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And a bear for his companion,

There in Pohjola’s dread gateway,

Where the pathway is the narrowest.

Hundreds have been there devoured,

Heroes have by thousands perished;

Wherefore should they not devour thee,

Kill thee likewise, unprotected?“

Answered lively Lemminkainen,

Said the handsome Kaukomieli,

“Perhaps a young ewe might be eaten,

Or a lamb be torn to pieces,

Not a man, how weak soever,

Not the sleepiest of the heroes!

With a hero’s belt I’m girded,

And I wear a hero’s armour,

Fixed with buckles of a hero,

So be sure I shall not hasten,

Unto Untamo’s dread wolf’s jaws,

In the throat of that curst creature.

“’Gainst the wolf I know a refuge,

’Gainst the bear I know a method;

For the wolf’s mouth sing a muzzle,

For the bear sing iron fetters,

Or to very chaff will chop them,

Or to merest dust will sift them;

Thus I’ll clear the path before me,

Reach the ending of my journey.”

Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,

“Even yet your goal you reach not,

There are still upon your pathway,

On your road tremendous marvels.

Three terrific dangers wait you,

Three more deaths await the hero;

And there even yet await you,

On the spot the worst of marvels.

“When a little way you’ve travelled,

Up to Pohjola’s enclosure,

There a fence is reared of iron,

And a fence of steel erected,

From the ground to heaven ascending,