Etsin viikon velloani

In the SKVR edition: [Moloskovitsa - Tyrö]. Törneroos ja Tallqvist. n. 90. 1859.

SKVR textEnglish

1Etsin viikon velloani,I sought my brother for a week,

2Kuukau'en Kalervuttani.For a month, Kalervo's son.

3Etsin Suomen, eitsin Saaret,I searched Finland, I combed the islands,

4Moskovan molemmin puolin,Both sides of Moscow,

5Kahen puolen Kapriota.Both flanks of Kapriota.

6En löytänyt velloani,I did not find my brother,

7En löytänyt emmoin lasta.Nor my mother's child.

8Menin rannoille meroille,I went to the shores of seas,

9Näin mie tuolta velloaniThere I saw my brother

10Istuvan meron kivolla,Sitting on a sea-rock,

11Näin päätänsä sukivan,I saw him combing his head,

12Hiuksiansa näin harjavan;Brushing his hair;

13Suki surusta, hivusta.Combed from grief, brushed from sorrow.

14Mie vasten vastaelin:I answered in turn:

15"Tule tuualta kotihin,"Come windward home,

16Tule turvaksi emolleReturn as mother's safeguard,

17Ja varaksi vaalialle!"And the cherished one's shield!"

18Vello vasten vastaeli:My brother answered back:

19"Miiru on turvana emolle,"A staff is mother's support,

20Sauva on vanhalle varaksi."A rod the elder's safeguard."

21Kun tuuli tuvan tekisi;If wind raised the dwelling;

22Vesi hirret vierättäisi,Water rolled the timbers,

23Sit tekisin tuvan emolle,Then I’d build a house for mother,

24Tekisin tuvan tuutialle;A home for the lulled one;

25Miss' emo ijänsä eläisi.Where she’d live out her days."

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 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.

Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.