Ite vanha Väinämöinen

SKVR VII1 608·Ilomantsi·1838·Collector: Lönnrot, Elias

In the SKVR edition: Ilomantsi. Lönnrot Ub, n. 85 b). -38.

SKVR textEnglish

[Purren itkua - Laivaretkeä - Kanteleen syntyä - Tammi.]

1Ite vanha VäinämöinenThe old Väinämöinen himself

2Läksi purren itkentähän.Set out to lament the boat.

3"Vene hankala halajat.""The boat, unwieldy, you require."

4"Alla kaarteni asuvat,"Under my ribs they dwell,"

5Teutoavat teljoillani.""They labor upon my planks."

6Ite vanha VäinämöinenThe old Väinämöinen himself

7Alko hankoja hakea,Began to seek poles,

8Koukko - - -A hook,

9Miekkamiehiä mieleviä.Skillful swordsmen.

10Pani vanhat soutamahan,Made the elders row,

11Nuoret ilman istumahan;The young without sitting;

12Ei ilolle millenkänä,Not for joy ever,

13Kunnialle kullenkana.Nor honor to any.

14Virkki vanha Väinämöinen:Spoke old Väinämöinen:

15"Nouskaa, nuoret, soutamahan,"Rise, youth, to rowing,

16Vanhat ilman istumahan.Elders without sitting.

17Nosti kuusista melalla,Lifted from spruces with oar,

18Petäjällä jyrkimellä.With pine more firmly.

19Okahista tuonen otran,From Death's barley chaff,

20Ruuaksi rupeavasta,As food for the eager,

21Veriissä vierevistä."In blood of the proximate."

22Itki piiat, itki piltit,Maids wept, girls wept,

23Itki itsekki Väinämöinen,Even Väinämöinen wept,

24Vesi juoksi silmistähänWater ran from his eyes

25Kaunihille kasvoillen,Down fair cheeks,

26Noropohjaan norahti;Rushed to the soft depths;

27Siitä kasvo kaunis tam̄i.There grew a fair oak.

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.