[ [43] ] The tremendous exploits of the Kalevide and his weariness afterwards give him much of the character of a Berserk.
[ [44] ] In the 26th Runo of the Kalevala Lemminkainen creates a flock of birds from a handful of feathers, to appease the fiery eagle who obstructed his way to Pohjola. We may also remember Jason and the dragon's teeth.
[ [45] ] In the Kalevala (Runo 34) an old woman directs Kullervo to the house of his parents.
[ [46] ] The smith is sometimes called the uncle of Kalev; but the term may only mean that he was an old friend.
[ [47] ] The cuckoo is a sacred bird, but more often alluded to in Finnish than in Esthonian literature.
[ [48] ] This lake (Saad järv) lies a little north of Dorpat.
[ [49] ] Nothing is said as to how the government was carried on during the Kalevide's minority.
[ [50] ] White horses constantly occur in Esthonian tales; and the devil's mother or grandmother usually appears as a white mare. One of the commentators remarks that as the white horse was sacred in pre-Christian times, the missionaries represented it as peculiarly diabolical. It will be remembered with what severity the early missionaries suppressed the horse feasts among the Teutonic tribes.
[ [51] ] This is a little like the formation of the world from the body of the giant Ymir, as described in the Edda. As W. Herbert paraphrases it,
"Of his bones the rocks high swelling,
Of his flesh the globe is made,
From his veins the tide is welling,
And his locks are verdant shade."