Then he went to seek his mother,
And he said the words which follow:
"Do not weep for me, O mother,
Nor lament, thou aged woman,
If I once again must wander,
And again must go to battle; 30
For my mind resolve has taken,
And a plan my brain has seized on,
To destroy the folk of Pohja,
And revenge me on the scoundrels."
To restrain him sought his mother,
And the aged woman warned him:
"Do not go, my son, my dearest,
Thus 'gainst Pohjola to combat!
There perchance might death o'ercome thee,
And destruction fall upon thee." 40
Little troubled Lemminkainen,
But he thought on his departure,
And he started on his journey,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"Can I find another hero,
Find a man, and find a swordsman,
Who will join in Ahti's battle,
And with all his strength will aid me?
"Well is Tiera known unto me,
Well with Kuura I'm acquainted, 50
He will be a second hero,
He's a hero and a swordsman,
He will join in Ahti's battle,
And with all his strength will aid me."
Through the villages he wandered,
Found his way to Tiera's homestead,
And he said on his arrival,
Spoke the object of his coming:
"O my Tiera, faithful comrade,
Of my friends most loved and dearest, 60
Thinkest thou on days departed,
On the life we lived aforetime,
When we wandered forth together,
To the fields of mighty battles?
There was not a single village
Where ten houses were not numbered,
There was none among the houses,
Where ten heroes were not living,
There was none among the heroes,
Not a man, however valiant, 70
None who did not fall before us,
By us twain who was not slaughtered."
At the window worked the father,
And a spear-shaft he was carving;
By the threshold stood the mother,
Busy as she churned the butter;
At the door the ruddy brothers,
And they wrought a sledge's framework;
At the bridge-end stood the sisters,
And the clothes they there were wringing. 80
From the window spoke the father,
And the mother from the threshold,
From the door the ruddy brothers,
From the bridge-end spoke the sisters,
"Tiera cannot go to battle,
Nor may strike with spear in warfare.
Other duties call for Tiera,
He has made a lifelong compact,
For a young wife has he taken
As the mistress of his household, 90
But untouched is she at present,
Uncaressed is still her bosom."
By the stove was Tiera resting,
By the stove-side Kuura rested,
At the stove one foot he booted,
And the other at the stove-bench,
At the gate his belt he tightened,
In the open girt it round him;
Then did Tiera grasp his spear-shaft,
Not the largest of the largest, 100
Nor the smallest of the smallest,
But a spear of mid dimensions.
On the blade a steed was standing,
On the side a foal was trotting,
At the joint a wolf was howling,
At the haft a bear was growling.
Thus his spear did Tiera brandish,
And he brandished it to whirring,
Hurled it then to fathom-deepness
In the stiff clay of the cornfield, 110
In a bare spot of the meadow,
In a flat spot free from hillocks.
Then his spear was placed by Tiera
With the other spears of Ahti,
And he went and made him ready
Swift to join in Ahti's battle.