extraction.finnish_karelian.kalevala.ilmarinen_forges_sampo
---
record_id: extraction.finnish_karelian.kalevala.ilmarinen_forges_sampo
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
passage_locator:
label: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
start: Master of the forge and smithy
end: I have forged for thee the Sampo
translation: John Martin Crawford, Kalevala
notes: Public-domain Project Gutenberg text of Crawford's 1888 English translation.
canonical_text:
summary: Louhi asks Ilmarinen to forge the Sampo from rare materials. Ilmarinen
claims the authority of having forged the arch of heaven, builds a smithy, rejects
dangerous preliminary creations, and finally forges the many-colored Sampo, which
grinds flour, salt, and money.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Louhi asks Ilmarinen to forge the Sampo and promises her daughter as recompense.
category: request
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Ilmarinen says he will forge the Sampo because he forged the arch of heaven
before the earth began.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Ilmarinen finds no existing workshop and builds his own smithy, chimney, bellows,
and furnace.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: A crossbow, skiff, heifer, and plow rise from the furnace before being rejected
as dangerous or ill-mannered creations.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The completed Sampo has a many-colored lid and produces flour, salt, and money
by grinding.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Louhi carries the Sampo away, locks it, and roots it into mountain, sea-bed,
and mountain-dwelling.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ilmarinen
description: Magic blacksmith and first iron-worker who forges the Sampo.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Louhi
description: Hostess of Pohyola who requests, receives, locks, and roots the Sampo.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Workmen and winds
description: Helpers and forces that tend the bellows and fire during the forging.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: cosmic_smith
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ilmarinen links his Sampo work to having forged the arch of heaven.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: maker_of_world_object
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He builds the smithy, tests furnace products, and finishes the Sampo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: northern_owner
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Louhi requests the Sampo and then secures it in the Northland.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Sampo
literal_form: many-colored lidded mill that grinds flour, salt, and money
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- culture_hero
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: arch of heaven
literal_form: arch of heaven and concave cover of air
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- cosmic_mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: furnace trial-creations
literal_form: crossbow, metal skiff, magic heifer, and plow
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: rooted wonder
literal_form: nine locks and three roots under mountain, sea-bed, and dwelling
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
summary: Louhi bargains for the Sampo; Ilmarinen builds a smithy, rejects flawed
objects from the furnace, and finally produces a locked, rooted abundance-object
for Pohyola.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: smith_craft
taxonomy_refs:
- culture_hero
basis: The passage centers on a superhuman smith whose craft produces an object
of collective abundance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The atlas has no canonical smith_craft key, so culture_hero is used only
for the culture-bringing function.
- id: motif:2
label: failed_creation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Several beautiful furnace products are rejected and broken because they are
violent, quarrelsome, wasteful, or destructive.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: These are failed or unsuitable objects within a forging sequence, not
failed human creations.
- id: motif:3
label: world_object_of_abundance
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
basis: The Sampo's production of staple and exchange goods, plus its rooting into
multiple depths, makes it a charged center of wealth in the narrative.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The exact nature of the Sampo is debated; this record keeps to the passage's
grinding, locking, and rooting language.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage can be compared cautiously with culture-hero craft motifs in
which skilled making produces a socially valuable or cosmically charged object.
claim_level: same_function
target: taxonomy/motifs.yml#culture_hero
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is functional and does not reduce the Sampo to a single
universal object type.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: Louhi asks the master smith to forge the Sampo from swan feathers,
virtuous milk, barley, and lamb's wool, offering her daughter in return.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: Since I forged the arch of heaven, / Forged the air a concave
cover.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: Ilmarinen finds no smithy or tools, then builds a smithy with
fire, chimney, bellows, and furnace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: The furnace first yields a violent crossbow, a quarrelsome skiff,
a wasteful heifer, and a destructive plow; Ilmarinen breaks each and returns it
to the furnace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: On one side the flour is grinding, / On another salt is making.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: Rune X, Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
quote_or_summary: Louhi takes the Sampo to the copper-bearing mountains, puts nine
locks on it, and sets three roots beneath mountain, sea-bed, and dwelling.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/finnish-karelian/project-gutenberg/kalevala-crawford.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The craft sequence is explicit; taxonomy mapping is cautious because the
requested smith_craft motif is not a canonical taxonomy key.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Needs scholarly review before being treated as final.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Worker C extraction focused on smith_craft, failed_creation, and abundance-object
motifs.