Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/292

280

137, 138. Neptune’s trident?

169. Here a different epithet is applied to Väinämöinen.

283. Probably Polyporus igniarius or P. fomentarius, both of which are much used for tinder.

302. He appears to have thought that Panu was in league with the Fire.

83. This is Rhabdomancy, or divination by rods.

417. Literally, at the end of our thumbs.

1. Marjatta korea kuopus.

Literally, Marjatta the elegant darling; an expression occurring nowhere else in the Kalevala. The story in the present Runo seems to exhibit a veneer of Christianity over Shaman legends. Even the name Marjatta, notwithstanding its resemblance to Maria, seems to be really derived from the word marja, a berry. An old writer says that the favourite deities of the Finns in his time were Väinämöinen and the Virgin Mary.

188. That is, a criminal who deserves to be burnt at the stake.

199, 200. She already recognizes her unborn son as an Avatar.

289. The word here rendered “hapless” properly means “little.”

465. This is the only passage in the Kalevala, in which Väinämöinen is spoken of as ever having been young; though he is occasionally called young in variants.

465-468. This passage apparently alludes to Väinämöinen having sent Ilmarinen to Pohjola by a trick.

471-474. This must allude either to the fate of Aino, or to some story not included in the Kalevala.

501. In Esthonian legends, Vanemuine is not an Avatar and culture-hero, but the God of Music, who withdrew from men on account of the ribaldry with which some of his hearers received his divine songs. (Hero of Esthonia, II., pp. 80-85.) Longfellow also makes Hiawatha depart in a boat after the conclusion of his mission.

613, 614. These expressions remind us of the Buddha “breaking down the rafters and the roof-tree” preparatory to reaching Nirvano.