The Kalevala · 217 of 275 · tr. John Martin Crawford
Rune XXXIXb
Yea, the blade and hilt are molded To the wishes of the minstrel." On the sword-point gleams the moonlight, On the blade the sun is shining, On the hilt the bright stars twinkle, On the edge a horse is neighing, On the handle plays a kitten, On the sheath a dog is barking.
Wainamoinen wields his fire-sword, Tests it on the iron-mountain, And these words the hero utters: "With this broadsword I could quickly Cleave in twain the mount of Pohya, Cut the flinty rocks asunder." Spake the blacksmith, Ilmarinen: "Wherewith shall I guard from danger, How protect myself from evil, From the ills by land and water?
Shall I wear an iron armor, Belt of steel around my body?
Stronger is a man in armor, Safer in a mail of copper." Now the time has come to journey To the never-pleasant Northland; Wainamoinen, ancient minstrel, And his brother, Ilmarinen, Hasten to the field and forest, Searching for their fiery coursers, In each shining belt a bridle, With a harness on their shoulders.
In the woods they find a race; In the glen a steed of battle, Ready for his master's service.
Wainamoinen, old and trusty, And the blacksmith, Ilmarinen, Throw the harness on the courser, Hitch him to the sledge of conquest, Hasten on their journey Northward; Drive along the broad-sea's margin Till they bear some one lamenting On the strand hear something wailing Near the landing-place of vessels.
Wainamoinen, ancient minstrel, Speaks these words in wonder, guessing, "This must be some maiden weeping, Some fair daughter thus lamenting; Let us journey somewhat nearer, To discover whence this wailing." Drew they nearer, nearer, nearer, Hoping thus to find a maiden Weeping on the sandy sea-shore.
It was not a maiden weeping, But a vessel, sad, and lonely, Waiting on the shore and wailing.
Spake the ancient Wainamoinen: "Why art weeping, goodly vessel, What the cause of thy lamenting?
Art thou mourning for thy row-locks, Is thy rigging ill-adjusted?
Dost thou weep since thou art anchored On the shore in times of trouble?" Thus the war-ship spake in answer: "To the waters would this vessel Haste upon the well-tarred rollers, As a happy maiden journeys To the cottage of her husband.
I, alas!
a goodly vessel, Weep because I lie at anchor, Weep and wail because no hero Sets me free upon the waters, Free to ride the rolling billows.
It was said when I was fashioned, Often sung when I was building, That this bark should be for battle, Should become a mighty war-ship, Carry in my hull great treasures, Priceless goods across the ocean.
Never have I sailed to conquest, Never have I carried booty; Other vessels not as worthy To the wars are ever sailing, Sailing to the songs of battle.
Three times in the summer season Come they home with treasures laden, In their hulls bring gold and silver; I, alas!
Themes
◆Animismcosmology
The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.
The passage culminates in a vessel that weeps, speaks, and possesses a will, embodying the worldview that natural objects possess inherent spirit and personality.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The weeping vessel is initially mistaken for a maiden and expresses human emotions like lamentation and desire, attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The magical sword reflects the structure of the cosmos on its surface, with moonlight, sun, and stars gleaming on different parts.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The sword is molded to the minstrel's wishes and the ship was sung into being, reflecting the Kalevala doctrine that song and spoken word carry causal-magical force.