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He set himself on fire and looked into the flames to see if anything brilliant had developed and saw a golden crossbow, arrows fledged with bronze, but of such an evil disposition, each day it asked for one head, and on special days for two, so he broke the bow to pieces and cast it back into himself. The second day, a blood red boat, with golden prow, rowlocks of copper, rose from the flames, but of such an evil dispostion, it would go to war at any reason. So he broke the boat into fragments and cast it back into himself. The third day, a heifer, skin full of stars, gold shining horns, rose out of the flames, but of such an evil disposition, she spilled her milk upon the ground. So he cut the cow to fragments and cast it back into himself. Then a golden plough rose from the flames, but of such an evil disposition, it ploughed up all the fields and meadows, so he cast it back into himself. Then the winds rose up in fury. For three days, he was on fire, himself, the only flame, until something rose out of the burning that still we cannot name, except that, like she, for whom he burned, it was fair to gaze upon. For love is the sole cell which births imagination.

(with thanks to The Kalevala)

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Appendix F: Iconography of the 'Forging of the Sampo' Episode: 'golden crossbow'; 'copper boat'; 'star-spangled heifer'; 'nameless object'.

Clearly it is impossible to uncover the origins, in real historical circumstances or the experience of a defined ethnic group, of these mysterious symbols; nor can we track back along the evolution of the runic songs to anything close to the first compositions, let alone their real subjects. Nevertheless, the example of more recent 'folk' representations of known events can teach us a few lessons, and enable us at least to speculate on the flesh-and-blood co-efficients of these nebulous figures.

Such narratives invariably have their provenance in events of genuine importance, events which were naturally recounted in elevated and resounding language. Left in the hands, or rather the mouths, of the ignorant, however, the significance of the subjects became lost, and the heightened colour and amplified sound of their telling survived unattached. This, being transmitted for the delectation of the benighted, over the centuries took on the unlikely shape in which we now behold it: shining and senseless.

As to what originally lay behind the images, then, I offer the following: speculative but, I trust, not altogether fantastic.

Crossbow: the appearance of third-phase technology among the Finno-Ugric tribes. According to recent archaeological evidence this occurred while they were still gathered as a single group in Western Siberia. The third phase constitutes a significant step forward in the ethnic group's control of their natural environment. The smith's rejection of the bow is purely a narrative device (as are the subsequent rejections) and may even be an addition by Lönnrot (not as trustworthy a recorder as he is generally held to be).

Boat: this is a reference to transport. As the airplane has revolutionised the relation of individual and group to the greater world (the introduction of 'cheap' air travel is in many ways more radical), so in prehistory the development of the boat changed the outlook and practices of the (now dispersed) Finno-Ugric tribes.

Heifer: though hardly famed for their agricultural expertise (the Finns, Karelians and the rest, like the Irish, were given to piracy and cattle-raids - this is not an unrelated point), the significance of this giant advance in human development, third only to the mattock and urbanism, can hardly have been lost on them. Present day Helsinki, a city of mobile-phones and vodka-bars, has a population of over half-a-million. Commerce, of course, is the key.

Object: an afternoon in my childhood. The B.B.C. test-card, moments before the first programme. Ah les jours dorés, même traversants les chambres odoriférantes, les jardins brillants, as they have crossed the years of shocks and growing pragmatism, the link roads beyond count, bank holidays in the DIY store, established and sustaining lies, the repeated depression of the computer's power switch.

Untexture.