Kalevala

Runo 1

Creation and the Birthof Väinämöinen

Prelude


I am wanting, I am thinking
To arise and go forth singing,
Sing my songs and say my sayings,
Hymns ancestral harmonizing,
Lore of kindred lyricking.
In my mouth the words are melting;
Utterances overflowing
To my tongue are hurrying,
Even against my teeth they burst.
Come good brother, little brother,
Pretty playmate of my childhood,
Start now with me for the singing
Sit together for the speaking,
Now that we have met together,
After separate pathways travelled;
Seldom do we come together,
Rarely do we have each other
In these ragged border regions,
These benighted northern marches.
Strike we now hand into hand,
Fingers into curve of fingers,
So that we may sing good songs,
Voice the best of all our legends
For the hearing of our loved ones,
Those who want to learn them from us,
Those among the rising young ones
Of the growing generation.
Magic verses we have gathered,
Kindled by the inspiration
From the belt of Väinämöinen,
Under forge of Ilmarinen,
Sword blade of the man far- minded,
Aim of Joukahainen s crossbow,
From the way- back fields of Northland,
From the heaths of Kalevala.
Long ago my father sang them
As he carved his ax s handle
And my mother also taught me
Though she kept her spindle spinning,
As I, milk- bearded mischief maker,
Clabber- mouthed and tiny tumbler,
Rolled about the floor before her:
Magic never failed the Sampo,
Louhi never lacked for spells;
Old in story grew the Sampo,
In her spells old Louhi vanished,
In his singing Vipunen,
Lemminkäinen in his capers
There are other words of magic,
Incantations I have learned,
Plucked in passing from the wayside,
Some I broke off from the heather,
Some I gathered from the bushes,
Others pulled from tender saplings,
Rubbed from haytips, snatched from hedges
Where I roamed about the cowpaths
As a youngster herding cattle,
Minding cows in cattle pastures
On honeyed

Elias Lot (1802-1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist, and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry.

Eino Friberg (1901-995) was a Finnish-born American author, noted for his 1989 translation the Kalevala.

"A masterpiece." Spectator (London)

"One of the great mythic poems of Europe." New York Times

"The Kalevala is a fabulous narrative spiced with exotic images and much hilarity." -- Jennifer Cooke, Melbourne Sunday Herald

"The Penguin Classic edition shines a light not just on the Finnish epic but also on Friberg s extraordinary translational vision, which foregrounds the oral dimensions of the poem." -- Medium.com

"The republication of this translation, which has been out of print for decades, will hopefully shine a light not just on the Finnish epic but also on Friberg s extraordinary translational vision, which foregrounds the oral dimensions of the poem." -- Rebecca Ruth Gold, Poetry Magazine