Vaka vanha Väinämöinen
In the SKVR edition: Latvajärvi. Lönnrot A II 6, n. 71. - 1834. Arhippa Perttuńe.
SKVR textEnglish
1Vaka vanha VäinämöinenSteadfast old Väinämöinen
2Vuorella venettä vesti,On the mountain, he washed/built a boat,
3Kalliolla kalkutteli,On the cliff, he clattered,
4Kirvon lyömättä kiveh.With flint, unstruck stone,
5Kasah kalkahattamatta.A pile without clattering.
6Hiisi vartta vaapahutti,Hiisi shook the shaft,
7Lempo pontta pyörähytti,Lempo twisted the rib,
8Hiisi suonille sovitti,Hiisi aligned the veins,
9Lempo luille luiskahutti.Lempo slickened the bones.
10Veri pääsi vuotamahan,Blood began to flow,
11Maahan maito juoksemahan,Milk ran to the ground,
12Ei ollut sitä mäkiä,There was no hill,
13Eikä vuorta korkieta,Nor mountain high enough,
14Jok' ei tullut tulvillehenThat did not flood
15Varpahasta Väinämöisen,From Väinämöinen's toe,
16Polvesta pojan pätösen.From the knee's fragment.
17Tuoahan hopie tuoppi,Bring a silver tankard,
18Kulta kan̄ut kannetahan,Golden vessels carried,
19Ei piettu pikkustakaan,Not a drop was held,
20Veä vähästäkäänTake not even a little
21Jesuksen suloa verta,Of Jesus's sweet blood,
22Herran hurmetta hyveä.The Lord's blessed virtue.
23Tuohiset vesiltä tuotu,Birch-bark brought from waters,
24Leppälastut lainehilta,Alder twigs from waves,
25Ne on pikkusen pitänyt,They held a tiny amount,
26Vetänyt ani vähäsen,Drew very little,
27Veren vuotamattomaks,To keep blood unspilled,
28Maito juoksemattomaks.Milk from running away.
29Ei nyt maahan maito joua etc.Now milk does not run to ground, etc.
30Veri seiso niinkuin seinä etc.Blood stood like a wall, etc.
31Lihan lämpösen sisässä,Inside the warm flesh,
32Liha on lämmin syöäkses,Flesh is warm to eat,
33Veri on lämmin juoakses.Blood is warm to drink.
English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies.
The text is that of the SKVR digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), with these changes:
- The editors’ signs inside the verses ([ ], ⌈ ⌉, *, [!], [?]) are left out, as in the poem reader; the letters they enclose are kept.
- The edition’s line numbers are replaced by a number on every verse, counted as in the poem reader.
Source
Text: SKVR (Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot), the digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-000353 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.