Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume Two. Anonymous
Send thou from the west a second,
And a third to east establish.
"In the north-east let them gather,
Push their borders all together,
Drive them edge to edge together,
Let the snow fall staff-deep round me,
Deep as is the length of spear-shaft,
On these stones to redness heated,
Blocks of stone all fiery glowing." 530
Ukko, then, of Gods the highest,
He the aged Heavenly Father,
Sent a cloud from out the north-west,
From the west he sent a second,
In the east a cloud let gather,
Let them gather in the north-east;
And he heaped them all together,
And he closed the gaps between them,
Let the snow fall staff-deep downward,
Deep as is the length of spear-shaft, 540
On the stones to redness heated,
Blocks of stone all fiery glowing.
From the snow a pond was fashioned,
And a lake with icy waters.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Sang a bridge of ice together,
Stretching right across the snow-pond,
From the one bank to the other,
O'er the fiery trench passed safely,
Passed the second day in safety. 550
With his whip he urged the courser,
Cracked the whip all bead-embroidered,
And began to travel quickly,
As the courser trotted onward.
Quick he ran a verst, a second, For a short space well proceeded, When he suddenly stopped standing, Would not stir from his position.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Started up to gaze around him. 560
In the gate the wolf was standing,
And the bear before the passage,
There in Pohjola's dread gateway,
At the end of a long passage.
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Quickly felt into his pocket,
What his pouch contained exploring,
And he took some ewe's wool from it,
And until 'twas soft he rubbed it, 570
And between his palms he rubbed it,
'Twixt his fingers ten in number.
On his palms then gently breathing,
Ewes ran bleating forth between them,
Quite a flock of sheep he fashioned,
And a flock of lambs among them,
And the wolf rushed straight upon them,
And the bear rushed after likewise,
While the lively Lemminkainen,
Further drove upon his journey. 580
Yet a little space he journeyed,
Unto Pohjola's enclosure.
There a fence was raised of iron,
Fenced with steel the whole enclosure,
In the ground a hundred fathoms,
In the sky a thousand fathoms,
Spears they were which formed the hedgestakes,
And for wattles creeping serpents,
Thus the fence with snakes was wattled
And among them there were lizards, 590
And their tails were always waving,
And their thick heads always swelling,
Rows of heads erected always,
Heads turned out and tails turned inwards.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Gave himself to his reflections.
"This is what my mother told me,
This is what my mother dreaded;
Here I find a fence tremendous
Reared aloft from earth to heaven, 600
Down below there creeps a viper,
Deeper yet the fence is sunken,
Up aloft a bird is flying,
But the fence is builded higher."
Natheless was not Lemminkainen
Greatly troubled or uneasy;
From the sheath he drew his knife out,
From the sheath an iron weapon,
And he hewed the fence to pieces,
And in twain he clove the hedgestakes; 610
Thus he breached the fence of iron,
And he drove away the serpents
From the space between five hedgestakes,
Likewise from the space 'twixt seven,
And himself pursued his journey,
On to Pohjola's dark portal.
In the path a snake was twisting, Just in front across the doorway, Even longer than the roof-tree, Thicker than the hall's great pillars, 620 And the snake had eyes a hundred, And the snake had tongues a thousand, And his eyes than sieves were larger, And his tongues were long as spear-shafts, And his fangs were like rake-handles; Seven boats' length his back extended. Then the lively Lemminkainen Would not instantly move onward To the snake with eyes a hundred, And the snake with tongues a thousand. 630
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Serpent black and subterranean,
Worm whose hue is that of Tuoni,
Thou amidst the grass who lurkest,
At the roots of Lempo's foliage,
Gliding all among the hillocks,
Creeping all among the tree-roots,
Who has brought thee from the stubble,
From the grass-roots has aroused thee, 640
Creeping here on ground all open,
Creeping there upon the pathway?
Who has sent thee from thy nettles,
Who has ordered and provoked thee
That thy head thou liftest threatening,
And thy neck thou stiffly raisest?
Was't thy father or thy mother,
Or the eldest of thy brothers,
Or the youngest of thy sisters,
Or some other near relation? 650
"Close thy mouth, thy head conceal thou,
Hide thou quick thy tongue within it,
Coil thyself together tightly,
Roll thyself into a circle,
Give me way, though but a half-way,
Let the traveller make his journey,
Or begone from out the pathway.