Ilmarinen

For other uses, seeIlmarinen (disambiguation).

Ilmarinen(pronounced[ˈilmɑrinen],also known asIlmariandtakoja iänikuinenor "the eternal hammerer" ), ablacksmithand inventor in theKalevala,is a god and archetypal artificer fromFinnish mythology.He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as being unlucky in love.He is described as working the known metals of the time, including brass, copper, iron, gold, and silver. The great works of Ilmarinen include the crafting of the dome of the sky and the forging of theSampo.His usual epithet in the Kalevala isseppäorseppo( "smith" ),which is the source of the given nameSeppo.

Statue of Ilmarinen at theOld Student House, HelsinkibyRobert Stigell,1888

Etymology and origin

Cognates of the Finnish wordilma('air') are attested in almost all the mainFinno-Ugric languagesapart from theMariandMordvinic languages,allowing the reconstruction of proto-Finno-Ugric *ilmameaning something like 'sky'. This noun is also attested as the name of a god inKhanty(Num-Iləm),Komi(Jen),Udmurt(Inmar) and theFinnic languages,suggesting that proto-Finno-Ugric likewise had asky godcredited with creating the sky called *Ilma.In Proto-Finnic, the suffix -r(i),which is used to form words for people associated with the root word, was added to *ilmato give the god-name *Ilmar(i)('Sky-being'); rare attestations of similar forms such asUdmurtIlmarandSámiIlmarisseem to be loans from Finnic.InKalevala metrepoetry, the diminutive suffix -nenenabled the formation of the nameIlmarinen,which neatly fills twotrochaic feetand so became the dominant form of the name in that tradition.

Ilmari(nen) is believed to have taken on the qualities of a smith through the Proto-Finnic contact with iron-working cultures, such as theIndo-EuropeanBaltsor speakers ofCommon Germanic.

Ilmarinen is also directly appealed to for aid in several incantation runes.Insofar asElias Lönnrotheavily redacted the original runes collected by him and others, it's valuable to differentiate between theKalevalaand the original poems sung byrune singers.

Other names for Ilmarinen that are found in rune variants includeIlmorinenandIlmollini.

Stories about Ilmarinen

The forging of the Sampo

The Forging of the SampobyAkseli Gallen-Kallela,1893

From the Kalevala

Summary based onLönnrot 1999,105-119 [canto 10]

When the old sage,Väinämöinen,was traveling wide in the search of a wife, he was captured by the old mistress ofPohjola,the land of the North. In return for giving him safe passage from the land of Pohjola back to his native country, the enchantressLouhiof Pohjola wanted to have made theSampo,a magic artifact. Väinämöinen replied that he could not make her one, but that Ilmarinen could, and promised to send the great smith to Pohjola to do just that. In return for this wondrous device, Louhi would also give Ilmarinen her daughter's hand in marriage.

On having returned home, Väinämöinen tries to awe Ilmarinen with tales of the maiden's beauty and so lure him to Pohjola. Ilmarinen sees through the ruse, however, and refuses. Not to be outdone, Väinämöinen tricks the smith into climbing a fir tree trying to bring down moonlight that is glimmering on the branches. Conjuring a storm-wind with his magical song, Väinämöinen then blows Ilmarinen away to Pohjola.

Once there, Ilmarinen is approached by the toothless hag,Louhi,and her daughter, the Maiden of Pohjola, and having seen the maiden's beauty, consents to build a Sampo. For three days, he sought a place to build a great forge. In that forge he placed metals and started working, tending the magic fire with help of the slaves of Pohjola.

On the first day, Ilmarinen looked down into the flames and saw that the metal had taken the form of a crossbow with a golden arch, a copper shaft and quarrel-tips of silver. But the bow had an evil spirit, asking for a new victim each day, and so Ilmarinen broke it and cast the pieces back into the fire.

On the second day, there came a metal ship from the fire, with ribs of gold and copper oars. Though beautiful to behold, it too was evil at heart, being too eager to rush towards battle, and so, Ilmarinen broke the magic boat apart and cast back the pieces once more.

On the third day, a metalcowemerged, with golden horns and the sun and the stars on its brow. But alas, it was ill-tempered, and so the magical heifer was broken into pieces and melted down.

