Out of the River of Tuoni
In Runo XIV of the Kalevala, Lemminkäinen hunts the black swan that lives on the river of Tuoni in the underworld in order to win a daughter of Louhi as his wife. While searching for the swan, he is killed and his body is dumped into the river. In Runo XV, Lemminkäinen’s mother searches all over the world for him before discovering his fate. She fashions a rake and uses it to recover her son’s body from the bottom of the river, then sews his body back together and uses a drop of honey from the god Ukko as an ointment. Speaking the words set in this piece, she uses her magic to restore her son to life.
Voicing: | SSAATTBB |
Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
Language: | Finnish, Vocables |
Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
Season or Event: | General |
Difficulty: | Advanced Student |
Descriptive Tags: | Folk tale, Magic, Mother, Resurrection, River, Water |
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