untess by the demon blacksmith in the Russian
Marchen, or of the Carib hero mentioned by Mr. McLennan, {171} or of the
ox in the South African household tale.

With the sixteenth canto we return to Wainamoinen, who, like all epic
heroes, visits the place of the dead, Tuonela. The maidens who play the
part of Charon are with difficulty induced to ferry over a man bearing no
mark of death by fire or sword or water. Once among the dead,
Wainamoinen refuses--being wiser than Psyche or Persephone--to taste of
drink. This 'taboo' is found in Japanese, Melanesian, and Red Indian
accounts of the homes of the dead. Thus the hero is able to return and
behold the stars. Arrived in the upper world, he warns men to 'beware of
perverting innocence, of leading astray the pure of heart; they that do
these things shall be punished eternally in the depths of Tuoni. There
is a place prepared for evil-doers, a bed of stones burning, rocks of
fire, worms and serpents.' This speech throws but little light on the
question of how far a doctrine of rewards and punishments enters into
primitive ideas of a future state. The 'Kalevala,' as we possess it, is
necessarily, though faintly, tinged with Christianity; and the peculiar
vices which are here threatened with punishment are not those which would
have been most likely to occur to the early heathen singers of this
runot.

Wainamoinen and Ilmarinen now go together to Pohjola, but the fickle
maiden of the land prefers the young forger of the sampo to his elder and
imperturbable companion. Like a northern Medea, or like the Master-maid
in Dr. Dasent's 'Tales from the Norse,' or like the hero of the Algonquin
tale and the Samoan ballad, she aids her alien lover to accomplish the
tasks assigned to him. He ploughs with a plough of gold the adder-close,
or field of serpents; he bridles the wolf and the bear of the lower
world, and catches the pike that swim in the waters of forgetfulness.
After this, the parents cannot refuse their consent, the wedding-feast is
prepared, and all the world, except the seduisant Lemminkainen, is bidden
to the banquet. The narrative now brings in the ballads that are sung at
a Finnish marriage.

First, the son-in-law enters the house of the parents of the bride,
saying, 'Peace abide with you in this illustrious hall.' The mother
answers, 'Peace be with you even in this lowly hut.' Then Wainamoinen
began to sing, and no man was so hardy as to clasp hands an