Thus she fished up Lemminkainen,
Kaleva's great offspring lifted,
On the rake all shod with copper,
To the light above the water.
Yet were many fragments wanting,
Half his head, a hand was wanting,
Many other little fragments,
And his very life was wanting.280
As his mother pondered o'er it,
Thus she spoke while sorely weeping:
"Can a man from this be fashioned,
And a hero new created?"
But by chance a raven heard her,
And he answered her in thiswise:
"No man can from this be fashioned,
Not from what you have discovered,
For his eyes the powan's eaten,
And the pike has cleft his shoulders.290
Cast the man into the water,
Back in Tuonela's deep river,
Perhaps a cod may thence be fashioned,
Or a whale from thence developed."
Lemminkainen's mother would not
Cast her son into the water,
But again began her raking,
With the mighty rake of copper,
All through Tuonela's deep river,
First along it, then across it,300
And his head and hand discovered,
And the fragments of his backbone.
Then she found his ribs in pieces,
Likewise many other fragments,
And her son she pieced together,
Shaped the lively Lemminkainen.
Then the flesh to flesh she fitted,
And the bones together fitted,
And the joints together jointed,
And the veins she pressed together.310
Then she bound the veins together,
All their ends she knit together,
And with care their threads she counted,
And she spoke the words which follow:
"Fairest goddess of the bloodveins,
Suonetar, O fairest woman,
Lovely weaver of the veinlets,
Working with thy loom so slender,
With the spindle all of copper,
And the wheel composed of iron,320
Come thou here, where thou art needed,
Hasten hither, where I call thee,
With a lapful of thy veinlets,
And beneath thy arm a bundle,
Thus to bind the veins together,
And to knit their ends together,
Where the wounds are gaping widely,
And where gashes still are open.
"If this is not yet sufficient,
In the air there sits a maiden,330
In a boat adorned with copper,
In a boat with stern of scarlet.
From the air descend, O maiden,
Virgin from the midst of heaven,
Row thy boat throughout the veinlets,
Through the joints, both forth and backwards,
Through the broken bones, O steer thou,
And throughout the joints when broken.
"Bind the veins together firmly,
Lay them in the right position,340
End to end the larger bloodveins,
And the arteries fit together,
Duplicate the smaller bloodveins.
Join the ends of smallest veinlets.
"Take thou then thy finest needle,
Thread it next with silken fibre,
Sew thou with the finest needle,
Stitch thou with thy tin-made needle,
Sew the ends of veins together,
Bind them with thy silken fibre.350
"If this is not yet sufficient,
Help me, Jumala, Eternal,
Harness thou thy foal of swiftness,
And equip thy mighty courser,
In thy little sledge then drive thou
Through the bones and joints, O drive thou,
Through the flesh that all is mangled,
Back and forth, throughout the veinlets,
In the flesh the bone then fasten,
Ends of veins knit firm together,360
'Twixt the bones, O fix thou silver,
Fix the veins with gold together.