Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 1, 1890.djvu/49

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Magic Songs of the Finns.
43

16 Of what was the back composed? Of Hiisi's pole for raking coal.
17 Whence has the evil one a tail? From the hair-plait of Hiisi's girl.
18 From what were the guts knotted up? From Hiisi's belt appendages.
19 Whence has the vagabond life? From Hiisi's hearth of coals.
Whence has the bane its disposition? From 'fiery' rapids' froth.
21 Whence was the heart thrown? From Syöjätär's heart's core.
22 Whence was its poison flung? From an angry torrent's foam.


Variants.

5 The head was made of broken pots. v. Of an evil man's (spirit's) thumb.
5 Of the end (F. head) of a shirt-wearer's[1] thong.
5 Of a belt-ring of Väinötär.[2]
5 Of an evil one's shirt lappet, v. Of the belt clasp of one behind a stream.
5 Of the breast clasp of Syöjätär [v. Ritikainen].
8 The eyes were made of mussel pearls (F. seeds).
8 One eye was of a mussel pearl (F. stone), the other of a golden bean.
v. the other of an iron [v. Riga] bean.
8 One eye of a golden [v. Tuoni's] mussel shell, the other of a bird cherry's berry.
v. the other of a seed of flax.
9 They were composed of willow leaves, v. Of river horsetail were the ears.
12 From the spear of Äijö's [v. Keito's] son. v. From Lempo's [v. Keito's] spear.
12 From a fiery pointed sword, v. From the sword of Kaleva's son.
12 From the hair of Hiisi's girl. v. From a female creature's[3] hair.
12 It's Hiisi's hayfork.


  1. An epithet of Ruotus (Herod) in the Kalevala, l, 237. It means a man in his bare shirt, staying at home and unoccupied with work.
  2. Väinämöinen's daughter. Elsewhere she is identified with Pain's daughter, Kiputar, whose character suits her in this instance.
  3. Or, 'full grown creature', emäkave.