thumb|The Theft of the Sampo, [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1897]]

In Finnish mythology, the Sampo () or Sammas () is a magical device or object described in many different ways, constructed by the blacksmith, inventor and originally the sky god Ilmarinen, and which brings riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopia) of Greek mythology. A central myth in Finnish mythology is the idea that the sampo was once in Pohjola but a group of heroes attempt to steal it. Sammas, as something at the center of the world, also exists in Estonian mythology.

The Sampo or Sammas has multiple other names in runic songs as well, including Samppu, Samppi and Kirjokansi ().

Interpretation

The Sampo has been interpreted in many ways: a world pillar or world tree, the Sun, a compass or astrolabe, a chest containing a treasure, a Byzantine coin die, a book, a decorated Vendel period shield, a Christian relic, etc. In the Kalevala, compiler Lönnrot interpreted it to be a quern or mill of some sort that made flour, salt, and gold out of thin air. The world pillar/tree hypothesis was argued for by figures such as theosophian Pekka Ervast, historian of religions Uno Harva and the linguist Eemil Nestor Setälä in the early 20th century.

In Estonian runic songs, the Sammas, an oak or an ash (akin to the Yggdrasil) is something which stands at the center of the world. According to the archaeologist Elena Kuz'mina, the Sampo mill myth originates from the Indo-European skambhá 'support, pillar, column', and was borrowed into Finno-Ugric. In the Atharvaveda, 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. At the top of this tree is the 'golden cradle', which according to Forest Finn tietäjä Kaisa Vilhunen is a rainbow which works as a bridge between heaven and earth.

Runic songs from Kainuu and White Karelia describe Sampo, Sammot, Samppu or Samppi as something which has words in it: Aukasen sanasen arkun, / Virsilippani viritän, / Jott'ei samppu sanoja puutu / Eikä Sämpsä siemeniä, / Umpilampi ahvenia, / Eikä kallio kiviä ("I open my chest of words, / Tune my box of songs, / So Samppu would not lack words / Nor Sämpsä seeds, / A closed pond perches, / Nor a rock stones"). According to the White Karelian runic singer Jaakko Huovinen, Samma is the thing where all runes and sorcery originate from.

According to many White Karelian versions, Louhi promised to give Väinämöinen a maiden to marry if he forges for her the Sampo. Väinämöinen did not have the skill for this but knows Ilmarinen to be able to forge it as he had also forged the sky. He sent Ilmarinen to Pohjola with wind, where he forged the Sampo. Later, Väinämöinen pointed out all the riches the Sampo was providing for Pohjola and suggested they go steal it back. Other heroes such as Tiera or Vesiliito might join them depending on the version. They ploughed loose the roots of the Sampo from the rocky hill of Pohjola and took it to their boat. Ilmarinen suggested Väinämöinen start singing but Väinämöinen refused, thinking the gates of Pohjola were still too close. An ant urinated on a crane's foot and the crane screamed, waking up the people of Pohjola. Louhi transformed into a bird, ordering the forces of Pohjola to chase the heroes. Väinämöinen struck Louhi's bird toes with a sword or a paddle and the Sampo ends up in water, making the seas rich.

Kaarle Krohn saw the Forest Finn version as a description where the Sampo and Louhi turned into a bird had fused into one, like the Sampo itself was a bird. Väinö Salminen pointed out the Forest Finn belief that storm itself was an evil being, a storm bird from Pohjola, like it was the storm bird which had taken the Sampo from Väinämöinen and Joukahainen's boat.

Runic songs from Kainuu do not speak of a theft of Sampo: instead, it is the Sun which Väinämöinen frees from a rock by forging, set in the same mythic setting as the theft of Sampo. Because majority of the versions of the theft of Sampo are from Western White Karelia, Siikala considered the myth to originate from the coasts of the Bothnian Bay from where it had spread eastwards as most families of Western White Karelia were of Ostrobothnian origin.

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. Examples include Why the Sea is Salt (Norway, based on the poem Grottasöngr), Sweet porridge (Germanic), and The Water Mother (Chinese). Such devices have been included into modern tales such as Strega Nona (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 cornucopia of Greek mythology also produces endless goods, and some versions of the Grail myth emphasize how the Grail creates food and goods.

The Japanese folktale Shiofuki usu speaks of a grindstone that could be used to create anything. Like the Sampo, it too was lost to the sea, endlessly grinding salt.

The Sanskrit epic the Mahabharatha tells of the Akshaya Patra, a vessel or bowl capable of creating food that stops at the end of the day when the lady of the house has had her last meal. Similarly, in the Irish myth of the Cauldron of the Dagda (coire ansic or "un-dry cauldron") is a magical vessel that satisfies any number of people.

Influences

  • The 1959 Soviet-Finnish film Sampo is loosely based on the story. An edited English dub, titled The Day The Earth Froze, was featured in a 1993 episode of the film-satirising TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. The characters repeatedly speculate on the nature of the Sampo and "Sampo!" became a running joke.
  • 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, a Donald Duck story by Disney cartoonist Don Rosa based on the Kalevala, Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie travel to Finland trying to reveal the location of the remains of the Sampo, a mythical machine that can produce gold.
  • 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.
  • In the indie Rogue-like video game Noita, the player's ultimate goal is to retrieve the Sampo.
  • The Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn has a song called Sampo on their 2010 album End of Eden.
  • The Semantic Computing Group at Aalto University has used Sampo as a generic name for their cultural heritage Web services, most recently BiographySampo (2018).

See also

  • Quern-stone
  • Cornucopia
  • Uchide no kozuchi
  • Bag of Holding

References