Sampsa

Vainamoinen reaches an island without trees and wonders who will sow the land. The poem answers by naming Sampsa, a small figure it calls the Spirit of Arable. Sampsa takes on the task of bringing vegetation to the empty ground.

The song describes his sowing across varied parts of the island, matching different growth to the land. Rather than remaining bare, the place begins to change: trees rise and young shoots appear. The poem marks the signs of new growth, as berries form and red cones appear on firs. The work is not confined to a single patch; vegetation spreads through the landscape. Vainamoinen’s question has its answer in Sampsa’s labour, and the poem presents the once-empty land as transformed by growth. The trees have taken hold, berries are visible, and the island is no longer treeless at the close of the episode.