Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume One

by Unknown

With a song the keel he fashioned,
With another, sides he fashioned,
And he sang again a third time.
And the rudder he constructed,110
Bound the rib-ends firm together,
And the joints he fixed together.

When the boat's ribs were constructed,
And the sides were fixed together,
Still he found three words were wanting,
Which the sides should fix securely,
Fix the prow in right position,
And the stern should likewise finish.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
He the great primeval minstrel,120
Uttered then the words which follow:
"Woe to me, my life is wretched,
For my boat unlaunched remaineth,
On the waves the new boat floats not!"

So he pondered and reflected
How to find the words he needed,
And obtain the spells of magic,
From among the brains of swallows,
From the heads of flocks of wild swans,
From the shoulders of the goose-flocks.130

Then he went the words to gather,
And a flock of swans he slaughtered.
And a flock of geese he slaughtered,
And beheaded many swallows,
But the spells he needed found not.
Not a word, not e'en a half one.

So he pondered and reflected,
"I shall find such words by hundreds,
'Neath the tongue of summer reindeer,
In the mouth of whitest squirrel."140

So he went the words to gather,
That the spells he might discover,
And a field he spread with reindeer,
Loaded benches high with squirrels.
Many words he thus discovered,
But they all were useless to him.

So he pondered and reflected,
"I should find such words by hundreds
In the dark abodes of Tuoni,
In the eternal home of Mana."150

Then to Tuonela he journeyed,
Sought the words in Mana's kingdom.
And with rapid steps he hastened,
Wandered for a week through bushes,
Through bird-cherry for a second,
And through juniper the third week,
Straight to Manala's dread island.
And the gleaming hills of Tuoni.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast.
Raised his voice, and shouted loudly160
There by Tuonela's deep river,
There in Manala's abysses:
"Bring a boat, O Tuoni's daughter,
Row across, O child of Mana,
That the stream I may pass over.
And that I may cross the river."