“I will forge for thee the Sampo,
  Hammer thee the lid in colors,
  From the tips of white-swan feathers,
  From the milk of greatest virtue,
  From a single grain of barley,
  From the finest wool of lambkins,
  Since I forged the arch of heaven,
  Forged the air a concave cover,
  Ere the earth had a beginning.”

The sorceress is so pleased with the Sampo—­by means of which she daily grinds out treasure untold—­that, after hiding it away safely in a mountain, she authorizes Ilmarinen to woo the Maid of Beauty, who assures him also she never will marry.  Saddened by this refusal, Ilmarinen longs for home, whither he is wafted in Louhi’s magic boat of copper.

Meanwhile Wainamoinen has been building a magic boat in which to sail northward.  He is aided in this work by Lemminkainen, who, seeing the Maid of Beauty, boldly kidnaps her.  But the maiden consents to be his spouse only if he will promise never to fight, a pledge he readily gives in exchange for hers to forego all village dances.  These vows duly exchanged, the young couple are united, and all goes well as long as both scrupulously keep their promise.

Rune XII. The time comes, however, when Lemminkainen goes fishing, and during his absence his wife secretly attends a village dance.  When the husband returns, his sister informs him his bride has broken her promise, whereupon Lemminkainen vows it is time he too should break his, and, harnessing his sleigh, starts off for Lapland to fight.  On arriving there he enters sundry houses, and finally meets in one of them a minstrel, whose song he roughly criticises.  Then, seizing the man’s harp, Lemminkainen chants all sorts of spells, until all present are under their influence save a blind shepherd, whom Lemminkainen allows to go, and who hastens down to the River of Death, declaring he will there await the singer’s arrival.

Runes XIII and XIV. Lemminkainen now asks Louhi for her second daughter, whom she refuses to give him, declaring that after deserting her first daughter he can obtain her second only by catching the wild moose ranging in the fields of Hisi (Death), by bridling his fire-breathing steed, and by killing with his first arrow the great swan swimming on the River of Death.  The first two tasks, although bristling with difficulties, are safely accomplished by Lemminkainen, but when he reaches the River of Death, the blind shepherd—­who is lying there in wait for him ruthlessly slays him, chops his body into pieces, and casts them into the stream.

Rune XV. After vainly awaiting Lemminkainen’s return, his aged mother, seeing blood drip from his hair-brush, concludes evil must have befallen her son.  She therefore hastens northward, and threatens to destroy Louhi’s magic Sampo unless the sorceress will reveal what has become of Lemminkainen.  Louhi then confesses that she sent him down to Hades to hunt the Death swan, so Lemminkainen’s mother