After a savage seafaring skirmish

and eight long days of being 
battered by waves,

Väinämöinen— a powerful bard and 
sage as old as the world itself—

washed up on the shores 
of distant Pohjola.

Unlike his home Kalevala, Pohjola was 
a dark and frozen land,

ruled by Louhi, “the gap-tooth 
hag of the North."

The cunning witch nursed Väinämöinen 
back to health

but demanded a reward for 
returning him home.

Not content with mere gold or silver,

Louhi wanted what did not yet exist— 
the Sampo.

To be forged from “the tips of white-swan
feathers," “the milk of greatest virtue,"

“a single grain of barley," and 
“the finest wool of lambskins,"

this artifact was said to be 
an endless font of wealth.

But Väinämöinen knew that 
only Seppo Ilmarinen,

the Eternal Hammerer who forged 
the sky-dome itself,

could craft such an object.

So he convinced Louhi to send him 
home and fetch the smith.

Though the journey was far from easy, 
the bard finally made it back to Kalevala.

But Ilmarinen refused to go to the gloomy 
North— a land of witches and man-eaters.

But keeping true to his word,

Väinämöinen tricked Ilmarinen 
into climbing a giant tree,

before summoning a mighty storm 
to carry the smith all the way to Pohjola.

Ilmarinen was well received in the North.

Louhi lavished her guest with 
extravagant hospitality

and promised him the hand 
of her beautiful daughter—

if he could craft what she wished.

When she finally asked if Ilmarinen 
was capable of forging the Sampo,

the powerful smith declared he could 
indeed accomplish the task.

But try as he might to bend 
the forge to his will,

its fires only produced other artifacts—

beautiful in appearance but 
ill-mannered in nature.

An elegant crossbow that 
thirsted for blood

and a gleaming plow that ruined cultivated
fields among others.

Finally, Ilmarinen summoned the winds 
themselves to work the bellows,

and in three days time he 
pulled the Sampo,

with its lid of many colors from 
the forge’s flames.

On its sides the smith carefully crafted 
a grain mill, a salt mill,

and a money mill.

Louhi was so delighted with the object’s 
limitless productive power

that she ran off to lock her treasure 
inside a mountain.

But when Ilmarinen tried to 
claim his prize,

the promised maiden refused to marry him,
and the smith had to return home alone.

Years passed, and while 
Pohjola prospered,

Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen were without 
wives or great wealth.

Bitter about this injustice, the bard 
proposed a quest to retrieve the Sampo,

and the two sailed north with the 
help of Lemminkäinen—

a beautiful young man with a history 
of starting trouble.

Upon arrival, Väinämöinen requested half 
the Sampo’s profits as compensation—

or they’d take the artifact by force.

Outraged at this request, Louhi summoned 
her forces to fight the heroes.

But as her army readied for war, 
the bard played his magic harp, Kantele,

entrancing all who heard it and sending 
Pohjola into a deep slumber.

Unimpeded, the three men took the Sampo 
and quietly made their escape.

Lemminkäinen was ecstatic 
at their success,

and demanded that Väinämöinen sing 
of their triumph.

The bard refused, knowing the dangers 
of celebrating too early.

But after three days of traveling, 
Lemminkäinen’s excitement overwhelmed him,

and he recklessly broke out in song.

His awful singing voice woke 
a nearby crane,

whose screeching cries roused 
the Pohjolan horde.

The army made chase.

As their warship closed in, Väinämöinen 
raised a rock to breach their hull.

Undeterred, Louhi transformed 
into a giant eagle,

carrying her army on her back as they 
attacked the heroes’ vessel.

She managed to grab the Sampo 
in her claw,

but just as quickly, it dropped into 
the sea, shattering into pieces

and sinking deep beyond her talon’s reach.

Buried on the ocean floor,

the remnants of this powerful device 
remain in the realm of Ahti, god of water—

where they grind salt for the seas 
to this very day.