never
In my lifetime reach my homestead,
Nor again throughout my lifetime,
Nor as long as shines the moonlight,
Neither tread Vainola's meadows;
Kalevala's extended heathlands." 30

Then the aged Vainamoinen,
Spoke aloud his songs of magic,
And a flower-crowned birch grew upward,
Crowned with flowers, and leaves all golden,
And its summit reached to heaven,
To the very clouds uprising.
In the air the boughs extended,
And they spread themselves to heaven.

Then he sang his songs of magic,
And he sang a moon all shining, 40
On the pine-tree's golden summit;
And the Great Bear in the branches.

On he drove with speed tremendous,
Straight to his beloved homestead,
Head bowed down, and thoughts all gloomy,
And his cap was tilted sideways,
For the great smith Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,
He had promised as his surety,
That his own head he might rescue 50
Out of Pohjola's dark regions,
Sariola for ever misty.

Presently his horse he halted
At the new-cleared field of Osmo,
And the aged Vainamoinen,
In the sledge his head uplifted,
Heard the noise within the smithy,
And the clatter in the coal-shed.

Vainamoinen, old and steadfast,
Then himself the smithy entered, 60
And he found smith Ilmarinen,
Wielding mightily his hammer.

Said the smith, said Ilmarinen,
"O thou aged Vainamoinen,
Where have you so long been staying.
Where have you so long been living?"

Vainamoinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
"There have I so long been staying,
There have I so long been living, 70
In the gloomy land of Pohja,
Sariola for ever misty.
Long I coursed on Lapland snowshoes,
With the world-renowned magicians."

Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen,
Answered in the words which follow:
"O thou aged Vainamoinen,
Thou the great primeval sorcerer.
Tell me of your journey thither;
Tell me of your homeward journey." 80

Said the aged Vainamoinen,
"Much indeed have I to tell you:
Lives in Pohjola a maiden,
In that village cold a virgin,
Who will not accept a suitor,
Mocks the very best among them.
Half of all the land of Pohja
Praises her surpassing beauty.