In the beginning.
Oct. 22nd, 2009 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gnommiYesterday morning I had biiiiiiig parcel through the post. I opened it up, and out dropped The Kalevala, thanks to the wonderful ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
glummdead. Man, that is one FAT book.
So after wading through 60-odd pages of introduction, and conninghobbit_dave into playing the melody it was thought to be sung to, I finally got to start the epic.
The first 60 pages are utterly enthralling: describing Väinämöinen, an old man present since the beginning of the world, and his dealings with the youthful and headstrong Joukahainen and his sister Aino. Väinämöinen witnesses the birth of the world from some cracked scaup eggs, only to be confronted later by an angry Joukahainen, who seems to have got out of the wrong side of the bed and decided to challenge him to a magic battle for being old and in the way. Väinämöinen is much the better singer* however, and sings Joukahainen into a hole, quite literally: to his chin in the slime/to his beard in the bad place. Joukahainen tries to bribe his way out, eventually promising the old man his sister for a housekeeper.
Aino isn't too pleased about this (presumably because "housekeeper" is a euphemism), and immediately turns incredibly emo, dresses up in every piece of clothing and jewellery she has and promptly sulks herself into a watery grave. In turn, Väinämöinen, having been done out of a hot housekeeper, sulks protractedly too. Later, whilst fishing, he nets Aino's spirit (incarnated as a mermaid) and almost eats her for dinner, only to have her dart away into the water, taunting him that he will never see her again.
It's beautifully written, but as my Finnish friend Jarno** put it: "It's good at the beginning, just wait til later...". So now I'm a bit scared to read on, in case it gets boring and I don't finish it. I do love the sarky asides and punctuating lavatorial humour though.
*spells are cast through the medium of song here
**who also introduced me to Finnish humour
glummdead. Man, that is one FAT book.So after wading through 60-odd pages of introduction, and conning
hobbit_dave into playing the melody it was thought to be sung to, I finally got to start the epic.The first 60 pages are utterly enthralling: describing Väinämöinen, an old man present since the beginning of the world, and his dealings with the youthful and headstrong Joukahainen and his sister Aino. Väinämöinen witnesses the birth of the world from some cracked scaup eggs, only to be confronted later by an angry Joukahainen, who seems to have got out of the wrong side of the bed and decided to challenge him to a magic battle for being old and in the way. Väinämöinen is much the better singer* however, and sings Joukahainen into a hole, quite literally: to his chin in the slime/to his beard in the bad place. Joukahainen tries to bribe his way out, eventually promising the old man his sister for a housekeeper.
Aino isn't too pleased about this (presumably because "housekeeper" is a euphemism), and immediately turns incredibly emo, dresses up in every piece of clothing and jewellery she has and promptly sulks herself into a watery grave. In turn, Väinämöinen, having been done out of a hot housekeeper, sulks protractedly too. Later, whilst fishing, he nets Aino's spirit (incarnated as a mermaid) and almost eats her for dinner, only to have her dart away into the water, taunting him that he will never see her again.
It's beautifully written, but as my Finnish friend Jarno** put it: "It's good at the beginning, just wait til later...". So now I'm a bit scared to read on, in case it gets boring and I don't finish it. I do love the sarky asides and punctuating lavatorial humour though.
*spells are cast through the medium of song here
**who also introduced me to Finnish humour
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-25 04:13 pm (UTC)but he also rules at sorcery and whups Joukahainen all over the place, and invents a musical instrument out of animal parts, so is clearly > everyone else so far.
I did feel a bit sorry for Ilmarinen getting stitched up by him though, but that again was Joukahainen's fault really XD