Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/144

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Come ye to protect a hero,

Comrades of a youth most famous,

That the sorcerers’ arrows strike not,

Nor the swords of the magicians,

Nor the knife-blades of enchanters,

Nor the weapons of the archers.

“If this be not yet sufficient,

Still I know of other measures,

And implore the very Highest,

Even Ukko in the heavens,

He of all the clouds the ruler,

Of the scattered clouds conductor.

“Ukko, thou of Gods the highest,

Aged Father in the heavens,

Thou amidst the clouds who breathest,

Thou amid the air who speakest,

Give me here a sword of fire,

By a sheath of fire protected,

That I may resist misfortune,

And I may avoid destruction,

Overthrow the powers infernal,

Overcome the water-sorcerers,

That all foes that stand before me,

And the foes who stand behind me,

And above me and beside me,

May be forced to own my power.

Crush the sorcerers, with their arrows,

The magicians, with their knife-blades,

And the wizards with their sword-blades,

All the scoundrels with their weapons.”

Then the lively Lemminkainen,

He the handsome Kaukomieli,

From the bush his courser whistled,

From the grass, the gold-maned courser.

Thereupon the horse he harnessed,

In the shafts the fiery courser,

In the sledge himself he seated,

And the sledge began to rattle.

O’er the horse his whip he flourished,

Cracked the whip, and urged him onward,