Louhi, Pohjola's old Mistress,
Plunged her feet into the water,
And she tried to push the vessel,
And she tried to raise the vessel,
But no spear could lift the vessel,
And she could not even move it, 140
For the ribs had all been shattered,
All the rowlocks had been broken.
And she pondered and reflected,
And she spoke the words which follow:
"Who can aid me now with counsel?
Who can help me in this trouble?"
Then her form she quickly altered,
To another shape transformed her,
And she took five scythes the sharpest,
And six hoes, worn out completely; 150
These she fashioned into talons,
Into claws did she convert them;
Half the broken vessel's fragments
Did she then arrange beneath her,
And the sides to wings she fashioned,
And to tail she turned the rudder,
'Neath her wings took men a hundred,
On her tail she took a thousand,
And the hundred men were swordsmen,
And the thousand men were archers. 160
Then she flew, her wings extending,
And she soared aloft as eagle,
And she poised herself and hovered,
To attack old Väinämöinen;
In the clouds one wing was flapping,
In the water splashed the other.
Then the fairest Water-Mother
Spoke aloud the words which follow:
"O thou aged Väinämöinen,
Turn thy head beneath the sunrise, 170
Do thou turn thine eyes to north-west,
Look a little now behind thee."
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Turned his head beneath the sunrise,
And he turned his eyes to north-west,
Looked a little just behind him.
Onward came the crone of Pohja,
And the wondrous bird was hovering
Like a hawk about his shoulders,
With the body of an eagle. 180
Soon she came near Väinämöinen,
And she flew upon the masthead,
Clambered out upon the sailyard,
And upon the pole she sat her,
And the boat was nearly sinking,
And the vessel's side lurched downward.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
Sought from Jumala assistance,
And invoking the Creator,
Then he spoke the words which follow: 190
"Save us, O thou good Creator,
Gracious Jumala, protect us,
That the son may not be hurried,
Nor the mother's child hurled downward,
From among the living creatures,
From the creatures whom thou rulest.
"Ukko, Jumala the Highest,
Thou our Father in the heavens,
Cast a fiery robe around me,
Over me a shirt of fire, 200
That I thus may fight protected,
And may thus contend protected,
That my head may fear no evil,
Nor my hair may be disordered,
When the shining swords are clashing,
And the steely points are meeting."
Said the aged Väinämöinen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"Hail, O Pohjola's great Mistress!
Wilt thou now divide the Sampo, 210
Out upon the jutting headland,
On the misty island's summit?"
Then said Pohjola's old Mistress,
"No, I'll not divide the Sampo,
Not with thee, thou wretched creature,
Not with thee, O Väinämöinen!"
And she swooped to snatch the Sampo
From the boat of Väinämöinen.