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everybody welcomed him as the luckiest man in the world; and

       he made his poor mother comfortable for the rest of her life.

      1. What was the noblest thing Audun did? Why do you admire the man? What in the story indicates its old age?

      2. Sketch the relative locations of Iceland, Norway, and Denmark, showing a possible return course for Audun.

THE STORY OF IRON

       Table of Contents

      This is one of the tales from the Kalevala ("Home of the Heroes"), a group of legends from Finland. These tales were sung in verse very similar to that which Longfellow used in Hiawatha. The following is a prose translation of one of the popular myths.

      The first of all mothers was Air, and she had three

       daughters. Of these three maidens there is much

       to be said. They were as lovely as the rainbow after a

       storm; they were as fair as the full moon shining above

       the mountains. They walked with noiseless feet among 5

       the clouds and showered gifts upon the earth. They sent

       the refreshing rain, the silent dew, and the nipping frost,

       each in its season. They gave life to the fields, and strength

       to the mountains, and grandeur to the sea. And because

       of their bounty the earth was glad and the stars twinkled10

       for joy.

      "What more can we do to make the land fit for men to

       dwell in? What other gift have we to bestow?" asked the

       eldest of the sisters.

      And the youngest said, "Let us send down iron—iron 15

       of which tools may be made, iron of which sharp weapons

       may be shaped. For without tools man will not be able

       to plow, to reap, or to build; and without weapons he

       cannot defend himself against the savage beasts of the

       forest." 20

      So when the sun was about going down, the sisters

       went forth in trailing robes of purple and crimson and gold;

       and in their hands they bore mighty vessels of foaming milk.

       The eldest sprinkled red milk in the brooks and marshes

       and along the banks of the rivers. The middle one scattered

       white milk on the wooded hills and the stony mountains.

       The youngest showered blue milk in the valleys

       and by the gray seashore. And, on the morrow, where 5

       the red milk had been sprinkled, red and brittle ore of

       iron flecked the ground; where the white milk had been

       scattered, powdery ore of a yellow hue abounded; and

       where the blue milk had been showered, flaky masses of

       crude iron, tough and dark, lay hidden beneath the soil. 10

      Thus came Iron into the world—Iron, the youngest

       of three brothers. Next older than he was Fire, a raging,

       dangerous fellow when free, but loving and faithful when

       held in bonds. Older still was Water, terrible in strength

       but, when not aroused, as gentle as a mother's caress. 15

      Years upon years went by, and at length one day Iron

       set out to visit his brothers. He found Water at home in

       the deep sea, and by him he was welcomed kindly enough.

       But when he climbed a mountain to see his second brother

       he had quite another reception. Fire was in a raging 20

       mood. The terrible fellow leaped and roared and stretched

       out his long red fingers as though he would devour his

       visitor.

      Iron was so terrified that he turned and fled down the

       steep slopes, never stopping nor pausing to look behind. 25

       He ran on, hiding in clefts and chasms, creeping under

       rocks, and lurking in the dry beds of mountain torrents.

       When by and by he reached the level plain, he glanced

       backward. The hills and the whole mountain top were

       aflame. 30

      Wild with terror he hurried on, hiding himself in the

       woods and under the roots of trees and resting at last in

       reedy marshes where swans build their nests and wild geese

       rear their young.

      For ages and ages—nobody knows how many—Iron

       lay hidden in bogs and forests and lonely caverns. Fear

       of his raging brother made him lurk in lonely places, made5

       him cover up his face. Lazy bears went ambling through

       the rocky places; wolves rushed madly over the oozy

       marshlands; and timid deer ran and leaped among the

       trees. In time the hiding places of Iron were uncovered.

       Where the paws of bears had plodded often, where the feet10

       of wolves had pattered, where the sharp hoofs of deer had

       trodden, there the timid metal, red, gray, yellow, black,

       peeped shyly out.

      At length into that same land there came a skillful Smith.

       He carried a hammer of stone in one hand and tongs of 15

       bronze in the other, and a song of peace was upon his lips.

       On a green hillock, where the south wind blew, he built

       him a smithy, and in it he placed the tools of his craft.

       His anvil was a block of gray granite; his forge was carefully

       built of sand and clay; his bellows was made of the 20

       skins of mountain goats sewn together.

      The Smith heaped live coals in his forge and blew with

       his bellows until the flames leaped up, roaring and sparkling,

       and the smoke rose in dense clouds over the roof of the

       smithy. "This forge will do its work well," he said. Then25

       he checked the bellows and smothered the flames and raked

       ashes upon the fire until the red coals slumbered unseen at

       the mouth of the forge.

      Out into the forest the Smith wandered. Closely he

       scanned the hillsides and the boggy thickets and the paths 30

       among the trees. And there, where the bears had trailed

       and the wolves had rushed and the deer had left their

       footprints, he found ruddy Iron, dusky Iron, yellow ore

       of Iron, peeping, trembling, hiding. The heart of the

       Smith was glad. His eyes danced merrily, and he sang a

       song of magic to the timid metal:

      "Iron, Iron, hearken while I call you5

       Let

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