In the course of all your lifetime,
While the golden moon is shining,
May you woo a golden woman,
Or distress yourselves for silver,
For the gleam of gold is freezing,
Only frost is breathed by silver."250
Runo XXXVIII.—Ilmarinen’s New Bride from Pohjola
Argument
Ilmarinen goes to Pohjola to woo the younger sister of his first wife, but as he receives only insulting words in reply, he becomes angry, seizes the maiden, and starts on his homeward journey (1-124). On the way the maiden treats Ilmarinen with contempt, and provokes him till he changes her into a seagull (125-286). When Ilmarinen comes home, he relates to Väinämöinen how the inhabitants of Pohjola live free from care since they possessed the Sampo; and also tells him how badly his wooing has prospered (287-328).
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,
Cast away the golden image,
Cast away the silver damsel,
Afterwards his horse he harnessed,
Yoked before the sledge the chestnut,
On the sledge himself he mounted,
And within the sledge he sat him,
And departed on his journey,
And proposed, as he was driving,10
He to Pohjola would travel,
There to ask another daughter.
So he drove for one day onward,
Journeyed also on the second,
And at length upon the third day,
Came to Pohjola’s broad courtyard.
Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress
Came into the yard to meet him,
