# Rune XIII: Lemminkainen's Second Wooing explained — The Kalevala

> Chapter companion for The Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot.

## What happens

Lemminkainen returns to Pohyola to woo Louhi's daughter, but Louhi refuses, citing his existing wife Kyllikki. She sets a task: he must capture the wild moose of Hiisi. Lemminkainen commissions snow-shoes from Lylikki and sets off, but Hiisi and Juutas create a magical reindeer to thwart him. After a long chase, Lemminkainen briefly captures the moose, but it breaks free, leaving him exhausted and his equipment shattered.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Marriage

Lemminkainen's persistent wooing of Louhi's daughter, despite already having a wife, drives the chapter's conflict.

### Conflict Between North and South

The tension between Lemminkainen (from the south) and the hostile Northland of Pohyola is central to the narrative.

### Nature and the Landscape

The vast, treacherous snow-fields, forests, and mountains of Lapland are vividly depicted as both setting and obstacle.

## Character check-ins

### Lemminkainen

The reckless hero attempts to woo Louhi's daughter and undertakes the impossible task of capturing the Hiisi moose.

### Louhi

Hostess of Pohyola who refuses Lemminkainen's suit and sets the task of capturing the wild moose.

### Lylikki

The skilled snow-shoe maker who crafts Lemminkainen's snow-shoes.

### Hiisi

Wicked entity who, along with Juutas, creates a magical reindeer to thwart Lemminkainen's hunt.

### Juutas

Evil figure who helps Hiisi fashion the deceptive reindeer to exhaust Lemminkainen.

### Kyllikki

Lemminkainen's current wife, mentioned by Louhi as a reason to refuse his new suit.

## Key lines

> Spake the ancient Lemminkainen To the hostess of Pohyola: 'Give to me thy lovely daughter, Bring me now thy winsome maiden, Bring the best of Lapland virgins, Fairest virgin of the Northland.'

Lemminkainen asks Louhi for her most beautiful daughter's hand in marriage.

_Opens the chapter with Lemminkainen's bold request._

> Spake the hostess of Pohyola: 'Never will I give my daughter To a hero false and worthless, To a minstrel vain and evil; Therefore, pray thou for my maiden, Therefore, woo the sweet-faced flower, When thou bringest me the wild-moose From the Hisi fields and forests.'

Louhi refuses and sets the impossible task of capturing the Hiisi moose as a dowry.

_Establishes the central quest of the chapter._

> Wicked Hisi heard these measures, Juutas listened to their echoes; Straightway Hisi called the wild-moose, Juutas fashioned soon a reindeer, And the head was made of punk-wood, Horns of naked willow branches, Feet were furnished by the rushes, And the legs, by reeds aquatic...

Hiisi and Juutas create a magical reindeer from natural materials to lead Lemminkainen astray.

_Illustrates the supernatural opposition Lemminkainen faces._

> With his might he plunges forward; At the instep breaks his snow-shoe, Breaks the runners into fragments, On the mountings breaks his javelins, In the centre breaks his snow-staff, And the moose bounds on before him...

Lemminkainen's equipment shatters as he fails to recapture the moose.

_Highlights his exhaustion and failure._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kalevala_se/chapters/rune-xiii-lemminkainen-s-second-wooing
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kalevala_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kalevala_se/chapters