• This is part of my "Kalevala series" in which I tell the epic folklore poetry of Finns as a series of short stories, one rune at a time.

• Don't know what Kalevala is? Check my introduction post of it: Kaleva: An epic folklore of Finns - A source of inspiration for Tolkien's mythology

• Want to start from the beginning? Go to Part 1: The birth of Väinämöinen

• Previous part: Kalevala shortly #12 - Lemminkäinen goes to war

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After Lemminkäinen had sang every singer to the lands wherever from the North's highest cabin, he demanded to get a virgin for himself as a wife - instead of staying with beautiful Kyllikki who had broken their wedding vowel,
but Louhi, the Mistress of the North had a condition for it:

"I don't give away my daughters, not the shortest nor the tallest,
not the best or the worst among them; to a man with no reputation,
puny man insignificant, with no great deed under your name;
ski after the moose of Hiisi, for the price of my daughter's hand."

Thus, he went to the workshop of Lyylikki, a great artisan, and asked if he could craft him a pair of skis:

"O' wise craftman of Lyylikki: make me a pair of finest skis,
short ski to ki'ick momentum, long ski to glide on top of snow;
for the hunt of the elk of Hiisi, killing of hoof foot from the fields."

Lyylikki, the craftsman of Kauppi, warned Lemminkäinen but he was arrogant and didn't listen to anyone's advice.

The crafting started:
for the fall he made the longer ski,
during the winter he carved the short ski,
on a day he carved the ski pole,
and another was the pole ready for the other hand.

Upon completion of the skis, Lemminkäinen paid and took the rest of his gear, including his new bow, and declared:

"There is nothing under the sky, running in woods on its four feet, that would not be taken aback,
by the power of the ski'is, Lemminkäinen gliding by them."

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Some goblins heard his threaten - evil demonic creatures from forest - and formed a fake moose from the ingredients of nature. A goblin send it away across the lands of Lapland to exhaust Lemminkäinen who would be chasing it.

~

Lemminkäinen lubricated his long ski with reindeer grease, and he skied so hard a fire showered and his poles smoked. But the elk was nowhere to be seen, until he ventured the only place he hadn't touched yet: the North.

He arrived to the lands of Lapland where he saw the despair of the Laplanders the moose of Hiisi had caused among them;
he kicked once into the boundless distance,
he kicked twice to far away unheard,

he kicked thrice and captured the moose of Hiisi.

Lemminkäinen put the captured creature in an enclosure and spoke to himself how comfortable would it be to lie on the moose's fur with a young maiden.

The powerful elk got furious from his talk and kicked itself out of the enclosure:

"Your love shall get you a maiden, one who you could li'ie next to,
with whom you could live merrily."

...and ran away where eyes couldn't meet it nor ears could hear...

leaving Lemminkäinen with broken gear for fiercely trying to chase it back down, without success.

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• Part 14: The death of Lemminkäinen

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Pics: 1, 2, 3, 4