Finnish mythology Finnish mythology commonly refers of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a Finnish Neopaganism, modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many shared features with Estonian mythology, Estonian and othe ...

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

Ilmarinen Ilmarinen () is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything. In addition, he is described as working the known metals of the time, including brass, copper, iron, gold, and sil ...

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

In the Kalevala

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

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

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

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish polymath, physician, philosopher, poet, musician, linguist, journalist, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish language, Finnish Oral literature, oral poetry. He is best k ...

based on Finnish and Karelian

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

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

, a legendary

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, to fulfill a task set by the witch queen of Pohjola, Louhi, 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, Louhi steals the Sampo, and then Ilmarinen and

Väinämöinen () is a deity, 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, magical sing ...

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 or world tree, 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 No ...

astrolabe An astrolabe (; ; ) is an astronomy, astronomical list of astronomical instruments, instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and Model#Physical model, physical model of the visible celestial sphere, half-dome of the sky. It ...

, a chest containing a treasure, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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

, a decorated

Vendel period In Scandinavian prehistory, sometimes specifically Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period, or Vendel Age (; ) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish ...

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 or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

, etc. In the ''

'', compiler Lönnrot interpreted it to be a

quern Quern () is a former municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Since 1 March 2013, it has been part of the municipality of Steinbergkirche Steinbergkirche () is a municipality in the district of ...

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

of some sort that made

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

out of thin air. The world pillar/tree hypothesis was argued for by figures such as theosophian Pekka Ervast, historian of religions Uno Harva and the linguist Eemil Nestor Setälä 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 northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

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

Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...

. In the ''

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

'' the 'skambhá' is a creature that supports the universe, analogous to the World Tree – the Sampo has been claimed to be the Finnish equivalent of the world tree.

Similar devices

In the Aarne–Thompson classification systems of folktales, tale type 565 refers to a magic mill that continuously produces food or salt. Examples include ''

Why the Sea is Salt Why the Sea Is Salt (; the mill that grinds at the bottom of the sea) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their '' Norske Folkeeventyr''. Andrew Lang included it in '' The Blue Fairy Book'' (1889) ...

'' (Norway, based on the poem '' Grottasöngr''), '' Sweet porridge'' (Germanic), and '' The Water Mother'' (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" () 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 sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of ...

''. The

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

also produces endless goods, and some versions of the Grail myth emphasize how the Grail creates food and goods. The

Japanese folktale Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect of Japan. In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of "Oral tradition, folktale" or no ...

''Shiofuki usu'' speaks of a grindstone that could be used to create anything. Like the Sampo, it too was lost to the sea, endlessly grinding salt. The Sanskrit epic the '' Mahabharatha'' tells of the Akshaya Patra, a vessel or bowl capable of creating food that stops at the end of the day when the lady of the house has had her last meal. Similarly, in the Irish myth of the Cauldron of the Dagda (''coire ansic'' or "un-dry cauldron") is a magical vessel that satisfies 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, constructed by the blacksmith and inventor Ilmarinen and which brings riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (corn ...

'' 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'', a

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

story by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

cartoonist

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...

based on the ''

'',

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

, Donald Duck and

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

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 (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of 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 e ...

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

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish progressive 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 meta ...

has a song called ''Sampo'' on their 2009 album '' Skyforger''. * The Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn has a song called ''Sampo'' on their 2010 album '' End of Eden''. *The Semantic Computing Group at

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, 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 Helsinki School of Economic ...

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

References

External links