A depiction of
Joukahainen from the Finnish epic poem Kalevala
The Kalevala is considered to be the national epic of Finland, which is a very cool cultural thing to be able to experience in this course. My friend Hannes is from Finland and I was able to talk to him about what little I know of the Kalevala from this reading and it was cool to see him speak abiut something that was commonplace to him and very foreign to me. In this section of the story, Joukahainen challenges Väinämöinen to a contest of wisdom and is defeated. With his singing, Väinämöinen causes Joukahainen to sink into a swamp. In order to save himself, Joukahainen promises his sister' s hand in marriage to Väinämöinen. Upon learning of the bargain, the sister Aino mourns her fate and finally drowns herself. Väinämöinen searches the sea for Aino and catches her (she has been transformed into a fish) on his fishing hook. However, he loses her again and sets out to woo the maiden of Pohjola, the daughter of the North Farm. Meanwhile, eager for revenge, Joukahainen watches out for Väinämöinen on the way to Pohjola and shoots Väinämöinen's horse from underneath him as he rides across a river. Väinämöinen falls into the water and floats out to sea. There an eagle rescues him and carries him to Pohjola's shores. The mistress of Pohjola, Louhi, tends Väinämöinen until he recovers. In order to be able to return home, Väinämöinen promises that Ilmarinen the smith will forge a Sampo for Pohjola. The maiden of Pohjola, Louhi's daughter, is promised to the smith in return for the Sampo.
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