Maiden of Pohjola
Maiden of Pohjola : In the Finnish epic poem The Kalevala, elder daughter of Louhi, the evil mistress of Pohjola, the Northland.
Louhi promised her daughter, the Maiden of Pohjola, to Vainamoinen, the culture hero, if he would forge the magic sampo for her. The hero consented, but he commissioned Ilmarinen to forge the sampo for him. When Vainamoinen left Louhi, he was told not to look to the sky or else some evil would befall him. Of course, as he set out, he looked to the heavens and saw the Maiden of Pohjola, beautifully dressed, spinning. Moved by her beauty, he called to her:
Come into my sledge, O maiden, In the sledge beside me seat thee.
The maiden, however, was not so easily moved by the old man. When he told her she should be married, she replied that wives “are like dogs enchained in kennel.” Vainamoinen insisted that women are actually queens when married. The maiden replied she would no longer listen to his wooing unless he completed some tasks she would assign him. The hero accomplished all except the last, fashioning a ship out of her broken spindle. In the attempt Vainamoinen accidentally cut his knee. He was healed only when he sang the magic words of the origin of iron.
Vainamoinen’s bad luck with the maiden did not stop Ilmarinen from forging the magic sampo, which entitled him to the beautiful girl. At first she did not want to marry Ilmarinen, but eventually she agreed. Frequently in the epic she is called Ilmarinen’s Lady. She was later murdered by Kullervo, a disgruntled servant. Sibelius used the wooing of the Maiden of Pohjola by Vainamoinen as the basis for his symphonic poem Pohjola’s Daughter.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
