Kullervo's Birth

Long ago there lived a mother who had three sons. One grew up to be a prosperous merchant, but the other two were carried off—one to distant Pohjola and the other to Karjala. The one who went to Pohjola was named Untamo, while the brother who settled in Karjala was called Kalerwoinen.

One day, Untamo set his fishing nets near Kalerwoinen's home to catch salmon. That evening, Kalerwoinen came by and took all the fish from the nets, carrying them off to his own house. When Untamo discovered this, he went to his brother, and soon they came to blows. They fought fiercely, but neither could defeat the other, although they gave each other sound beatings.

After this, Kalerwoinen sowed barley near Untamo's barns. Untamo's sheep broke into the field and ate the barley, and then Kalerwoinen's dog killed the sheep. This made Untamo so angry that he gathered a great army and marched against his brother to put him and all his people to death. When they reached Kalerwoinen's home, they burned every house and killed everyone except Kalerwoinen's daughter, Untamala.

Not long after, a child was born to Untamala, and she named him Kullervo. They laid the fatherless infant in a cradle and began to rock him, but he soon made the cradle rock by himself. He rocked for three whole days, so hard that his hair stood on end. On the third day, he began to kick until he burst his swaddling clothes, then crept out of the cradle and broke it into pieces.

When Kullervo was only three months old, he began to speak. His first words were: "When I have grown big and strong, I will avenge the murder of my grandfather Kalerwoinen and all his people."

Hearing this, Untamo became greatly alarmed and took counsel with his people about what to do with the child. At last, they decided on a plan. They took the child and bound him firmly in a willow basket, then placed him in the lake among the bulrushes. After three days, they went to see if he had drowned, but he had broken loose from the basket and was sitting on the waves, fishing with a copper rod and a golden line. So they brought him back to the house.

Next, Untamo ordered a great heap of dried brushwood to be gathered. They built a pile higher than the treetops, set the boy on top, and set fire to it. The fire burned for three whole days. Then Untamo sent men to see if the child was dead, but they found him sitting in the middle of the flames, raking the coals with a copper rod. Not a hair on his head was singed.

They took him home and considered again how to kill him. This time they nailed him to an oak tree. After three days, they came back and found he had painted an armed warrior on every leaf, even while fastened to the tree. So they brought him down and took him home once more. Now they realized they could not harm him, so Untamo told him he would take him as a servant, promising good pay if he worked well.

When Kullervo had grown a little, he was set to take care of a baby. He received careful instructions on how to rock it and attend to its needs, but cruel Kullervo treated the baby harshly. That evening, he killed it and burned the cradle in the fire. So Untamo was afraid to give him any more work around the house, and instead told him to go out and cut down the forest on the mountainside.

Kullervo went to the smith and ordered a huge axe made of copper. When it was ready, he spent one day sharpening it and another making the handle, then hurried to the forest. There, he chose the largest tree on the mountainside and felled it with a single blow. Six more huge trees came down just as easily, but then Kullervo grew tired of the work, cursed the whole mountain, and stopped.

In the evening, Untamo came to check on his progress. Seeing only seven trees felled, he realized he must give Kullervo a different task. The next day, he took him into a field and ordered him to build a fence around it. As soon as Untamo left, Kullervo set to work, using whole trees and raising the fence higher than the clouds. When he finished, there was no gate to enter by, and the fence was so high that no one could climb over it. When Untamo saw what he had done, he told Kullervo he was unfit for such work and must go thresh the rye and barley.

Then Kullervo made a flail and began to thresh. He beat the grain so hard that all the grain was pounded to powder and the straw was broken into useless pieces. When Untamo saw this, he grew very angry and shouted that Kullervo was a wretched workman who spoiled everything he touched. [Illustration] The next day, he took him off and sold him to the blacksmith Ilmarinen in distant Karjala. And the price Ilmarinen paid was three old worn-out kettles, seven worthless sickles, and three old scythes and hoes and axes, surely quite enough for such a fellow as Kullervo.