Joukahainen () is a character in the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

'', the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

. He is a rival of the main character,

Väinämöinen Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, mag ...

Description

After clashing with their horses and challenging Väinämöinen to a fight, they engage in a battle of song. He loses and is magically sung into being swallowed by a

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

. In his plea for help from Väinämöinen, he pledges his sister Aino to him. But she objects to Väinämöinen, and rather than marrying him she drowns herself. Joukahainen is enraged by all that has taken place and even though his mother tries to stop him, he ambushes Väinämöinen with his crossbow. Joukahainen misses Väinämöinen but hits and kills his horse from under him, making him plunge into the icy waters of

Pohjola Pohjola (; from 'base, bottom', but used in derived forms like ''pohjois-'' to mean 'north' + ''-'' 'place'), sometimes just Pohja (), is a mythical place, location in Finnish mythology. It is one of the two main polarities in the Finnish nationa ...

. In the original translation into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(by

John Martin Crawford John Martin Crawford (March 29, 1962 – December 16, 2020) was a Canadian serial killer. Crawford was convicted of killing four women in Saskatchewan and Alberta, between 1981 and 1992. Crimes Crawford was sentenced in 1981 to ten years' impri ...

(1888)) this character's name was

Anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

as Youkahainen.

Gallery

References

Characters in the Kalevala {{Finland-myth-stub