Ilmarinen – Divine Blacksmith And Trusted Friend Of Wizard Vainamoinen In Kalevala

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Ancient myths and legends of the Finnish people can be found in the national epic, the ’Kalevala,’ which contains  50 beautifully entwined poems originating from traditional Finnish and Karelian oral folklore.

This masterpiece of literature was compiled by a Finnish physician, philologist, and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry - Elias Lonnrot (1802 – 1884).

Statue of Ilmarinen at the Old Student House, Helsinki via Wikipedia

In the Kalevala, we can meet mighty warriors, heroes, and other figures using supernatural and magical powers.

We have already met Lemminkainen, a war hero who is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. Another fascinating figure is Ilmarinen, the ’god of heavens’ and the divine smith working with gold, copper, iron, and silver. His talent in metalworking was so startling that he held the title of master smith.

His great works include crafting the canopy of the sky and the forging of the Sampo (or Sammas), a magical mill that many tried to steal because it could grind grain, gold, and salt.

Ilmarinen - the eternal forgeman - often appears in Finnish myths, legends, folk songs, and several incantation runes; however, little is known about his cult. Originally he was the Finnish pagan god of the air ( Finnish : "ilma" , "air” and also “weather” ) often regarded  as the god of air and weather.

In Kalevala, Ilmarinen is not only a wonder-working craftsman but also the trusted friend (sometimes claimed to be a brother) of the wizard Vainamoinen (Väinämöinen). Vainamoinen wanted to win the beautiful maiden of Pohjola, who lived in a cold northern realm ruled by her powerful mother, the ‘Witch of the North,’ Louhi.

Ilmarinen Must Create The Magic Sampo

In return for a promise to allow Vainamoinen to marry her daughter, Louhi asks to create the magic Sampo mill. Unable to create it by himself, Vainamoinen promises to send the craftsman Ilmarinen to make the Sampo.

Portal of Phjola in the sky. Image credit Wikipedia

After arriving in Pohjola, Ilmarinen confronts Pohjola’s beautiful maiden, who is apparently much more interested in Ilmarinen than Vainamoinen. The master smith fulfills his promise to Louhi, and when the Sampo is created, she promptly locks it in a vault deep underground.

Ilmarinen eventually wins the Maiden of Pohjola for himself, but he fails to wed or keep her. The virgin refuses to leave her native land, forcing him to return home alone and depressed. Not particularly lucky in love, Ilmainen even fails to win any other mortal woman for himself and decides to forge a wife out of gold.

Like many other pagan gods of old times, Ilmarinen also fulfills different functions. In Kalevala, he successfully forces Louhi to release the Sun and the Moon she hides. He also attempts to create a new moon and sun, forges the spheres and the colors of sunrise and sunset, as well as aurora borealis.

Ilmarinen also has the ability to send bad or good aura and fortunate winds, which were of great importance, especially for seafarers and fishermen.

How Did Ilmarinen Come Into World?

Ilmarinen came to the world unusually and was by no means an ordinary man. One version of his story says that Ilmarineen was born one night by the virgin Iro, and by daytime, he had built himself a workshop where he – similar to his counterpart in Greek mythology, Hephaistos (Hephaestus) forged various items, including hammers, buckles, spearheads, keys, weapons and he with great precision and flawlessly.

 Ilmarinen – one of the heroes in Kalevala, great epic of Finnish people. Illustration by Nicolai Kochergin via dana-mad.ru

Ilmarinen also bears similarity to the Norse god, Njord.

Ilmarinen And His Magical Creations

He also created an unusual sword of gold and silver, but he did not like it because his formidable weapon was extremely blood-hungry, and he wanted to kill at least one man daily.

For this reason, Ilmarinen destroyed his weapon and returned to begin his next project. This time, a golden horse was made of precious ore. Also, Ilmarinen did not like what his hands had created this time. The magical horse - cruel and dangerous as the sword- killed at least one mare daily.

At last, Ilmarinen’s third creation came out of his furnace full of flames. It was a beautiful girl with goldlocks, but this time, Ilmarinen was also disappointed. She could not speak and was cold as ice.

His perfect creation is once again a mistake, and even his old friend Vainamoinen rejects Ilmarinen’s golden lady, saying she must be cast back into the furnace.

"Every child of Northland, listen,
Whether poor, or fortune-favored:
Never bow before an image
Born of molten gold and silver:
Never while the sunlight brightens,
Never while the moonlight glimmers,
Choose a maiden of the metals,
Choose a bride from gold created
Cold the lips of golden maiden,
Silver breathes the breath of sorrow."

The tale of the Golden Wife can be seen as a cautionary tale based on the theme of "money cannot buy happiness."

Updated on February 27, 2024

 Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com  Senior Staff Writer

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