The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That Country Part 2

The Devil's underground kingdom is called Prgu, or h.e.l.l. His mother usually appears in the form of a b.i.t.c.h, and his grandmother under that of a white mare. The minor Esthonian devils are usually stupid rather than malevolent. They are sometimes ogres or soul-merchants, but are at times quite ready to do a kindness, or to return one to those who aid them. Their great enemies are the Thunder-G.o.d and the wolf. The princ.i.p.al outwitter of the devil is generally called Crafty Hans; and several volumes of their adventures have been published in Esthonian.

The Devil is often represented as fond of beer.

Besides the above-named G.o.ds and demons, we have spirits of the whirlwind and the Northern Lights; gnomes; and a host of inferior demons, as well as various grades of sorcerers, especially Wind-sorcerers, Word-sorcerers, or soothsayers, and Death-sorcerers, or necromancers. The Tont, or House-Spirit, goes by various names; among others Kratt or Puuk. Kratt is perhaps a word of Scandinavian or German origin; Puuk must be the same as our Puck, or the Irish Pouka. He was probably originally a beneficent house-spirit, and in later times a.s.sumed the demoniacal character in which he appears in the story of the Treasure-Bringer. In the story of "Martin and his Dead Master," we have a spectre much resembling a vampyre in character.

The gigantic race of the heroes is represented as descended from Taara.

As in the case of so many other hero-races--as, for example, the knights of Arthur, Finn, Charlemagne, Vladimir, Palmerin, &c.--they are at length practically destroyed in a series of terrible battles, while the Kalevipoeg, like Arthur, Olger, Barbarossa, and Tell, remains in enchanted bondage till the day shall come for him to restore the ancient glories of his country.[3]

[Footnote 3: Further information on most of the subjects discussed in the Introduction will be found in the Notes and Index.]

PART I

THE HERO OF ESTHONIA

The _Kalevipoeg_, which may be called the national epic of Esthonia, contains the adventures of a mythical hero of gigantic size, who ruled over the country in its days of independence and prosperity. He is always called by his patronymic, Kalevipoeg, or Kalevide, the son of Kalev; and, notwithstanding the great differences between them, he is evidently the Kullervo of the Finnish _Kalevala_.

The _Kalevipoeg_ consists of twenty cantos and about 19,000 lines; and a fairly complete prose outline of the story is here given, all the tedious lyrical interludes which break its continuity, especially at the beginning of several of the cantos, being entirely omitted. For further general information respecting the poem itself we will refer to the Introduction, and will now proceed to give a short abstract of the princ.i.p.al contents of the cantos, before proceeding to a more detailed a.n.a.lysis.

ARGUMENT OF THE "KALEVIPOEG"

_Canto I._--Three brothers travel in various directions, one of whom, Kalev,[4] is carried by an eagle to Esthonia, where he becomes king. A widow finds a hen, a grouse's egg, and a young crow. From the two first spring the fair maidens, Salme and Linda, and from the last a slave-girl. Salme chooses the Youth of the Stars, and Linda the young giant-king Kalev, as their respective husbands, with whom they depart.

_Canto II._--Death and burial of Kalev; birth of his posthumous son, the Kalevipoeg.

_Canto III._--The Kalevipoeg and his brothers go hunting in the forest.

During their absence Linda is carried off by a Finnish sorcerer whose suit she has despised. She escapes from him through the interference of the G.o.ds, who afterwards change her into a rock. Return of the brothers; the Kalevide seeks help and counsel at his father's grave.

_Canto IV._--The Kalevide throws himself into the sea to swim to Finland. In the evening he lands on an island where he meets a maiden whom he seduces. When she hears his name, she is horrified, and falls into the sea. He plunges after her, but being unable to save her, swims onwards on his journey. The parents rake the sea, and find an oak and a fir and other things, but not their daughter. Song of a maiden who was enticed into the sea by a man of copper.

_Canto V._--The planting of the great oak-tree on the island. The Kalevide arrives in Finland and slays the sorcerer.

_Canto VI._--The Kalevide visits a famous smith, from whom he buys a huge sword, which was bespoken by his father Kalev. A great drinking-bout is held in his honour, during which he slays the smith's eldest son in a fit of drunken fury, and the smith curses him. The felling of the great oak-tree on the island.

_Canto VII._--The Kalevide finds the sorcerer's boat, and sails homeward. The three brothers relate their adventures and the eldest proposes that they should now decide which of them shall settle in the country as his father's heir. The Kalevide again visits his father's grave.

_Canto VIII._--The three sons of Kalev journey to the sh.o.r.es of a lake, and try their strength in hurling rocks across it. The youngest makes the best cast, and the other two leave the country. The Kalevide ploughs the land, and one day while he is sleeping his horse is devoured by wolves.

_Canto IX._--The Kalevide slaughters the wolves. News of war. The visit of Taara. The Finnish Bridge.

