And the pine-boughs shine like silver,
And the flowers of heath all golden,
And the mountains are of honey,
And the rocks are made of hens’ eggs,
Flows the mead from withered pine-trees,
Milk flows from the barren fir-trees,
Butter flows from corner-fences,
From the posts the ale is flowing.
“There to dwell was very pleasant,
Lovely was it to reside there;590
Afterwards ’twas bad to live there,
And unfit for me to live there.
They were anxious for the maidens,
And suspicious of the women,
Lest the miserable wenches,
And the fat and wicked creatures,
Might by me be badly treated,
Visited too much at night time.
But I hid me from the maidens,
And the women’s daughters guarded600
Just as hides the wolf from porkers,
Or the hawks from village poultry.”
Runo XXX.—Lemminkainen and Tiera
Argument
Lemminkainen goes to ask his former comrade-in-arms, Tiera, to join him in an expedition against Pohjola (1-122). The Mistress of Pohjola sends the Frost against them, who freezes the boat in the sea, and almost freezes the heroes themselves in the boat, but that Lemminkainen restrains it by powerful charms and invocations (123-316). Lemminkainen and his companion walk across the ice to the shore, wander about in the waste for a long time in a miserable plight, and at last make their way home (317-500).
Ahti, youth for ever youthful,
Lemminkainen young and lively,
Very early in the morning,
In the very earliest morning,
