Kalevala shortly #6 - Joukahainen's revenge

celestal (71)in #story • 7 years ago (edited)

This is part of my "Kalevala series" in which I tell the epic folklore poetry collection of Finns as a series of short stories.
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: The virgin of Vellamo

Listening his mother's, Ilmatar, advice to address to the North, Väinämöinen took his stallion and rode with it across the lands of Kalevala heading over back of the sea without his horse's hoofs getting wet.

Meanwhile, Joukahainen, a Lapplander, in his increasing anger over Väinämöinen sought for pay out: Crafting a crossbow his plan was to avenge his humiliation in the swamp.

One day Joukahainen steered his glance over the sea where he saw something dark approaching:

"Is it dark blue cloud in distance,
coming from east where dawn rises."

When he realized it wasn't a cloud but Väinämöinen, her mother reached for him and asked where for he was going with his crossbow.

Joukahainen told his plan to kill Väinämöinen but his mother disallowed it:

"Should you send Väinämöinen to, lands of Underworld, its cabins,
all the joy from the air would be, gone with empty land by the death
of the singer from Kalevala."

But Joukahainen disregarded his mothers denial and aimed his crossbow towards his enemy: He loaded his first arrow, shot it, but it went too high over the head of Väinämöinen.

Second arrow he loaded but it went too low splitting the ground.

But the third arrow stroke onto Väinämöinen's stallion and he fell from top of it into the ocean.