Rune XLIII: The Sampo Lost in the Sea explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Conflict Between North and South

  The battle for the Sampo epitomizes the ongoing struggle between the peoples of Kalevala and Pohyola.

• Power of Song and Magic

  Wainamoinen uses magic to create a reef and later invokes Ukko, while Louhi transforms into an eagle through sorcery.

• Fate and Tragedy

  The Sampo is lost in the sea, bringing poverty to Pohyola and mixed fortune to Kalevala, highlighting the tragic consequences of the conflict.

Characters to notice

• Wainamoinen

  Leads the heroes, uses magic to create a reef, fights Louhi, and gathers Sampo fragments for Kalevala's prosperity.

• Louhi

  Hostess of Pohyola, pursues the Sampo, transforms into a giant eagle, loses the Sampo in the sea, and returns home weeping.

• Lemminkainen

  Climbs the mast to scout, fights Louhi's eagle form, and is reminded of his broken promise to his mother.

• Ilmarinen

  Rows the boat and prays to Ukko for protection during the battle.

• Ukko

  Invoked by Ilmarinen and Wainamoinen as the supreme protector and creator.

• Ahti

  Mentioned as the host of the deep sea where the Sampo fragments enrich his nation.

• Otso

  Referenced by Louhi as a threat to send against Kalevala, and by Wainamoinen as a creature that can be driven back.

Key passages

• “Louhi, hostess of Pohyola, Called her many tribes together, Gave the archers bows and arrows, Gave her brave men spears and broadswords; Fitted out her mightiest war-ship, In the vessel placed her army, With their swords a hundred heroes, With their bows a thousand archers; Quick erected masts and sail-yards, On the masts her sails of linen Hanging like the clouds of heaven, Like the white-clouds in the ether; Sailed across the seas of Pohya, To re-take the wondrous Sampo From the heroes of Wainola.”

  Louhi assembles her forces and sails to reclaim the Sampo from the heroes of Kalevala.

  Sets the stage for the climactic battle over the Sampo.

• “Instantly a reef arises, In the sea springs up a mountain, Eastward, westward, through the waters. Came the war-ship of the Northland, Through the floods the boat came steering, Sailed against the mountain-ledges, Fastened on the rocks in water, Wrecked upon the Mount of Magic.”

  Wainamoinen's magic creates a reef that wrecks Louhi's ship.

  Demonstrates Wainamoinen's magical power and cunning.

• “Quick she changes form and feature, Makes herself another body; Takes five sharpened scythes of iron, Also takes five goodly sickles, Shapes them into eagle-talons; Takes the body of the vessel, Makes the frame-work of an eagle; Takes the vessel's ribs and flooring, Makes them into wings and breastplate; For the tail she shapes the rudder; In the wings she plants a thousand Seniors with their bows and arrows; Sets a thousand magic heroes In the body, armed with broadswords; In the tail a hundred archers, With their deadly spears and crossbows, Thus the bird is hero-feathered.”

  Louhi transforms her wrecked ship into a giant eagle armed with warriors.

  Highlights Louhi's formidable magical abilities and determination.

• “Grasps the Sampo with one talon, Drags the treasure to the waters, Drops the magic lid in colors From the red rim of the war-ship To the bottom of the deep-sea, Where the Sampo breaks in pieces, Scatters through the Alue-waters, In the mighty deeps for ages, To increase the ocean's treasures, Treasures for the hosts of Ahto.”

  Louhi grabs the Sampo but drops it into the sea, where it breaks apart, enriching the waters.

  The Sampo is lost, but its fragments bring wealth to the sea and later to Kalevala.

• “Wainamoinen, ancient minstrel, Saw the fragments of the treasure Floating on the billows landward, Fragments of the lid in colors, Much rejoicing, spake as follows: 'Thence will come the sprouting seed-grain, The beginning of good fortune, The unending of resources, From the plowing and the sowing, From the glimmer of the moonlight, From the splendor of the sunshine, On the fertile plains of Suomi, On the meads of Kalevala.'”

  Wainamoinen rejoices at the Sampo fragments washing ashore, foreseeing prosperity for Kalevala.

  Shows Wainamoinen's optimism and the enduring hope for abundance.