in public (especially
Untamo, says Prof. Krohn).

385. The Snow Bunting (_Plectrophanes nivalis_), a white bird more
or less varied with black.

RUNO XII

25. The meaning is a little uncertain. Literally, "the only boy,"
as Madame Malmberg suggests. The commentary renders it, "the
gallant youth."

93. The Finns and Lapps often hide money in the ground.
The word used in l. 94 is "penningin," from "penni," a word
common to most Teutonic and Northern languages.

211, 212. Such omens of death are common in fairy tales; as, for
instance, the bleeding knives in the story of the Envious Sisters in the
_1001 Nights_. The bleeding trees in mediaeval romance belong to
rather a different category of ideas.

233. Lemminkainen seems to have hidden himself to escape further
remonstrances from his mother and Kyllikki.

262. Probably a creature like a kelpie or Phooka.

474. We are not told how Louhi escaped; but she seems to have
come to no harm.

RUNO XIII

105. The part played by Hiisi in the _Kalevala_ usually resembles
that played by Loki in the Scandinavian Mythology.

109. Animals, etc., are often thus constructed in Finnish, Esthonian,
and Siberian mythology by gods, demons, and magicians. They do not
seem able to create from nothing, but to manufacture what they please
or what they can from pre-existing materials, however incongruous.

111. I suppose rushes are here intended.

RUNO XIV

33. The word here translated "islands" properly means a wooded
hill surrounded by marshland.

47, 48. Mielikki's gold and silver are the spoils of the chase.

69. Honey is sometimes used in the _Kalevala_ for anything sweet and
agreeable, just as golden is used for anything beautiful.

103, 104. It appears that the hunter's fortune in the chase was
foretold by the rich or shabby garments worn by the forest-deities.

142. Finnish women often wear a blouse over their other garments.

216. Kuningas (king) is a Teutonic word, which rarely occurs in the
_Kalevala_. The heroes are patriarchs, or chiefs of clans; not
kings, as in Homer.

248. There is often much confusion of terms in the _Kalevala_. The
creature here mentioned is generally called an elk, but often a reindeer,
and in this line a camel-foal.

304. When the inferior deities are deaf or too weak, the heroes appeal
to the higher Gods.

305. The reference here seems to be to Gen. vii. 11. "The whole
passage is of Christian origin." (K. K.)

RUNO XV