Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen is an important person in Finnish mythology. He was a wise man and he knew magic. He was a hero and had many adventures.
Väinämöinen was also a god. As such, he was worshipped.
Magic of Väinämöinen was in his songs. When he sings hills shake and water moves. He sings his enemy, Joukahainen, to sink in swamp.
Väinämöinen was born before Earth. He was floating in the sea. He was born a grown man. Her mother, Ilmatar got pregnant by the water and wind and carried her son for 30 years. A bird (Sotka) made a nest on Ilmatar´s knee and when the bird hatched her eggs (six of them made of iron, one pure gold), it burned Ilmatar´s knee and finally Ilmatar moved her knee and all the eggs flew into the sky and on the earth and were broken. From those pieces the Earth and sky, the stars, The sun and the moon were born.
Väinämöinen Media
Head of Väinämöinen by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1895
The Väinämöinen monument in Vyborg, in January 2015
Väinämöinen Plays Kantele, a 1814 relief by Erik Cainberg that is considered to be the first visual depiction of Väinämöinen
In the Old Kalevala (1835), an eagle laid its eggs on the knee of Väinämöinen, unlike in the standard New Kalevala (1849) where a goldeneye lays its eggs on the knee of Ilmatar. (Drawing by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1859)
The Defense of the Sampo (1896) by Gallen-Kallela, showing Väinämöinen with a sword defending the Sampo from Louhi.
Väinämöinen's Play (fi) by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1866
The Departure of Väinämöinen, Gallen-Kallela, 1906
