-stump,
And the sledge broke off his chanting,
And the runners stopped his singing,
And the shafts in fragments shattered,
And the boards broke all asunder.

Spoke the aged Vainamoinen,
In the very words which follow,
"Are there none among the youthful,
Of the rising generation, 690
Or perchance among the aged,
Of the sinking generation,
Who to Tuonela can wander,
And can go to Mana's country,
Thence to fetch me Tuoni's auger,
Bring me Mana's mighty auger,
That a new sledge I may fashion,
Or repair my sledge that's broken?"

But said all the younger people,
And the aged people answered: 700
"There are none among the youthful,
None at all among the aged,
None of race so highly noble,
None is such a mighty hero,
As to Tuonela to travel,
Journey to the land of Mana,
Thence to bring you Tuoni's auger,
And from Mana's home to bring it,
That a new sledge you may fashion,
Or repair the sledge that's broken." 710

Then the aged Vainamoinen,
He the great primeval minstrel,
Went again to Tuoni's country,
Journeyed to the home of Mana,
Fetched from Tuonela the auger,
Brought from Mana's home the auger.

Then the aged Vainamoinen
Sang a blue wood up before him,
In the forest rose an oak-tree,
And a splendid mountain-ashtree, 720
And from these a sledge he fashioned,
And he shaped his runners from them,
And for shafts prepared them likewise,
And the frame he thus constructed,
Made a sledge to suit his purpose,
And a new sledge he constructed.
In the shafts the horse he harnessed,
Yoked before the sledge the chestnut,
In the sledge himself he seated,
And upon the seat he sat him, 730
And without the whip the courser,
Sped, by beaded whip unharassed,
To his long-accustomed fodder,
To the food that waited for him,
And he brought old Vainamoinen,
He the great primeval minstrel,
To his own door, widely open,
To the threshold brought him safely.

NOTES TO RUNOS I-XXV

(These are by the translator, when not otherwise stated. K. K.
indicates Prof. Kaarle Krohn, and A. M. Madame Aino Malmberg,
For proper names, refer to the Glossary at the end of Vol. II.)

RUNO I

11. Kulta, "golden," here rendered "dearest," is a