On the fourth day, a golden plow is pulled from the forge, with a golden plowshare, a copper beam and silver handles. But it too is flawed, plowing up planted fields and furrowing meadows. In despair, Ilmarinen destroys his creation once more.

Angered at his lack of success, Ilmarinen conjures the four winds to fan the flames. The winds blow for three days, until finally, the Sampo is born, taking the shape of a magic mill that produces grain, salt and gold. Pleased with his creation at last, Ilmarinen presents it to Louhi, who promptly locks it in a vault deep underground.

Returning triumphant to the Maiden of Pohjola, Ilmarinen bids her to become his wife. To his dismay, she refuses to leave her native land, forcing him to return home alone and dejected.

From original rune variants

Variants of the original runes used by Lönnrot in compiling the Kalevala present a different picture of Ilmarinen. In one variant of The Sampo (Kuusi, Bosley & Branch 1977,rune 12) for example, Ilmarinen goes willingly to Pohjola to forge the Sampo, not because he was tricked by Väinämöinen, but in order to redeem Väinämöinen from death. In addition, the same rune portrays Ilmarinen as returning home successfully with the Maiden of the North.

Ilmarinen's portrayal as "unlucky in love" in the Kalevala is primarily due to Lönnrot's own choices while revising and compiling the original runes to form a cohesive narrative.In another example from an original rune entitledKosinta(The Courtship), (Kuusi, Bosley & Branch 1977,rune 17) Ilmarinen takes a journey to compete for Hiisi's daughter. He again succeeds in obtaining his wife after completing the tasks of ploughing a field of vipers, bringing Tuoni's bear, and bringing the pike of Tuoni.

Ilmarinen's bride of gold

From the Kalevala

Summary based onLönnrot 1999,497-504 [canto 37]

After the loss of his first wife toKullervo's curse, the disheartened Ilmarinen attempts to craft a new one from gold and silver, but finds the golden wife hard and cold. Dismayed, he attempts to wed her to his brother Väinämöinen instead, but the old sage rejects her, saying that the golden wife ought to be cast back into the furnace and tells Ilmarinen to "forge from her a thousand trinkets". Speaking to all of his people, he further adds:

"Never, youths, however wretched,

Nor in future, upgrown heroes,

Whether you have large possessions,

Or are poor in your possessions,

In the course of all your lifetime,

While the golden moon is shining,

May you woo a golden woman,

Or distress yourselves for silver,

For the gleam of gold is freezing,

Only frost is breathed by silver. "

The tale of the Golden Wife can be seen as a cautionary tale based on the theme of "money cannot buy happiness". To a contemporary reader, there is also a similarity to the hubristic nature of theGolemlegend, or toFrankenstein,in that even the most skilled of mortals cannot rival divine perfection when creating life.

From original rune variants

In another example of Lönnrot's editorial license, the Kullervo cycle originally existed as an independent series of runes. In his effort to create a homogeneous narrative, Lönnrot presented Kullervo as Ilmarinen's slave in order to insert Kullervo into the Sampo cycle of runes.However, some scholars are convinced that the Golden Bride was originally an independent rune that was eventually added to the Sampo cycle.Furthermore, independent variants of theKultamorsian(Golden Bride) rune have been collected.InMatti Kuusi's opinion, the warning reproduced above is a secondary element that was probably added during the Christian period. Rather than serving as a cautionary tale, the original runes probably expressed the widespread myth of aGolden Womanfound throughout ArcticEurasia.

In popular culture

Main article:Kalevala § Influence

• A portrayal of Ilmarinen and depiction of selected tales from the Kalevala can be found in the 1959 movieSampo (film).
• Finnish metal bandAmorphisreleased their ninth album in 2009 calledSkyforger,which is a concept album based around the stories and legends of Ilmarinen.
• The bandTurisasrecorded a song called "Cursed Be Iron" about the aforementioned smith, and he is mentioned in "Rauta" byKorpiklaani.
• In the trilogyThe Winter of the WorldbyMichael Scott Rohan,Ilmarinen is the godlike Power revered by theduergar,who say he forged the mountains in which they live. Another Power, the Odin-like Raven, speaks of Ilmarinen, "greatest of the Elder Powers," having taught him.
• Ilmarinen appears inJoseph Michael Linsner's comicDawn: Return of the Goddesswhen the title character seeks him out to forge a sword for her.
• Ilmarinen appears as Ilmari Heikkinen the Wonder-smith inMercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms Series' homage toSámi(among otherScandinavianand northern European) myths and legends,The Snow Queen(2008).

