The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That CountryKirby, W. F. (William Forsell)
History
The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That Country
Kirby, W. F. (William Forsell)
Estonian literature; Estonian literature -- History and criticism
Now they sailed farther north, and the cold became intense, while the
spirits of the Northern Lights began their combats in the air with
silver spears and golden shields. The sailors were frightened, but the
Kalevide was pleased that they should now be able to direct their
course when they had left the sun and moon behind them.
Next they reached an unknown shore, where the inhabitants were
half men and half dogs, and had long dog's tails.
[92] They were armed with great clubs, and the Kalevide sprang
ashore to fight. A
[Pg 118]
horse which he mounted soon fell dead under him, but he tore
up an oak by the roots and began to lay the country waste. The
wisest man of the country expostulated with him, and he
repented of his violence, and prayed to Ukko to send fish to
the country to replace the good ground which he had destroyed
in his fury. Peace was thus concluded; and the wise man told
the Kalevide that the raven had sent him on an idle quest to
the gates of Põrgu. The Kalevide then decided to return home,
and they directed the ship towards Lalli in the bay of
Lindanisa, where Olev was building a city.
[Pg 119]
CANTO XVII
THE HEROES AND THE DWARF
Olev had now built a magnificent city, fortified with towers
and ditches, around the burial-mound of Kalev. Large numbers of
people flocked to it, and the Kalevide named it Lindanisa, in
memory of his mother.
[93] Other fortified cities were founded by the Alevide and the
Sulevide.
But news came that hostile troops were landing on the coast, and the
Kalevide mounted his war-horse. The king wore a golden helmet, gold
spurs, and a silver belt, and carried a shield of gold, and the steed
was all caparisoned with gold and silver and pearls, while the maidens
of the country looked on with admiration.
The Kalevide and his three friends fought a pitched battle with
the countless forces of the enemy on the plains of Esthonia.
Their heads
[Pg 120]
fell before him like autumn leaves, and their scattered limbs
were strewn about in heaps like straw or rushes. His horse
waded in blood and bones to the belly; for the Kalevide
slaughtered his enemies by tens of thousands, and would have
utterly annihilated them, but, as he was pursuing the fugitives
over hill and dale, his horse lost his footing in a bog, and
was engulfed in the morass.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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