Väinämöinen’s Casting

Väinämöinen’s Casting

How No-good Boyo, in a dream, did
counterfeit the Hero of the Northland,
contemplating grievous mischief upon
a necklet of amber rejected by
his loved one

He would cast the bright beads from him –
Fabled founts of whey and crystal,
Yellow flames of ancient resin
From the saltless shores of Baltland
That had flowered in the strand-stones,
Blossomed there ‘mid shining pebbles
Ere the herds had roamed the forests;
Ere the coming of the reindeer.
Secret sherds of fire and primrose –
Wondrous, honeyed hearts of amber.
He would cast them from him strongly,
Saying ‘What are these but baubles,
vain and vapid, worthless playthings
If not heart-held by my loved one?
What indeed, ‘less my beloved
Take them to her heart forever?
Take them, clasp them to her bosom,
Press them to her breast for always?
If not for her, they shall not gladden
Nor bedeck another maiden’

*********

Thinks a bit, though, on this shunning,
on this stony-faced refusal;
bashes brain in fresh directions,
forms a manly new conclusion:
‘What the heck is with that woman?
Stupid way that girl is thinking!
Hope she hasn’t somehow worked out
what I’ve told the lads while drinking …’
Suddenly gets very angry,
blazing mad is what he got then;
in a second makes his mind up,
just a sec is all it takes him:
‘That’s the last thing that I’ll buy her!
No more prezzies for that person!
Why should I spend all my money,
Every blasted flaming penny
on that silly stuck-up female?
I will heave them down the black hole,
throw them down that throat of darkness,
hellish profane, porcelain vortex ,
in that unhallowed pool baptise them –
wash and whirl them to oblivion’.

Thinks some more and says ‘No, dammo!
I will give them to another!
I will take me off to Bevan’s,
Bevan’s Bar is where I’ll go to,
full of common flaunting floozies,
packed with busty sportive strumpets
Lucy Morrals, Lettice Seymour – 
Ha! No worries, they will do me!’

But Bevan’s place was closed and bolted,
locked it was, and all the lights out.
So he plodded homeward meekly,
through the darkness home he wandered,
fifteen minutes later mellowed,
calmed, contrite within that short while,
thoughts returning to his girlfriend,
to that girl his heart belonged to.
Tapped the necklace in his pocket:
He would try again tomorrow …


(From ‘Of Poetry and Song’)


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Väinämöinen is the principal figure of the ancient Nordic epic poem, The Kalevala; No-good Boyo is the wayward ‘likely lad’ of Dylan Thomas’ play Under Milk Wood. (mentions of the poem and Thomas’ character have made previous appearances on The Igam-Ogam Mabinogion). In the opening stanza, and at the beginning of his dream, No-good Boyo appears in the very manner and speech of the great hero – a status which in the following stanzas becomes quickly confused with his true, raffish self.

The Kalevala  is the national epic of Finland and Karelia, through prehistoric and early mediaeval times a region straddling eastern Finland and western Russia. There have been two full metrical translations into English – John Martin Crawford’s in 1888, and William Forsell Kirby’s in 1907. Both follow as strictly as possible the original Kalevala metre of eight syllabic beats with part-line echo, which gives great rhythmic stress and allows a sustained ‘chanting’ effect. With 22,795 lines, it’s a long poem! (I’ve never succeeded in getting more than halfway through either Crawford’s or Kirby’s splendid versions). The metre is wonderfully versatile and can be successfully used in both serious and humorous verse; I’ve used it, for example, in my rendition of the first half of the Epic of Gilgamesh, (from which, under the title ‘Bullskull and Lionheart’, a selection has previously appeared in ‘The Ig-Og’)  and also in the humorous rugby poem The Game in Cardiff.