Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/236

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Then the smith, e’en Ilmarinen,

Deathless artist of the smithy,

Forged himself a fiery eagle,

Forged a bird of fire all flaming,

And of iron he forged the talons,

Forged the claws of steel the hardest,

Wings like sides of boat constructed;

Then upon the wings he mounted,

On the eagle’s back he sat him,

On the wing-bones of the eagle.

Then he spoke unto the eagle,

And the mighty bird instructed:

“O my eagle, bird I fashioned,

Fly thou forth, where I shall order,

To the turbid stream of Tuoni,

And to Manala’s abysses:

Seize the pike, so huge and scaly,

He the fish so plump and floundering.”

Then the bird, that noble eagle,

Took his flight, and upward soaring,

Forth he flew the pike to capture,

Fish with teeth of size terrific,

In the river-depths of Tuoni,

Down in Manala’s abysses:

To the water stretched a pinion,

And the other touched the heavens;

In the sea he dipped his talons,

On the cliffs his beak he whetted.

Thus the smith, e’en Ilmarinen,

Journeyed forth to seek his booty

In the depths of Tuoni’s river,

While the eagle watched beside him.

From the water rose a kelpie

And it clutched at Ilmarinen,

By the neck the eagle seized it,

And the kelpie’s head he twisted.

To the bottom down he forced it.

To the black mud at the bottom.

Then came forth the pike of Tuoni,

And the water-dog came onward.