Itse vanha Väinämöinen

SKVR VII1 309·Ilomantsi·1888·Collector: Relander, O.

In the SKVR edition: Ilomantsi. Rel. O, kons. v. n. 37. -88. Ryökkylä. Pedja Purmonen.

SKVR textEnglish

[Veneenveistoa - Hiidestä-kosintaa - Paha emäntä.]

1Itse vanha VäinämöinenOld Väinämöinen himself

2Veisti vuorella venoa,Carved a boat on the mountain,

3Kalkutteli kalliolla;Hewed upon the rock;

4Ei kirves kivehen käynyt,The axe did not bite the stone,

5Eikä kalkkant kalliohen.Nor the chisel pierce the bedrock.

6Jopa liuskahti lihahanThen it slipped into flesh—

7Ukon vanhan Väinämöisen,Of old Ukko’s Väinämöinen,

8Polvehen pakahti.Burst into his knee.

9Kovin haukkuu koira konnun,Loudly barks the marsh-dog,

10Peni julma julkutteli,The fierce hound kept barking,

11Perin peltohon sysäsi,Chased it clear to the field,

12Hännän keänsi käppyrähän.Tail curled into a spiral.

13Tunnen tuulet, tunnen tyynen,I know winds, I know stillness,

14Tunnen vilut vihakat,I know wrathful chills,

15Jopon rannat on vasto,Jopo’s shores lie yonder,

16Vaan en tullut tuntemaanYet I failed to discern

17Talon tyttären tapoja,The house-daughter’s ways,

18Kontion kovan emännän.Beast! The harsh mistress.

19Vihalla vaimo vieras,The wrathful foreign wife,

20Tahallah talon emäntäThe house-mistress acts spitefully,

21Antopa viikon maatakseni,Let her grant me a week’s rest,

22Kauvan kasvatellakseni,Long to be nurtured—

23Vaan oli pesty vuottovuoje, (!)But she was washed at year’s turn,

24Pantu paksu peän alainen;A thick [pillow] placed beneath my head;

25Pehmeä pian nukutti.Softly she lulled me to sleep.

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.

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