Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/14

x Kalevala. The history of the Kalevipoeg will be found in my work entitled The Hero of Esthonia, published by Nimmo in 1895, in two volumes. However, the Esthonians make him not a slave, but a king. In the Kalevala we meet with no kings, but only patriarchs, or chiefs of clans.

The principal heroines of the Kalevala are Ilmatar, the Daughter of the Air, the Creatrix of the world, in the first Runo, whose counterpart is Marjatta, the mother of the successor of Väinämöinen, in the last Runo; Aino, a young Lapp girl beloved of Väinämöinen, whose sad fate forms one of the most pathetic episodes in the Kalevala; Louhi, the Mistress of Pohjola, or the North Country; and her daughter, afterwards the wife of Ilmarinen. The character of the daughter of Louhi presents three phases, which illustrate more than anything else the composite character of the poem, for it is impossible that any two can have been drawn by the same hand.

Firstly, we find her as the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the witch, playing the part of a Medea, without her cruelty.

Secondly, we find her as a timid and shrinking bride, in fact almost a child-bride.

Thirdly, when married, she appears as a wicked and heartless peasant-woman of the worst type.

The heroes are all skilled in magic, and to some extent are able to command or propitiate even the gods. A peculiarity of Finnish magic is what is called “the word of origin.”

To control or banish an evil power, it is sufficient to know and to repeat to it its proper name, and to relate the history of its creation.

Before concluding the Introduction, it may be well to give a brief summary of the principal contents of the fifty Runos of the poem.

Runo I. After a preamble by the bard, he proceeds to relate how the Virgin of the Air descended into the sea, was tossed about by the winds and waves, modelled the earth, and brought forth the culture-hero Väinämöinen, who swims to shore.

Runo II. Väinämöinen clears and plants the country, and sows barley.

Runo III. The Laplander Joukahainen presumes to contend with Väinämöinen in singing, but is plunged by him into a