WATER-SPIRITS,
ACHTIE AND VELAMMO Living so much as they did,
Either on the sea or near large lakes,
The Finns had often occasions to invoke the aid of the chief water-spirit Achty,
Or his wife Velamo.
Thus a man travelling by water implores Achty and Velamo to tranquillize the waters,
The waves and the force of the water.
When descending dangerous rapids a boatman prays the golden king of water,
The gracious Achty of the waves,
To come and steer with his sword,
So that the boat may keep clear of rocks.
Lidvetty or Livety,
The king of the waters,
Beneath the stream,
Is invoked rocks that lie in the rapids as soft as moss.
If,
When churning by water,
The oars are too short,
The rovers feeble,
And Cocksvane is as helpless as a baby,
Achty is besought to give better oars,
And if the waves run too high,
He and his sons are still to them.
The old woman below the waves,
That lives near foam,
Is asked to ascend to the surface to collect the foam,
And take charge of the foam-capped waves in front of a sailing boat.
But danger at sea,
Or on a lake,
Or river,
Did not arise solely from storms and rapids.
Peril was to be anticipated from spells and witchcraft.
Hence a man beseech Achty,
The master of the water,
To give him his oars,
And a boat before the petitioner ventures to cruise over the waters inhabited by witches,
And also to allow the boat to glide smoothly along.
Melada,
Orwife,
The gracious woman for her steering oar,
To steer it,
While passing along spell-bound streams.
Help in other ways was also to be obtained from water-spirits.
One exorcist implores the blue-capped mistress of the waters to rise from the waves,
To strengthen and support a weak,
Unsupported man.
She is to raise men from the sea and land-locked lakes,
Bowmen from streams,
And swartmen from wells,
To help the petitioner against his enemies.
Another exorcist invokes the men of the sea,
The heroes of inland lakes,
The scaly cloaks from the gravel,
The sandy-shirts from the pool,
Who are as tall as pillars of clouds,
Or as huge forest firs,
And a thousand armed men,
To follow him and overthrow his enemies.
As lord of the waters,
Achty and his wife,
Root over the fish,
And were therefore invoked by a fisherman.
Thus,
For a man told Achty of the sea,
The redepeated old man is requested to put on his gift-giving clothes magic songs of the fisherman.
Another man desires Achty,
The master of the waves,
The ruler of a hundred caves,
To send fish into his net.
Or a fisherman implores the damp-bearded golden king of the water,
Who wears a crouching hat,
To come and fish with him,
As a sure means of getting plenty.
The old wife of the sea,
With a redepeast,
Is besought to send perch to tug the lines set by the petitioner.
Another fisherman asks the assistance of Velamo,
Who has a redepeast and waters,
And wears a shirt of wreaths,
And he will give her in return a beautiful linen shirt,
Spun by the daughters of the moon and sun.
Lastly,
The beautiful old wife,
Julehedar,
The benevolent mistress of the water,
Is implored to send shoals of fish in the direction of the fisherman's nets.
On one occasion it is related that when sharp frost tried to freeze the sea,
The worship of Achty remained unaffected.
It then tried to freeze the god,
Who,
However,
Knew a trick or two,
For his shore-moss and fluff from stone,
Made it into socks and mitts,
And so was able to hold sharp frost and prevent his getting away.
That was from The Magic Songs of the Finns,
Written by Elias Leenrud in the 19th century.
