Rune XVI: Wainamoinen's Boat-Building explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Craftsmanship and Creation

  Wainamoinen's boat-building is a detailed magical craft; the failure to find the lost words highlights the importance of complete knowledge in creation.

• Fate and Tragedy

  Wainamoinen's near-fatal journey to Tuoni's realm and the threat of never returning underscore the tragic consequences of seeking forbidden knowledge.

• Power of Song and Magic

  The boat is built through songs and enchantment; the missing words of magic are the key to completing the vessel, and Wainamoinen's shape-shifting escape demonstrates magical prowess.

Characters to notice

• Wainamoinen

  The ancient minstrel and wisdom-singer builds a magic boat but lacks three key words; he journeys to Tuoni's kingdom to find them, using deception and finally escaping by shape-shifting.

• Pellerwoinen

  Also called Sampsa, the slender-grown ancient, he procures the oak timber for Wainamoinen's boat after aspen and pine prove unsuitable.

• Tuoni

  Ruler of the underworld; his daughter and hostess (Tuonetar) interact with Wainamoinen during his visit to Manala.

• Tuonetar

  The death-land hostess offers Wainamoinen poisoned beer and casts a sleep spell on him, but he resists and escapes.

• Mana

  Ruler of Manala; his son weaves nets of copper and iron to trap Wainamoinen, but the hero transforms into a serpent and slips through.

Key passages

• “Wainamoinen, ancient minstrel, The eternal wisdom-singer, For his boat was working lumber, Working long upon his vessel, On a fog-point jutting seaward, On an island, forest-covered; But the lumber failed the master, Beams were wanting for his vessel, Beams and scantling, ribs and flooring.”

  The wise old singer Wainamoinen was building a boat on a foggy island, but he ran out of wood for the beams and ribs.

  Sets up the need for Pellerwoinen to find suitable timber.

• “Then alas! three words were wanting, Lost the words of master-magic, How to fasten in the ledges, How the stern should be completed, How complete the boat's forecastle.”

  When the boat's frame was nearly done, Wainamoinen realized he was missing three crucial magic words to finish the ledges, stern, and forecastle.

  The central problem of the chapter: the missing magic words.

• “Wainamoinen quickly journeys To the kingdom of Tuoni, There to find the ancient wisdom, There to learn the secret doctrine;”

  Wainamoinen hurries to the underworld of Tuoni to seek the lost magic words.

  His quest leads him to the dangerous realm of the dead.

• “Quick the hostess, Tuonetar, Waves her magic wand of slumber O'er the head of Wainamoinen, Puts to rest the wisdom-hero, Lays him on the couch of Mana, In the robes of living heroes, Deep the sleep that settles o'er him.”

  Tuonetar, the hostess of the underworld, casts a sleep spell on Wainamoinen and lays him on a couch in Manala.

  Wainamoinen is temporarily trapped by magic in the death realm.

• “Quick he changes his complexion, Changes too his form and feature, Slips into another body; Like a serpent in a circle, Rolls black-dyed upon the waters; Like a snake among the willows, Crawls he like a worm of magic, Like an adder through the grasses, Through the coal-black stream of death-land, Through a thousand nets of copper Interlaced with threads of iron, From the kingdom of Tuoni.”

  Wainamoinen transforms into a serpent and slithers through the copper and iron nets, escaping from the underworld.

  His shape-shifting magic allows him to evade the traps set by Mana's son.