Runo XVI: Väinämöinen in Tuonela

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,He the great primeval sorcerer,Set to work a boat to build him,And upon a boat to labour,There upon the cloudy headland,On the shady island's summit.But the workman found no timber,Boards to build the boat he found not.

Who shall seek for timber for him,And shall seek an oak-tree for him,For the boat of Väinämöinen,And a keel to suit the minstrel?

Pellervoinen, earth-begotten,Sampsa, youth of smallest stature,He shall seek for timber for him,And shall seek an oak-tree for him.For the boat of Väinämöinen,And a keel to suit the minstrel.

So upon his path he wanderedThrough the regions to the north-east,Through one district, then another,Journeyed after through a third one,With his gold axe on his shoulder,With his axe, with copper handle,Till he found an aspen standing,Which in height three fathoms measured.

So he went to fell the aspen,With his axe the tree to sever,And the aspen spoke and asked him,With its tongue it spoke in thiswise:"What, O man, desire you from me?Tell your need, as far as may be."

Youthful Sampsa Pellervoinen,Answered in the words which follow:"This is what I wish for from thee,This I need, and this require I,'Tis a boat for Väinämöinen;For the minstrel's boat the timber."

And the aspen said astounded,Answered with its hundred branches:"As a boat I should be leaking,And would only sink beneath you,For my branches they are hollow.Thrice already in this summer,Has a grub my heart devoured,In my roots a worm has nestled."

Youthful Sampsa PellervoinenWandered further on his journey,And he wandered, deeply pondering,In the region to the northward.

There he found a pine-tree standing,And its height was full six fathoms,And he struck it with his hatchet,On the trunk with axe-blade smote it,And he spoke the words which follow:"O thou pine-tree, shall I take thee,For the boat of Väinämöinen,And as boatwood for the minstrel?"

But the pine-tree answered quickly,And it cried in answer loudly,"For a boat you cannot use me,Nor a six-ribbed boat can fashion,Full of knots you'll find the pine-tree.Thrice already in this summer,In my summit croaked a raven,Croaked a crow among my branches."

Youthful Sampsa PellervoinenFurther yet pursued his journey,And he wandered, deeply pondering,In the region to the southward,Till he found an oak-tree standingsFathoms nine its boughs extended.

And he thus addressed and asked it:"O thou oak-tree, shall I take thee,For the keel to make a vessel,The foundation of a warship?"

And the oak-tree answered wisely,Answered thus the acorn-bearer:"Yes, indeed, my wood is suitedFor the keel to make a vessel,Neither slender 'tis, nor knotted,For within its substance hollow.Thrice already in this summer,In the brightest days of summer,Through my midst the sunbeams wandered.On my crown the moon was shining,In my branches cried the cuckoos.In my boughs the birds were resting."

Youthful Sampsa PellervoinenTook the axe from off his shoulder,With his axe he smote the tree-trunk,With the blade he smote the oak-tree.Speedily he felled the oak-tree,And the beauteous tree had fallen.

First he hewed it through the summit,All the trunk he cleft in pieces,After this the keel he fashioned,Planks so many none could count them.For the vessel of the minstrel,For the boat of Väinämöinen.

Then the aged Väinämöinen,He the great primeval sorcerer,Fashioned then the boat with wisdom,Built with magic songs the vessel,From the fragments of an oak-tree,Fragments of the shattered oak-tree.

With a song the keel he fashioned,With another, sides he fashioned,And he sang again a third time.And the rudder he constructed,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,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 reflectedHow 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.

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."

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 hundredsIn the dark abodes of Tuoni,In the eternal home of Mana."

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 loudlyThere 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."

Tuoni's short and stunted daughter.She the dwarfish maid of Mana,At the time her clothes was washing,And her clothes she there was beating,At the river dark of Tuoni,And in Manala's deep waters.And she answered him in thiswise,And she spoke the words which follow:"Hence a boat shall come to fetch you,When you shall explain the reasonWhy to Manala you travel.Though disease has not subdued you.Nor has death thus overcome you,Nor some other fate o'erwhelmed you."

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,Answered in the words which follow:"It was Tuoni brought me hither,Mana dragged me from my country."

Tuoni's short and stunted daughter,She the dwarfish maid of Mana,Answered in the words which follow:"Ay, indeed, I know the liar!If 'twas Tuoni brought you hither,Mana dragged you from your country,Then would Tuoni's self be with you,Manalainen's self conduct you,Tuoni's hat upon your shoulders.On your hands the gloves of Mana.Speak the truth, O Väinämöinen;What to Manala has brought you?"

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,Answered in the words which follow:"Iron to Manala has brought me,Steel to Tuonela has dragged me."

Tuoni's short and stunted daughterShe the dwarfish maid of Mana,Answered in the words which follow:"Now, indeed, I know the liar!For if iron to Mana brought you,Steel to Tuonela had dragged you.From your clothes the blood would trickle,And the blood would forth be flowing.Speak the truth, O Väinämöinen,For the second time speak truly."

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,Answered in the words which follow:"Water has to Mana brought me,Waves to Tuonela have brought me."

Tuoni's short and stunted daughter,She the dwarfish maid of Mana,Answered in the words which follow:"Ay, indeed, I know the liar!If to Mana water brought you,Waves to Manala had floated,From your clothes would water trickle,From the borders streaming downward.Tell me true, without evasion,What to Manala has brought you?"

Then the aged Väinämöinen,Gave again a lying answer."Fire to Tuonela has brought me,Flame to Manala conveyed me."

