Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/155

Runo XXXIX]

Set the slaves to work the bellows,

And he made the labourers press them.

Worked the slaves the bellows strongly,

Well the labourers pressed the bellows,

Till like soup spread out the iron,

And like dough the steel was yielding,

And the silver shone like water,

And the gold swelled up like billows.

Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,

He the great primeval craftsman,

Stooped to look into the furnace,

At the edges of the bellows,

And he saw a sword was forming,

With a hilt of gold constructed.

From the fire he took the weapon,

Took the work so finely fashioned,

From the furnace to the anvil,

To the hammer and the mallet,

Forged the sword as he would wish it,

And a blade the best of any,

And with finest gold inlaid it,

And with silver he adorned it.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

Entered then to view the weapon,

And he found a keen-edged sword-blade.

Straightway in his hand he raised it,

And he turned it and surveyed it,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Does this sword befit a hero,

Is the sword to bearer suited?“

And the sword the hero suited,

Well did it befit the bearer.

On its point the moon was shining,

On its side the sun was shining,

On the haft the stars were gleaming,

At the tip a horse was neighing,

On the knob a cat was mewing,

On the sheath a dog was barking.

After this the sword he brandished,

And he cleft an iron mountain,