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Lemminkainen, a MythSource painting
Finnic

Lemminkainen

01Identity

Lemminkainen in Finnic tradition

Crawford's Kalevala relates how Lemminkainen is killed in Tuoni's river and how his mother later searches for him. A serpent sent from the death-stream strikes him in the heart. Tuoni's son cuts his body into pieces and throws them into the waters of Manala. His mother asks the Sun where he has gone, then searches the riverbed with a rake. She first draws out his shoes and stockings. On a later pull she finds his remains, joins the parts and uses balsam on his eyes, ears, tongue and temples. At first Lemminkainen cannot speak, see or hear. He wakes, speaks again, and leaves with his mother for Wainola.

SourceThe Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891): Death of Lemminkainen, pp. 198, 200· The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891): Lemminkainen’s Restoration (Rune XV), pp. 207, 210, 213· The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891): Lemminkainen’s Restoration (Rune XV), pp. 219, 223

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Lemminkainen

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

Lemminkainen dies in Tuoni

In Crawford's Kalevala, the shepherd Nasshut sends a serpent from the death-stream towards Lemminkainen. It flies swiftly and pierces his heart. The blow leaves Lemminkainen only dimly aware of what has happened. Badly wounded, he knows that he is dying. He regrets refusing his mother's advice and failing to learn the words she knew. He wishes he had listened before entering the land of death, and longs for her counsel on how to endure what has happened. He thinks again of the knowledge he neglected to ask her for.

Tuoni's son takes up an axe and cuts Lemminkainen apart. The blade strikes stone as he chops, throwing sparks. He divides Lemminkainen's body into five parts, then casts them into the deepest waters of Manala. Then he tells the dead hero to swim in the river and hunt with bow and arrow.

Lemminkainen dies in Tuoni, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-09-28

  1. 1The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1
  2. 2The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1

Lemminkainen's mother finds and restores him

Lemminkainen's mother asks the Sun whether it has seen her son. The Sun answers that Lemminkainen died in Tuoni's river and sank into Manala. His mother weeps, then takes a rake to the water. On her first search she brings up his shoes and stockings. She wades farther in and draws the rake through the depths again. On the third pull, his body catches in the copper-handled rake's metal teeth. His head is incomplete, and a hand and forearm are missing.

She gathers what the rake has brought up and puts his body back together. Though whole again, he cannot speak, see or hear. His mother finds balsam and rubs it over his eyes, ears, tongue and temples. She calls him from sleep, and Lemminkainen wakes and speaks. When he can travel, mother and son leave the river and make their way towards Wainola.

Lemminkainen's mother finds and restores him, a MythSource painting of the scene

5 sources· checked 2026-09-28

  1. 1The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1
  2. 2The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1
  3. 3The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1
  4. 4The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1
  5. 5The Kalevala, Volume I (John Martin Crawford translation, 1891)T1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Lemminkainen, each on that figure’s page.