Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume One

"If the longing e'er should seize thee, And the wish should overtake thee, For the fish thy father captured, Or for grouse to ask thy brother, From thy brother-in-law ask nothin...

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"But I let it not distress me, Hoping there to live in quiet, Wishing there to dwell in honour, And a peaceful life to live there; But when first the room I entered, Over chips...

Thereupon the skilful servant, He the servant paid with wages, Put the colt into the harness, Yoked before the sledge the chestnut, And provided six fine cuckoos, Seven blue bir...

Louhi, Pohjola's old Mistress, Old and gap-toothed dame of Pohja, 170 Hastened forth into the farmyard, Hurried to the fence's opening, Where she bent her ear to listen, And she...

"Then my voice was loud and tuneful, And its tones were most melodious, Like the flowing of a river, Or the murmur of a streamlet, 340 Gliding as o'er snow the snowshoes, Like a...

Väinämöinen meets Aino in the wood and addresses her (1-20). Aino hurries home weeping, and informs her mother (21-116). Her mother forbids her to weep, and tells her to rejoice...

As he came into the courtyard, On the ground he slashed his whiplash, 380 From the spot a cloud rose upward, In the cloud a dwarf was standing, And he quickly loosed the chest-b...

But a little time thereafter, Scarce had half a month passed over, On a certain day it happened. As was usual in the evenings, 190 All the girls had met for pleasure, And the be...

Then he scanned the fish, and turned it, And he spoke the words which follow; 60 "'Tis a fish, among the fishes, For I never saw its equal, Smoother is it than a powan, Than a s...

"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 t...

Said the aged Väinämöinen, "Therefore is the birch left standing, And unfelled the slender birch-tree, As a perch for thee, O Cuckoo; Whence the cuckoo's cry may echo. From thy...

Thus the iron-taloned eagle Bore the pike so huge and scaly, 290 To the branches of an oak-tree, To a pine-tree's crown, wide spreading. There he feasted on the booty, Open ripp...

"If a river runs before thee, Or a brook should cross the pathway, Build thou then a bridge all silken, With a red cloth for a gateway; Drive the game by narrow pathways, And ac...

Thus the tempest rocked the virgin, And the billows drove the maiden, O'er the ocean's azure surface, On the crest of foaming billows, Till the wind that blew around her, And th...

"Then was born smith Ilmarinen, Thus was born, and thus was nurtured, Born upon a hill of charcoal, Reared upon a plain of charcoal, 110 In his hands a copper hammer, And his li...

Said the smith, e'en Ilmarinen, "O thou aged Väinämöinen, You have perhaps already pledged me To the gloomy land of Pohja, That your own head you might rescue, And might thus se...

"Need you horses for your journey, Or there's aught you need for driving, Horses I will give in plenty, Plenty I can give for riding. 450 Hiisi has a horse of beauty, With a red...

"Then the bee, that bird so nimble, Flew away, and hastened onward, And his journey soon accomplished, Speeding o'er the open spaces, First across the sea, along it, Then in an...

Brought the boat then, Tuoni's daughter. And the aged Väinämöinen 280 Quickly o'er the straight she ferried. And across the river rowed him, And she spoke the words which follow...

"Three times in this spring already, In the earliest hours of morning, 500 Has he stood before the fire, Rising from his couch of bushes; Three times in this spring already On h...

Now the hapless girl was sighing, Sighing much, and sobbing sadly; Presently she broke out weeping, And she spoke the words which follow: 300 "Soon most now depart the others, A...

331. In the Icelandic sagas, we read of the sword Tyrfing, forged by dwarfs, which, if ever drawn, could not again be sheathed till it had slain at least one victim.