Gallery

• 
  Moonwatchers,Joseph Alanen,1908–1910
• 
  Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen by the Giant Spruce,Robert Wilhelm Ekman
• 
  Ilmarinen Flies Over the Moon,Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1892
• 
  Ilmarinen Forges the Sampo,Berndt Godenhjelm,19th century
• 
  The Forging of the SampobyVäinö Blomstedt,1897
• 
  The Forging of the Sampo,temperaby Joseph Alanen, 1910–1911
• 
  Illustration of the Sampo being forged, byRudolf Koivuin 1931
• 
  Ilmarinen Ploughs a Field of Vipers,Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1916(fi)
• 
  The Eagle and the Pike,Joseph Alanen
• 
  Ilmarinen Arrives as the Groom at Pohjola,charcoal work byJohan Kortman,1893
• 
  The Wedding at Pohjola,Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1860–1872
• 
  Pohjolan häät,Johan Kortman, 1890
• 
  Ilmarinen Forging the Moon,Walter Runeberg,1866

See also

• Dwarf (mythology),in Germanic myth dwarfs commonly fit the "artificer" archetype

References

Sources

• Kuusi, Matti; Bosley, Keith; Branch, Michael (1977),Finnish Folk Poetry: Epic: An Anthology in Finnish and English,Finnish Literature Society
• Lönnrot, Elias (1999), "The Kalevala",Oxford World's Classics,translated by Bosley, Keith, Oxford University Press
• Pentikäinen, Juha Y. (1999),Kalevala Mythology,translated by Poom, Ritva, Indiana University Press
• Siikala, Anna-Leena (2002), "Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry",FF Communications(280), Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia
• Frog, Mr; Siikala, Anna-Leena; Stepanova, Eila, eds. (2012),"Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Oral Tradition",S tudia fennica folkloristica,no. 20, Finnish Literature Society
  • Frog, Mr (2012),"Confluence, Continuity and Change in the Evolution of Myth: Cultural Activity and the Finno-Karelian Sampo-Cycle",Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Oral Tradition,pp. 205–256
• Hasselblatt, Cornelius; van der Hoeven, Adriaan, eds. (2012b), "Finno-Ugric Folklore, Myth and Cultural Identity: Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Finno-Ugric Languages University of Groningen, 7-9, June 2011",Studia Fenno-Ugrica Groningana,no. 7,ISBN978-90-423-0415-4
  • Frog, Mr (2012b),"Evolution, Revolution and Ethnocultural Substrata: From Finno-Ugric Sky-God to the North Finnic God-Smith Ilmarinen",Finno-Ugric Folklore, Myth and Cultural Identity,pp. 25–43

Further reading

• Frog (2019). "Mythologies in transformation: Symbolic transfer, hybridisation, and creolisation in the Circum-Baltic arena (illustrated through the changing roles of *Tīwaz, *Ilma, and Óðinn, the fishing adventure of the thunder god, and a Finno-Karelian creolisation of North Germanic religion". In Maths Bertell; Frog; Kendra Willson (eds.).Contacts and Networks in the Baltic Sea Region: Austmarr as a northern mare nostrum, ca. 500-1500 AD.Amsterdam:Amsterdam University Press.pp. 263–288.doi:10.1515/9789048532674-016.
• Kouvola, Karolina (2019). "The artificial bride on both sides of the Gulf of Finland: The Golden Maiden in Finno-Karelian and Estonian folk poetry". In Maths Bertell; Frog; Kendra Willson (eds.).Contacts and Networks in the Baltic Sea Region: Austmarr as a northern mare nostrum, ca. 500-1500 AD.Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 211–234.doi:10.1515/9789048532674-014.

External links

• Story of the forging of the Sampo at sacred texts
• Story of the Golden Wife at sacred texts