Finnish mythology Finnish mythology is a commonly applied description of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many features shared with Estonian and other Finnic mythologies, ...

, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith

Ilmarinen Ilmarinen (), the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the ''Kalevala'', is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as being unlucky in love. He i ...

and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopia) of Greek mythology. When the Sampo was stolen, Ilmarinen's homeland fell upon hard times. He sent an expedition to retrieve it, but in the ensuing battle it was smashed and lost at sea.

In the Kalevala

The Sampo is a pivotal element of the plot of the Finnish epic poem ''

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 ...

'', compiled in 1835 (and expanded in 1849) by

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'', (1835, enlarged 1849), from short b ...

based on Finnish

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

. In the expanded second version of the poem, the Sampo is forged by

, a legendary

smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

, to fulfill a task set by the witch queen 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 ...

Louhi Louhi () is a wicked queen of the land known as Pohjola in Finnish mythology and a villain of the ''Kalevala''. As many mythological creatures and objects are easily conflated and separated in Finnish mythology, Louhi is probably an alter-eg ...

, in return for her daughter's hand. : ''"Ilmarinen, worthy brother,'' : ''Thou the only skilful blacksmith,'' : ''Go and see her wondrous beauty,'' : ''See her gold and silver garments,'' : ''See her robed in finest raiment,'' : ''See her sitting on the rainbow,'' : ''Walking on the clouds of purple.'' : ''Forge for her the magic Sampo,'' : ''Forge the lid in many colors,'' : ''Thy reward shall be the virgin,'' : ''Thou shalt win this bride of beauty;'' : ''Go and bring the lovely maiden'' : ''To thy home in Kalevala."''Kalevala, Rune X
Translated by John Martin Crawford (1888). Ilmarinen works for many days at a mighty forge until he finally succeeds in creating the Sampo: : ''On one side the flour is grinding,'' : ''On another salt is making,'' : ''On a third is money forging,'' : ''And the lid is many-colored.'' : ''Well the Sampo grinds when finished,'' : ''To and fro the lid in rocking,'' : ''Grinds one measure at the day-break,'' : ''Grinds a measure fit for eating,'' : ''Grinds a second for the market,'' : ''Grinds a third one for the store-house.'' Later,

steals the Sampo, and then Ilmarinen and

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 ...

enter her stronghold in secret and retrieve it. Louhi pursues them and combats Väinämöinen. In the struggle, Louhi is vanquished but the Sampo is destroyed.

Interpretation

The Sampo has been interpreted in many ways: a

world pillar In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the ' ...

world tree The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereb ...

, a

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

, a chest containing a treasure, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

coin die Minting, coining or coinage is the process of manufacturing coins using a kind of stamping, the process used in both hammered coinage and milled coinage. This "stamping" process is different from the method used in cast coinage. A coin die is ...

, a decorated

Vendel period In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period ( sv, Vendeltiden; 540–790 AD) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish church, Uppland. This is a period wit ...

shield, a Christian

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

, etc. In the ''

'', compiler Lönnrot interpreted it to be a

quern Quern ( da, Kværn) is a former municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populo ...

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

of some sort that made

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

out of thin air. The world pillar/tree hypothesis was argued for by figures such as theosophian

Pekka Ervast Pekka Elias Ervast (26 December 1875, Helsinki — 22 May 1934, Helsinki) was a Finnish writer. Ervast joined 1895 the Swedish Theosophical society and started 1907 the Finnish Theosophical society, ''Suomen Teosofinen Seura''. He was chief sec ...

, historian of religions

Uno Harva Uno Nils Oskar Harva (known as Uno Holmberg until 1927; 30 August 1882, Ypäjä – 13 August 1949, Turku) was a Finnish religious scholar, who founded the discipline in Finland together with Rafael Karsten. A major figure in North Eurasian ethn ...

and the linguist

Eemil Nestor Setälä Eemil Nestor Setälä (; 27 February 1864 – 8 February 1935) was a Finnish politician and once the Chairman of the Senate of Finland, from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence. Se ...

in the early 20th century. According to the archaeologist Elena Kuz'mina the Sampo mill myth originates from the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

''skambhá'' (support, pillar, column), and was borrowed into

Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...

. In the ''

Atharvaveda The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...

'' the 'skambhá' is a creature that supports the universe, analogous to the

World Tree The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereb ...

- the Sampo has been claimed to be the Finnish equivalent of the world tree.