Tuoni's short and stunted daughter.She the dwarfish maid of Mana,Once again replied in answer:"Well indeed I know the liar!Had the fire to Tuoni brought you,Flame to Manala conveyed you,Would your hair be singed and frizzled,And your beard be scorched severely.

"O thou aged Väinämöinen,If you wish the boat to fetch you,Tell me true, without evasion,Make an end at last of lying,Why to Manala you travel,Though disease has not subdued you,Nor has death thus overcome you,Nor some other fate o'erwhelmed you."

Said the aged Väinämöinen,"True it is I lied a little,And again I spoke a falsehood,But at length I answer truly.By my art a boat I fashioned,By my songs a boat I builded,And I sang one day, a second,And at length upon the third day,Broke my sledge as I was singing,Broke the shaft as I was singing,So I came for Tuoni's gimlet.Sought in Manala a borer,That my sledge I thus might finish.And with this might form my song-sledge.Therefore bring your boat to this side,Ferry me across the water,And across the straight convey me,Let me come across the river."

Tuonetar abused him roundly,Mana's maiden scolded loudly:"O thou fool, of all most foolish,Man devoid of understanding.Tuonela, thou seekest causeless,Com'st to Mana free from sickness!Better surely would you find itQuickly to regain your country,Many truly wander hither,Few return to where they came from!"

Said the aged Väinämöinen,"This might perhaps deter old women,Not a man, how weak soever.Not the laziest of heroes!Bring the boat, O Tuoni's daughter,Row across, O child of Mana!"

Brought the boat then, Tuoni's daughter.And the aged VäinämöinenQuickly o'er the straight she ferried.And across the river rowed him,And she spoke the words which follow:"Woe to thee, O Väinämöinen,For thou com'st to Mana living,Com'st to Tuonela undying!"

Tuonetar the noble matron,Manalatar, aged woman,Fetched some beer within a tankard,And in both her hands she held it,And she spoke the words which follow:"Drink, O aged Väinämöinen!"

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,Looked for long within the tankard,And within it frogs were spawning,At the sides the worms were wriggling,And he spoke the words which follow:"Surely I have not come hither,Thus to drink from Mana's goblets,Or to drink from Tuoni's tankards.Those who drink this beer are drunken,Drinking from such cans they perish."

Then said Tuonela's great mistress,"O thou aged Väinämöinen,Why to Manala dost travel,Why to Tuonela hast ventured,Though by Tuoni never summoned,To the land of Mana called not?"

Said the aged Väinämöinen,"At my boat as I was working,While my new boat I was shaping,Then I found three words were wanting,Ere the stern could be completed,And the prow could be constructed,But as I could find them nowhere,In the world where'er I sought them,Then to Tuonela I travelled,Journeyed to the land of Mana,There to find the words I needed,There the magic words to study."

Then said Tuonela's great mistress,And she spoke the words which follow:"Ne'er the words will Tuoni give you,Nor his spells will Mana teach you.Never shall you leave these regions,Never while your life remaineth,Shall you ever journey homeward,To your country home returning."

Sank the weary man in slumber,And the traveller lay and slumbered,On the bed prepared by Tuoni,There outstretched himself in slumber,And the hero thus was captured,Lay outstretched, but quickly wakened.

There's in Tuonela a witch-wife,Aged crone with chin projecting,And she spins her thread of iron,And she draws out wire of copper.And she spun of nets a hundred,And she wove herself a thousand,In a single night of summer,On the rock amid the waters.

There's in Tuonela a wizard,And three fingers has the old man,And he weaves his nets of iron,And he makes his nets of copper,And a hundred nets he wove him,And a thousand nets he plaited,In the selfsame night of summer,On the same stone in the water.

Tuoni's son with crooked fingers.Crooked fingers hard as iron,Took the hundred nets, and spread themRight across the stream of Tuoni,Both across and also lengthwise,And in an oblique directionSo that Väinö should not 'scape him,Nor should flee Uvantolainen,In the course of all his lifetime,While the golden moon is shining,From the dread abode of Tuoni,From the eternal home of Mana.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,Uttered then the words which follow:"May not rain overtake me,And an evil fate await me.Here in Tuonela's dark dwellings,In the foul abode of Mana?"

Quickly then his shape transforming,And another shape assuming,To the gloomy lake he hastened;Like an otter in the reed-beds,Like an iron snake he wriggled,Like a little adder hastenedStraight across the stream of Tuoni,Safely through the nets of Tuoni.

Tuoni's son with crooked fingers,Crooked fingers, hard as iron,Wandered early in the morningTo survey the nets extended,Found of salmon-trout a hundred,Smaller fry he found by thousands,But he found not Väinämöinen,Not the old Uvantolainen.

Thus the aged VäinämöinenMade his way from Tuoni's kingdom,And he said the words which follow,And in words like these expressed him:"Never, Jumala the mighty,Never let another mortal,Make his way to Mana's country,Penetrate to Tuoni's kingdom!Many there indeed have ventured.Few indeed have wandered homeward;From the dread abode of Tuoni,From the eternal home of Mana."

Afterwards these words he added,And expressed himself in thiswise.To the rising generation,And to the courageous people:"Sons of men, O never ventureIn the course of all your lifetime,Wrong to work against the guiltless,Guilt to work against the sinless,Lest your just reward is paid youIn the dismal realms of Tuoni!There's the dwelling of the guilty,And the resting-place of sinners,Under stones to redness heated,Under slabs of stone all glowing,'Neath a coverlet of vipers,Of the loathsome snakes of Tuoni."