Oli ennen neljä neittä
In the SKVR edition: Kivijärvi. Marttińi n. 16. 92.
SKVR textEnglish
Oli ennen neljä neittä.
1Oli ennen neljä neittä,There were four maidens of old,
2Koko kolme morsianta,Altogether three brides,
3Lähtivät he heinän niittoon,They went to mow the hay,
4Löytivät he lemmen lehti,They found a leaf of love!,
5Lemmen lehti, tammen lastu,The love-leaf, oak's splinter,
6Vietih maalle kasvajalle,Were brought to the planting place,
7Norolla ylenijälle.To Noro the nurturer.
8Siihen kasvoi kaunis tammi,There grew a fair oak,
9Yleni vihänta virpi,A gleaming sapling rose,
10Otettihin oksa siitäA branch was taken from it
11Sekä lehti lempeästi,And a leaf tenderly,
12Punottiin punaista köyttä,A red cord was braided,
13Rautaköyttä rahnikoitiinAn iron chain was forged,
14Sitoa meren sivua,To bind the sea's edge,
15Kannanlahta kaakistua,To still the headland bay,
16Meri tyynenä pysyisi,That the sea stay calm,
17Kannanlahti kaunehena,The bay in beauty,
18Viijä Vienan neitosia,To bring Viena's maidens,
19Kaupita kotikanoja.To sell domestic fowl.
20Neitijä ei tukulla myyvä,Maidens aren't sold for dowries,
21Kassapäit' ei kauppaella,Treasure-heads aren't traded,
22Oravat tukulla myyvään,Squirrels are sold for dowries,
23Revot kansoin kaupitellaan.Foxes traded among the folk.
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.
- The editors’ notes, and the marks in the verses that point to them, are left out; they can be read at SKS.
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-001412 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.