<h2><SPAN name="BIRD_LORE_OF_THE_ANCIENT_FINNS" id="BIRD_LORE_OF_THE_ANCIENT_FINNS"></SPAN>BIRD LORE OF THE ANCIENT FINNS.</h2>
<div>
<ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/initial_i.jpg" width-obs="24" height-obs="70" alt="" /></div>
<p class="drop-cap">IN the <i>Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological
Club</i> H. S. Warren says
that nature and nature-worship
form the center of all the life of
the ancient Finns, and he quotes freely
from Crawford's translation of "The
Kalevala," the national epic of Finland.
He says that, "as the English
language is not strong in diminutives,
and therefore lacks some of the most
effective means for the expression of
affectionate, tender, and familiar relations,
in this respect all translations
from the Finnish into English must
fall short of the original, the former
being the language of a people who
live pre-eminently close to nature, and
are at home among the animals of the
wilderness, beasts and birds, winds and
woods and waters, falling snows and
flying sands." The metre is like that
of "Hiawatha," and is the characteristic
verse of the Finns.</p>
<p>As to birds, the duck lays the mundane
egg. "Then the water-mother
finds a place upon her own knees for
the duck to rest, where it lays an egg
which rolls into the sea. There it
breaks and is transformed into the
earth."</p>
<div class="poetry-container">
<div class="poetry">
<div class="verse">From one half the egg, the lower,</div>
<div class="verse">Grows the nether vault of Terra;</div>
<div class="verse">From the upper half remaining</div>
<div class="verse">Grows the upper vault of heaven;</div>
<div class="verse">From the white part come the moonbeams,</div>
<div class="verse">From the yellow part the sunshine.</div>
<div class="verse ac">*
*
*
*
*</div>
<div class="verse">Wainamoinen, wise and ancient,</div>
<div class="verse">Made himself an ax for chopping,</div>
<div class="verse">Then began to clear the forest,</div>
<div class="verse">Then began the trees to level,</div>
<div class="verse">Felled the trees of all descriptions,</div>
<div class="verse">Only left the birch tree standing,</div>
<div class="verse">For the birds a place of resting,</div>
<div class="verse">Where might sing the sweet-voiced cuckoo,</div>
<div class="verse">Sacred bird in sacred branches.</div>
<div class="verse">Down from heaven came the eagle,</div>
<div class="verse">Through the air he came a-flying,</div>
<div class="verse">That he might this thing consider—</div>
<div class="verse">And he spake the words that follow:</div>
</div></div>
<p>The eagle inquires of the ancient
singer, Wainamoinen, why he has left
the birch tree only standing; and upon
being assured it was left solely for the
use of the birds, he commends Wainamoinen's
"hero-judgment." There is
a lesson in forestry for the modern
day.</p>
<div class="poetry-container">
<div class="poetry">
<div class="verse">Wainamoinen, old and trusty,</div>
<div class="verse">Turned his face and looked about him;</div>
<div class="verse">Lo! there comes a springtime cuckoo,</div>
<div class="verse">Spying out the slender birch tree—</div>
<div class="verse">Rests upon it, sweetly singing:</div>
<div class="verse">"Wherefore is the slender birch tree</div>
<div class="verse">Left unharmed of all the forest?"</div>
<div class="verse">Spake the ancient Wainamoinen:</div>
<div class="verse">"Therefore I have left the birch tree,</div>
<div class="verse">Left the birch tree only growing,</div>
<div class="verse">Home for thee for joyous singing;</div>
<div class="verse">Call thou here, O sweet-voiced cuckoo,</div>
<div class="verse">Sing thou here from throat of velvet,</div>
<div class="verse">Sing thou here with voice of silver,</div>
<div class="verse">Sing the cuckoo's golden flute-notes;</div>
<div class="verse">Call at morning, call at evening,</div>
<div class="verse">Call within the hour of noontide,</div>
<div class="verse">For the better growth of forests,</div>
<div class="verse">For the ripening of the barley,</div>
<div class="verse">For the richness of the Northland,</div>
<div class="verse">For the joy of Kalevala."</div>
</div></div>
<p>Thus is the cuckoo looked upon as a
prophetic bird, or perhaps a mediator
between the man and his gods.</p>
<p>The woodpecker is another sacred
bird of "The Kalevala." In that epic
he is not directly named, perhaps, because
he was so very sacred, but the
minor wood god, Nyyrikki, upon
whom Lemminkainen calls in his distress
to help him track the elk, is,
like his father, Tapio, evidently a survival
of Pikker, the woodpecker.</p>
<div class="poetry-container">
<div class="poetry">
<div class="verse">O Nyyrikki, mountain hero,</div>
<div class="verse">Son of Tapio of forests,</div>
<div class="verse">Hero with the scarlet headgear,</div>
<div class="verse">Notches make along the pathway,</div>
<div class="verse">Landmarks upward on the mountain,</div>
<div class="verse">That the hunter may not wander.</div>
</div></div>
<hr class="chap" />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.