hastens down to the River of Death, only to learn her son has perished.  Hastening back to the blacksmith Ilmarinen, the frantic mother beseeches him to make her a rake with a handle five hundred fathoms long, and armed with this implement begins to dredge the river.  Presently she fishes out one by one the garments and various fragments of her son!  Thanks to powerful incantations she restores Lemminkainen to life, speech, and motion, whereupon the youth thanks her, and graphically relates how he came to his death.  But, although he is home once more, Lemminkainen is always thinking of the beautiful maiden he wooed, and he still longs to kill the swan swimming on the River of Death!

Runes XVI and XVII. Leaving Lemminkainen, the poem now relates how Wainamoinen built a boat, asking the God of the Forest to supply him with the necessary material for its different parts.  When questioned, the trees one after another declare they are unfit for ship-building, until the oak proffers its strong trunk.  Wainamoinen now constructs his vessel, but discovers he lacks three “master words” to finish it properly.  After vainly seeking these words among birds and animals, he crosses the River of Death in a boat, only to find the magic formula is unknown even to the angel of Death!  The words are, however, well known to Wipunen, a giant of whom he goes in quest.  Prying open the monster’s lips to force him to speak, Wainamoinen stumbles and accidentally falls into the huge maw and is swallowed alive.  But, unwilling to remain indefinitely in the dark recesses of the giant’s body, Wainamoinen soon sets up a forge in the entrails of the colossus, thus causing him such keen discomfort that the monster proposes to eject his guest, who flatly refuses to be dislodged until he learns the magic words.  Having thus cleverly secured what he is seeking, Wainamoinen returns home and completes a boat, which proves self-propelling, and speedily bears him to the Northland to woo the Maiden of the Rainbow.

  Thus the ancient Wainamoinen
  Built the boat with magic only,
  And with magic launched his vessel,
  Using not the hand to touch it,
  Using not the foot to move it,
  Using not the knee to turn it,
  Using nothing to propel it. 
  Thus the third task was completed,
  For the hostess of Pohyola,
  Dowry for the Maid of Beauty
  Sitting on the arch of heaven,
  On the bow of many colors.

Rune XVIII. Wainamoinen’s departure in the magic vessel is noted by Ilmarinen’s sister, who immediately informs her brother a suitor is starting to woo the girl he covets.  Jumping into his sled Ilmarinen drives off, and both suitors approach the maiden’s dwelling from different points at the self-same time.  Seeing them draw near, the witch Louhi bids her daughter accept the older man—­because he brings a boat-load of treasures—­and to refuse the empty-handed youth.  But the daughter, who prefers a young bridegroom, declares that the smith who fashioned the incomparable Sampo cannot be an undesirable match.  When Wainamoinen therefore lands from his ship and invites her to go sailing with him, she refuses his invitation.  Heavy-hearted, Wainamoinen is obliged to return home alone, and, on arriving there, issues the wise decree that old men should never woo mere girls or attempt to rival young men.