The Hero of Esthonia | Page 8

Finland and Lapland. Meeting
with Varrak, the Laplander. Voyage to the Island of Fire. The Giant's
Daughter. The Northern Lights. The Dog-men. Homeward voyage.
Canto XVII.--The fortified cities. Great battle with invaders. Land
journey of the Kalevide and his friends. Encounter with Sarvik
disguised as a dwarf. The daughters of the Meadow-Queen.
Canto XVIII.--The gates of Põrgu.[6] The Kalevide enters the cavern,
notwithstanding every obstacle fights his way across an iron bridge,
and enters Sarvik's palace.
Canto XIX.--The Kalevide overcomes Sarvik in a wrestling match, and
loads him with chains. He returns to the upper world, and finds the
Alevide waiting for him at the entrance to the cavern. Return of the
Kalevide to Lindanisa.[7] Great feast and songs. News of a formidable
invasion. Departure of Varrak for Lapland. Arrival of fugitives.
Canto XX.--The Kalevide buries his treasure. Terrible battles, in which
his cousin the Sulevide is slain. Drowning of the Alevide. The Kalevide
abdicates in favour of his surviving cousin, the Olevide, and retires to
live in seclusion on the bank of a river. Being annoyed by occasional
visitors, he wanders away towards Lake Peipus, and steps into the
brook Käpä, when his sword cuts off his legs. His soul takes flight to
the halls of Taara,[8] but is bidden by the gods to reanimate his body.
He is mounted on a horse, and stationed at the gates of Põrgu, to keep
watch and ward on Sarvik and his hosts.

[Footnote 4: The names of the others are not mentioned, but later in the
poem we meet with three heroes, the sons of Alev, Olev, and Sulev
respectively, associated with the son of Kalev, and spoken of as his
cousins. Alev and Sulev may have been the brothers of Kalev.]
[Footnote 5: The Prince of Hades, literally Hornie.]
[Footnote 6: Hades or Hell.]
[Footnote 7: Linda's Bosom, the Kalevide's capital, named in honour of
his mother; now Revel.]
[Footnote 8: Ukko, the principal god of the Finns and Esthonians, is
frequently called Taara in the Kalevipoeg. This name is not used in
Finnish; but Tora is the name of God among the Chuvash of Kasan.]

THE KALEVIPOEG
OR,
THE ADVENTURES OF THE SON OF KALEV, THE HERO OF
ESTHONIA.
The poem commences with an invocation to Vanemuine.[9] This is
followed by a long lyrical exordium.
[Footnote 9: In the Finnish Kalevala, Väinämöinen is represented as a
culture-hero, and as the father of his people; in Esthonia Vanemuine is
usually a demi-god. He is always the inventor and patron of music and
the harp. He plays no part in the Kalevipoeg, where his name is only
mentioned once or twice.]

CANTO I
THE MARRIAGES OF SALME AND LINDA

In ancient days, the race of Taara dwelt here and there in the land, and
took to themselves wives of the daughters of men.[10] In the far North,
near the sacred oak forest of Taara, such a household existed, and from
thence three sons went forth into the world to seek their fortunes. One
son travelled to Russia, where he became a great merchant; another
journeyed to Lapland, and became a warrior; while the third, the
famous Kalev,[11] the father of heroes, was borne to Esthonia on the
back of an eagle.[12] The eagle flew with him to the south across the
Gulf of Finland, and then eastward across Lääne[13] and Viru,[14]
until, by the wise ordering of Jumala,[15] the eagle finally descended
with him on the rocky shores of Viru, where he founded a kingdom.
In the province of Lääne a young widow lived quietly by herself. One
Sunday she followed the footprints of her cattle, and what did she find
on her way? On the path she found a hen; she found a grouse's egg in
the footprints of the cattle, and she found a young crow near the village.
She carried them all home with her to comfort her loneliness, and she
made a nest for the hen and the egg in a basket lined with wool, but she
threw the young crow into a corner behind the boxes.
The hen soon began to grow, and her head reached the lid of the basket
while she sat on the egg. She grew taller for three months, and for
several days of the fourth month.
The widow went into the storehouse to look at her foster-children, and
what did she behold on raising the lid of the basket? The hen had
grown into the fair maiden Salme;[16] the egg had given birth to a
second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl,
a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the
weight of water-pails from the well.
Salme was besieged by suitors. Five and six brought her offerings of
corn-brandy, seven sent