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 ...

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 ...

'', compiled in 1835 (and expanded in 1849) by Elias Lönnrot based on Finnish

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

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

, a legendary smith, 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 location in Finnish mythology. It is one of the two main polarities in the Finnish national epic, the ''K ...

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 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 ''a ...

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 ...

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 Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of ...

or mill 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 cul ...

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 quant ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

, historian of religions Uno Harva 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. Set ...

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, Du ...

''skambhá'' (support, pillar, column), and was borrowed into Finno-Ugric. 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 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''), '' Sweet porridge'' (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 tha ...

'' (Chinese). Such devices have been included into modern tales such as ''

Strega Nona ''Strega Nona'' is a children's picturebook written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. If considered as a folktale, the story is Aarne-Thompson type 565, the Magic Mill. It concerns Strega Nona ("Grandma Witch" in Italian, though it is actually s ...

'' (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 sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving ...

''. The Cornucopia of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

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 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'' 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 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 based on the ''

'', Scrooge McDuck, 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-neph ...

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

''. * The Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn 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 singl ...

''. *The Semantic Computing Group at Aalto University 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 WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

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 ...

'', 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 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