbow,
Golden bow from out the furnace;
'Twas a gold bow tipped with silver,
And the shaft shone bright with copper.