Vaka vanha Väinämöinen

SKVR VII5 loitsut 3274·Kitee·1828·Collector: Lönnrot, Elias

In the SKVR edition: Kitee. Lönnrot S, n. 140. -28.

SKVR textEnglish

1Vaka vanha Väinämöinen,Steadfast old Väinämöinen,

2ihek julki jumalani,Truly bring forth my god,

3sie olet suurin jumaloista,You are the greatest of gods,

4vanhin vaimoin kannetuista,Oldest of the borne beings,

5vanhin kantamattomista.Oldest of the unborn ones.

6Tule tänne tarvitessa,Come here when needed,

7kanna kaunis kantelesi,Bring your beautiful kantele,

8soita suosta, soita maastaPlay from the swamp, play from the earth,

9sekä korvesta kokoaAnd gather from the forest,

10kynttä kaiken karvallistaPlow all the hairy ones,

11karjan kasvamo sialta!Remove the herd's growth from swine!

12Pane juonet juoksemaan,Set the channels running,

13virka vippelehtämähän,Make duties flutter swiftly,

14laske vilja virtomaan,Let grain flow forth,

15viljan virtoa väleen,Grain's stream to the people,

16juonen juosta joutusasti,Let the channel run abundantly,

17viikevästi viiletellä.Swiftly let it glide.

18Siepä ennen soiton soitit,You indeed played before,

19viljan korvesta kokosit,Gathered grain from the forest,

20kontiot kivikoloista,Bears from stone dens,

21peurat saloin periltä,Deer from grove's depths,

22järvi luotoilta jänikset,Hares from lake islets,

23väärä sääret varvikoistaCrooked legs from plovers,

24esivanhem̄an eloksi,For ancestors' sustenance,

25iloksi esi-isiin;For forefathers' joy;

26mikses sie minulle soitaWhy don't you play for me,

27minun mehtään mentyäni,When I went to my forest,

28samottuoni salolle,Tracked to the grove,

29ja sallolle saatuoni?And reached the meadow?

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.