uth the words are melting,
From my lips the tones are gliding,
From my tongue they wish to hasten;
When my willing teeth are parted,
When my ready mouth is opened,
Songs of ancient wit and wisdom
Hasten from me not unwilling.[36]

The proem then invites all people to listen to legends of by-gone
times and to the teachings of the wizard Wainamoinen, to admire the
works of Ilmarinen and the doings of Youkahainen in the pastures of
the Northland and in the meads of Kalevala. It adds that these runes
were caught from the winds, the waves, and the forest branches, and
have been preserved in the Northland ever since.

_Rune I._ In the first rune we are informed that Ilmater, daughter of
the air, weary of floating alone in space, finally descended to the
ocean, where she was rocked in the cradle of the deep seven hundred,
years. She made use of this time to create, out of the eggs of a wild
duck, the canopy of the heavens, and the spherical earth, with its
islands, rocks, and continents. At the end of these seven hundred
years, Ilmater gave birth to Wainamoinen, having waited all this time
to be delivered of him, and having vainly called all living creatures
to her aid. After coming into the world, this wonderful child floated
about on the ocean eight years, and then drew himself up on a barren
promontory to admire the sun, moon, and starry skies.

_Rune II._ After living alone for some time on this promontory or
island, Wainamoinen summoned Pellerwoinen, "first-born of the plains
and prairies," and bade him scatter broadcast seeds for the trees
which were destined to clothe both vales and hillsides. In a twinkling
of an eye, every variety of forest growth waved its branches hither
and thither, and, although Wainamoinen rejoiced to see the forest, he
soon discovered that the oak, the "tree of heaven," was lacking in it.
Because the oak still slept within an acorn, Wainamoinen wondered how
to conjure it out of its hiding-place, and, after consulting five
water-maidens, called the giant Tursus out of the depths of the ocean.
After burning the hay the water-maidens raked together, this giant
planted in the ashes an acorn, which quickly sprouted, and whence
arose a tree of such mighty proportions that its branches hid the rays
of the sun and blotted out the starlight.

Terrified by what he had done, Wainamoinen wondered how to get rid of
the oak, and implored his mother to send some one to help him.
Immediately