_Canto X._--In order to settle a dispute between two water-demons, the Kalevide's cousin, the Alevide, begins to drain a swamp. The water-demon begs the hero to desist, and the latter tricks the demon out of his treasures. Visit of the Kalevide's cup-bearer to the water-demon's palace, and his escape. The Kalevide overcomes the demon in hurling and wrestling. He decides to build fortified towns, and sets out to Lake Peipus to fetch timber. Meeting with the Air-maiden at a well.

_Canto XI._--The Kalevide wades through Lake Peipus. A sorcerer steals his sword and sinks it in the brook Kapa, where the Kalevide leaves it, after enjoining it to cut off the legs of him who had brought it there; meaning the sorcerer. He encounters a man of ordinary stature in a forest, whom he puts in his wallet. The man relates his adventure with two giants and their mother.

_Canto XII._--The Kalevide is attacked by three sons of the sorcerer, and beats them off with the boards, which are destroyed. Adventure with the hedgehog. The Kalevide finds to his grief that the man in his wallet has been killed by a chance blow during the fight. He falls asleep, and the sorcerer casts a spell upon him which throws him into a deep sleep for seven weeks. Vision of Ilmarine's workshop. The Kalevide wakes, and sets out on his return. Adventures of two poor boys.

_Canto XIII._--On his return journey the Kalevide finds some demons cooking at the entrance to a cave. He enters the cavern, which leads him to the door of the palace of Sarvik,[5] which he breaks open. In the antechamber, he finds three maidens.

_Canto XIV._--Next day the maidens show the Kalevide over Sarvik's palace. Sarvik surprises them, and wrestles with the Kalevide in the enclosure, but is overcome and vanishes. The Kalevide and the sisters escape from the palace.

_Canto XV._--The fugitives are pursued by the demons, but the youngest sister raises a flood between them. The leader, Tuhi, questions the Kalevide, who answers him sarcastically, and the demons take to flight.

The three sisters are married to the Kalevide's kinsmen.

_Canto XVI._--The Kalevide projects a voyage to the end of the world.

Building of the s.h.i.+p Lennuk. Voyage to Finland and Lapland. Meeting with Varrak, the Laplander. Voyage to the Island of Fire. The Giant's Daughter. The Northern Lights. The Dog-men. Homeward voyage.

_Canto XVII._--The fortified cities. Great battle with invaders. Land journey of the Kalevide and his friends. Encounter with Sarvik disguised as a dwarf. The daughters of the Meadow-Queen.

_Canto XVIII._--The gates of Prgu.[6] The Kalevide enters the cavern, notwithstanding every obstacle fights his way across an iron bridge, and enters Sarvik's palace.

_Canto XIX._--The Kalevide overcomes Sarvik in a wrestling match, and loads him with chains. He returns to the upper world, and finds the Alevide waiting for him at the entrance to the cavern. Return of the Kalevide to Lindanisa.[7] Great feast and songs. News of a formidable invasion. Departure of Varrak for Lapland. Arrival of fugitives.

_Canto XX._--The Kalevide buries his treasure. Terrible battles, in which his cousin the Sulevide is slain. Drowning of the Alevide. The Kalevide abdicates in favour of his surviving cousin, the Olevide, and retires to live in seclusion on the bank of a river. Being annoyed by occasional visitors, he wanders away towards Lake Peipus, and steps into the brook Kapa, when his sword cuts off his legs. His soul takes flight to the halls of Taara,[8] but is bidden by the G.o.ds to reanimate his body. He is mounted on a horse, and stationed at the gates of Prgu, to keep watch and ward on Sarvik and his hosts.

[Footnote 4: The names of the others are not mentioned, but later in the poem we meet with three heroes, the sons of Alev, Olev, and Sulev respectively, a.s.sociated with the son of Kalev, and spoken of as his cousins. Alev and Sulev may have been the brothers of Kalev.]

[Footnote 5: The Prince of Hades, literally Hornie.]

[Footnote 6: Hades or h.e.l.l.]

[Footnote 7: Linda's Bosom, the Kalevide's capital, named in honour of his mother; now Revel.]

[Footnote 8: Ukko, the princ.i.p.al G.o.d of the Finns and Esthonians, is frequently called Taara in the _Kalevipoeg_. This name is not used in Finnish; but Tora is the name of G.o.d among the Chuvash of Kasan.]

THE KALEVIPOEG

OR,

_THE ADVENTURES OF THE SON OF KALEV, THE HERO OF ESTHONIA._

The poem commences with an invocation to Vanemuine.[9] This is followed by a long lyrical exordium.

[Footnote 9: In the Finnish _Kalevala_, Vainamoinen is represented as a culture-hero, and as the father of his people; in Esthonia Vanemuine is usually a demi-G.o.d. He is always the inventor and patron of music and the harp. He plays no part in the _Kalevipoeg_, where his name is only mentioned once or twice.]

CANTO I