It takes either an incredible amount of skill or a general and intense lack of awareness to forge an entire boat out of copper while trying to craft something completely different. Maybe it takes a bit of both. Regardless, I think it takes a Finn to write a story about it.
Nowhere else in the realm of mythology is there anything quite like the Finnish Kalevala. With a collection of stories ranging from weird to completely ridiculous, the songs and stories contained within Finland’s National Epic are entrancing. The Kalevala is filled with sorcerous minstrels, magic-infused blacksmiths, vengeance, and, of course, love. The characters are strong in a way that many other sources of mythology can’t hold a candle to, with schemes and passions that come alive on the page. Where one might read a rather dry and stolid retelling of Greek and Roman heroes by modern scholars, Elias Lönnrot brings Finnish heroes to life. If you enjoy mythology or if you’ve never cracked open a book of myths but enjoy fantasy fiction, I highly recommend giving The Kalevala a look. While it is arranged as an epic poem, it is very easy to follow and beautiful to read.
But enough of my gushing.
The comic today comes from one of the stories of Ilmarinen (the Eternal Hammerer), a principal character in the Kalevala and a blacksmith. There are a few tales regarding him and others (we’ve seen Väinämöinen deal with Harry Potter) and many of the stories of Ilmarinen (in Lonnrot’s translations) deal with how unlucky in love poor Ilmarinen is. We learn, not long after Ilmarinen is mentioned, that he is a blacksmith and a damn good one at that. Being immortal and gifted with artifice, he is capable of crafting anything at all within the fires of his forge. It is this which starts his troubles in the particular story I’ve referenced. In the tale, Väinämöinen, the old magician, is wandering the countryside in search of a wife (this is apparently a sensible thing to do in that age) when he runs afoul of a hag from the Northlands. Väinämöinen is captured but offers the witch the Sampo, an incredible artifact, for his freedom. The witch consents and asks him to craft it for her, but it is not within Väinämöinen’s capabilities to forge it. Despite being a powerful sorceror, only Ilmarinen has the ability to create such a powerful object. He tells her that he will acquire Ilmarinen’s help if she might give her beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage to Ilmarinen. She agrees and releases Vainamoinen who travels home to visit Ilmarinen.
After a brief and failed attempt to trick Ilmarinen into forging the sampo by subtly hinting at the daughter’s beauty, Vainamoinen convinces the smith to climb a nearby tree. Ilmarinen reaches the top and is flung far into the North by winds summoned by Vainamoinen’s magic. In the North, Ilmarinen meets the witch’s daughter and, struck by her incredible beauty, agrees to forge the artifact in question and this is where our story begins.
Ilmarinen’s first attempt at forging the Sampo results in a gold and silver crossbow that is described as being ill-tempered. It claims a life each day or two on a good day. Ilmarinen is disgusted with this object and throws it back into the fire and begins forging anew. His second attempt results in a giant copper boat that is described as “ill-mannered”. It sails needlessly to war and tries to incite fights. Once again, he is displeased and gets rid of it.
But how does one forge a boat accidentally? There are bigger questions at hand, I think. What are the effects of accidentally forging a boat on one’s surroundings? You know there have to be casualties.
Friday will bring part two in this series of three comics about the forging of the Sampo and Tuesday will wrap it up!
Teh heh heh… an forging an ill-tempered boat… is it a pissed off boat or a boat tempered piss poorly?
We’re talking about an angry boat here. Yeah. Try to wrap your head around that. haha The rest of the story gets even weirder!
that horse just got sampo-wn’d
Hahahaha! I love the word play!
I’m on a boat
/sunglasses
It will be hard not to compare this to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode where they riffed a film version of this story, “The Day The Earth Froze,” because I’m a huge fan of that TV show…
…but I will try not to.
That’s the first thing I thought of, too!
crazymadman’s comment reminds of that Old Spice commercial. I imagine the old spice guy teleporting to the horse but forgot to leave his boat behind.
Interesting reference. I wonder how he manages to just forge a boat out of the blue and then throw the whole thing back into the fire. *_*
Maybe we’re picturing this wrong. Maybe the boat was actually the size of a kid’s toy, and that’s why it was so irritable and “ill-mannered”.
Bit of a Napoleon complex. Not a pretty thing in a boat.
I’ll search for the book you’ve written.
Nice strip and nice post.
Congratulations
It took me a long time to get the joke because I kept reading “horse” as “house.” XD
Well, I kept reading that one like as “How do you accidentally a boat?”
Man, you’d have to be a REALLY skilled smith to forge an ill-tempered anything. Nothing beats a crossbow with a vague sense of embittered awareness!
Love the comic, by the way! I stumbled across it a few months ago and i love how you mix up all this interesting mythological stuff with a great sense of humor!
“That’s your horse.” because of the face expression (the beard looks like a mouth!), i was laughing on the floor ! :’D
Oli todella mukavaa löytää sarjakuvistasi Suomen kansalliseepokseen liittyviä tarinoita ! Söpöjä ! Ja olin jollain tavalla otettu siitä, että olet kiinnostunut meidän kulttuuristamme, vaikka et sitä myöhemmissä sarjakuvissasi esittänytkään mitenkään hyvässä valossa (http://www.happletea.com/2011/09/23/a-comparison/).
And now i’ll try to explain this in english… i apologize if there’s any mistakes ! >_ http://www.happletea.com/2011/09/23/a-comparison/ ,but don’t get me wrong ! The link’s comic was as good as always, I have the ability to laugh at my roots. :’3
At last but not least, i just want to thank you for drawing these… I like to think that if I practise and practise, i will some day get near your level. You’re the best ! ^_^
Comments have to be approved for new users, your first comment comes to me and I have to OK it before it goes up. I removed your other comments so this one stands alone!
Any comments you post now should show up right away since you’ve been approved once
Ok ^_^ I was meant to say, that it was nice to find comics related to Finlands national epic. These are cute ! And knowing you’re interested in our culture, too, made me kind of proud of who i am and proud of my roots. :3 And the link to your other comic (which messed my comment and cut it in peaces D:), before that there was something i wrote…
!! That eventhough you didnt show the Kalevala -thing in a very good light, it was adorable :’3