Menin rannoille meroll
In the SKVR edition: Hevaa, Tönttölä. O. Groundstroem. n. 98. 1861.
SKVR textEnglish
1Menin rannoille meroll,I went to the shores of the sea,
2Rannoille liki vettä,To shores near the water,
3Liki vettä valkiaista.Near the bright white water.
4Näin mie laivon lainehtivan,I saw a ship billowing,
5Punapollen purjehtivan,A red-sailed one sailing,
6Soljuvan sotivenoisen.Gliding, a war-boat.
7Astuin mie laivolle jalalle,I stepped onto the ship's base,
8Toisen laivan porraspuulle,Onto the second ship's gangplank.
9Aloin mie laivalle lääetä.I began to move toward the ship.
10Harvoi haastoi laivon vanhinThe ship's elder spoke rarely,
11Hiuksiilt hän harmoilla,From his grayed hair,
12Päältä hän tutilahta,From his head, trembling,
13Sanoin lansuin, suull läkäsin:I spoke softly, stammering:
14"Miksipä on vesi verevä,"Why is the water blood-red,
15Vaahi valkea punanen?"The white foam reddish?"
16Harvoi sitt haastoi laivon vanhin:Then the ship's elder spoke:
17Sill on vesi verevä,"The water is blood-red,
18Vaahi valkea punanen,The white foam reddish,
19Halasti hän hauen vatsan,He gutted the pike's belly,
20Lohasti hän luomen selkä,Cleaved the salmon's spine,
21Suolet luotti hän meroo,Entrails he poured to the sea,
22Syämykset lainehese."Heart-pieces into the waves."
23Velloni veosta kertoi:My brother spoke of the deed:
24"Ej halastu hauven vatsa"The pike's belly was not split,
25Eik lohastu lohen luuni,Nor the salmon's bones cleaved,
26Halasti vellon vatsan,He split my brother's belly,
27Lohasti hän vellon luuni,Cleaved my brother's bones,
28Suolet tuotti hän merol,Entrails he brought to the sea,
29Syämekset lainehese."Heart-pieces into the waves."
30"Vie, siso, emolle viestin,"Go, sister, tell our mother:
31Ett ej veis merosta vettäNot to fetch water from the sea
32Leipoa seataksen;To bake bread;
33Kuin viepi meroista vettä,If she fetches sea-water,
34Niin viepi poijoisten verta.She fetches the blood of boys.
35Vie siso isolle viesti:Tell our father this message:
36Kuin pyysi meron kaloja,If he fishes the sea's fish,
37Niin pyysi pojon lihoja."He fishes for boys' flesh."
38Velloni merosta kertoi:My brother spoke from the sea:
39"Vie, siso, vellolle viesti,"Take, sister, a message to brother:
40Jot ej miun vetra velvyeniThat my brother's wood
41Veis puita merosta;Not take wood from the sea;
42Kuin viepi merost puitaIf he takes wood from the sea,
43Ja polttaa merosta puita,And burns wood from the sea,
44Niin poltti luuni velvyeni,He burns my brother's bones,
45Vello on sortunut meroon,Brother has sunk into the sea,
46Lakaeltu lainehille."Washed into the waves."
a.
47Aloin laivolle läätä:I began to shout to the ship:
48Souva meien rantuvell!"Help our shore-brother!
49A ko oot veno vierahainen,If you're a foreign boat,
50Souva siit sitä etemäst!Help from farther off!
51Laivo rannolle rapais.The ship rushed to shore."
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-013108 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.