Similar devices

In the Aarne–Thompson classification systems of Folk-Tales, tale type 565 refers to a magic mill that continuously produces food or salt. Examples include '' Why the Sea is Salt'' (Norway, based on the poem ''

Grottasöngr ''Grottasöngr'' (or ''Gróttasöngr''; Old Norse: 'The Mill's Songs', or 'Song of Grótti') is an Old Norse poem, sometimes counted among the poems of the ''Poetic Edda'' as it appears in manuscripts that are later than the '' Codex Regius''. T ...

''), ''

Sweet porridge "Sweet Porridge" (german: Der süße Brei), often known in English under the title of "The Magic Porridge Pot", is a folkloric German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm, as tale number 103 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'', in the 19th century. ...

'' (Germanic), and ''

The Water Mother The Water Mother is a Chinese fairy tale collected by Wolfram Eberhard in ''Folktales of China''. It does not exist in early text, although the cult of the Water Mother existed from the time of the Song dynasty. Wolfram Eberhard pointed out that ...

'' (Chinese). Such devices have been included into modern tales such as '' Strega Nona'' (1975, children's book). Variants on the theme with a cautionary tale and pupil-master relationship include '' The Master and his Pupil'' (English), and Goethe's 1797 poem ''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old magician (fantasy), sorcerer departs his ...

''. The

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

also produces endless goods, and some versions of the Grail myth emphasize how the Grail creates food and goods. Japanese folktale ''Shiofuki usu'' speaks of a grindstone that could be used to create anything. Like Sampo, it too was lost to the sea, endlessly grinding salt. The

Mahabharatha The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruks ...

speaks about the Akshaya Patra, a vessel or bowl capable of creating food. It stopped providing at the end of the day when the lady of the house had her last meal. Similarly in Irish myth the Cauldron of the Dagda (''coire ansic'' or "un-dry cauldron") was a magical vessel that satisfied any number of people.

Influences

*The 1959 Soviet-Finnish film ''

Sampo In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith Ilmarinen and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopi ...

'' is loosely based on the story. *The Finnish TV series '' Rauta-aika'' (The Iron Age, 1982), based on Kalevala, has an extended sequence where Ilmarinen and his smiths build the Sampo, which is a Byzantine coin die. * In ''

The Quest for Kalevala "The Quest for Kalevala" is a 1999 Uncle Scrooge comic book story written and drawn by Don Rosa. The story was first published in the Danish '' Anders And & Co.'' #1999-48; the first American publication was in ''Uncle Scrooge'' #334, in October 20 ...

'', a

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

story by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

cartoonist

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created fo ...

based on the ''

'',

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...

, Donald Duck and

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist ( screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-ne ...

travel to Finland trying to reveal the location of the remains of the Sampo, a mythical machine that can produce

. * In 1933, A. A. Öpik named a genus of fossil

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

''Sampo''. *Asteroid 2091 Sampo is named after the artifact. * The Finnish heavy metal band

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, an ...

has a song called ''Sampo'' on their 2009 album ''

Skyforger Skyforger is a heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead. Musical style and lyrical themes Most of their songs are about Baltic mythology and warfare; they also play Latvia ...

''. * The Finnish symphonic power metal band

Amberian Dawn Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. Their fifth album '' Re-Evolution'' (a re-recorded compilation with a new singer) was released on KHY Suomen Musiikki & Encore Music in sum ...

has a song called ''Sampo'' on their 2010 album ''

End of Eden ''End of Eden'' is the third studio album by Amberian Dawn, and the first released on Spinefarm Records, previous albums having been released on KHY Suomen Musiikki. The album was released on 20 October 2010, but was preceded by its online single ...

''. *The Semantic Computing Group at

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the He ...

has used ''Sampo'' as a generic name for their cultural heritage Web services, most recently ''BiographySampo'' (2018). *

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

episode 422 includes the 1959 Finnish film ''

The Day The Earth Froze ''Sampo'' (russian: Сампо) is a 1959 Soviet–Finnish fantasy film based loosely on the events depicted in the Finnish national epic ''Kalevala''. In the United States, it was released in an edited version, ''The Day the Earth Froze'', by A ...

'', wherein Louhi the witch spends most of the film trying to make a sampo and the MST characters spend the time wondering what one is. * The 2020 Finnish

Roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player characte ...

video game " Noita" includes references to Finnish mythology and runs are finished by using an item that can be named as, and resembles the Sampo.

References

External links