The myth of the Sampo— an infinite source of fortune and greed - Hanna-Ilona Härmävaara
After a savage seafaring skirmish
and eight long days of being
battered by waves,
Väinämöinen— a powerful bard and
sage as old as the world itself—
washed up on the shores
of distant Pohjola.
Unlike his home Kalevala, Pohjola was
a dark and frozen land,
ruled by Louhi, “the gap-tooth
hag of the North."
The cunning witch nursed Väinämöinen
back to health
but demanded a reward for
returning him home.
Not content with mere gold or silver,
Louhi wanted what did not yet exist—
the Sampo.
To be forged from “the tips of white-swan
feathers," “the milk of greatest virtue,"
“a single grain of barley," and
“the finest wool of lambskins,"
this artifact was said to be
an endless font of wealth.
But Väinämöinen knew that
only Seppo Ilmarinen,
the Eternal Hammerer who forged
the sky-dome itself,
could craft such an object.
So he convinced Louhi to send him
home and fetch the smith.
Though the journey was far from easy,
the bard finally made it back to Kalevala.
But Ilmarinen refused to go to the gloomy
North— a land of witches and man-eaters.
But keeping true to his word,
Väinämöinen tricked Ilmarinen
into climbing a giant tree,
before summoning a mighty storm
to carry the smith all the way to Pohjola.
Ilmarinen was well received in the North.
Louhi lavished her guest with
extravagant hospitality
and promised him the hand
of her beautiful daughter—
if he could craft what she wished.
When she finally asked if Ilmarinen
was capable of forging the Sampo,
the powerful smith declared he could
indeed accomplish the task.
But try as he might to bend
the forge to his will,
its fires only produced other artifacts—
beautiful in appearance but
ill-mannered in nature.
An elegant crossbow that
thirsted for blood
and a gleaming plow that ruined cultivated
fields among others.
Finally, Ilmarinen summoned the winds
themselves to work the bellows,
and in three days time he
pulled the Sampo,
with its lid of many colors from
the forge’s flames.
On its sides the smith carefully crafted
a grain mill, a salt mill,
and a money mill.
Louhi was so delighted with the object’s
limitless productive power
that she ran off to lock her treasure
inside a mountain.
But when Ilmarinen tried to
claim his prize,
the promised maiden refused to marry him,
and the smith had to return home alone.
Years passed, and while
Pohjola prospered,
Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen were without
wives or great wealth.
Bitter about this injustice, the bard
proposed a quest to retrieve the Sampo,
and the two sailed north with the
help of Lemminkäinen—
a beautiful young man with a history
of starting trouble.
Upon arrival, Väinämöinen requested half
the Sampo’s profits as compensation—
or they’d take the artifact by force.
Outraged at this request, Louhi summoned
her forces to fight the heroes.
But as her army readied for war,
the bard played his magic harp, Kantele,
entrancing all who heard it and sending
Pohjola into a deep slumber.
Unimpeded, the three men took the Sampo
and quietly made their escape.
Lemminkäinen was ecstatic
at their success,
and demanded that Väinämöinen sing
of their triumph.
The bard refused, knowing the dangers
of celebrating too early.
But after three days of traveling,
Lemminkäinen’s excitement overwhelmed him,
and he recklessly broke out in song.
His awful singing voice woke
a nearby crane,
whose screeching cries roused
the Pohjolan horde.
The army made chase.
As their warship closed in, Väinämöinen
raised a rock to breach their hull.
Undeterred, Louhi transformed
into a giant eagle,
carrying her army on her back as they
attacked the heroes’ vessel.
She managed to grab the Sampo
in her claw,
but just as quickly, it dropped into
the sea, shattering into pieces
and sinking deep beyond her talon’s reach.
Buried on the ocean floor,
the remnants of this powerful device
remain in the realm of Ahti, god of water—
where they grind salt for the seas
to this very day.
