Kodin kukka ja uhrikuusi : Runoelmia by Eino Leino
Kodin kukka ja uhrikuusi by Eino Leino is a narrative poem (poetic tale) written in the early 20th century. Set in the forests and lakes of Kainuu, it weaves nature mysticism with village life to tell of a maiden torn between human love and a supernatural calling. The likely topic is the conflict between earthly devotion and a fatal, sacred attraction to the forest’s frost spirit embodied in a sacrificial spruce. The
poem follows a village’s “house flower,” a pure and lively girl, and the neighboring boy who grows up with her and loves her. Moonlit rows, summer bonfires, and tar-kiln nights frame her deepening pull toward the Hallan haltia, the frost spirit who calls from the uhrikuusi on Vuokatti. Despite her mother’s warnings and the suitor’s heartfelt vision of a shared farm life, the maiden answers the spirit’s summons. After a ruinous frost night, she climbs Vuokatti, sings farewell to parents and suitor, and meets the spirit at the sacrificial spruce. In their embrace her life is drained; she sinks into the lake as a water lily, while the spirit is renewed and the land grows fertile. The people prosper, the spirit still yearns for the lily on moonlit nights, and the human narrator remains behind with sorrow—and song. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
For an overview of the different reading options, see our Reading Guide
| Reading Options | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.html.images | 153 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.epub3.images | 121 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.epub.images | 120 kB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.epub.noimages | 100 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.kf8.images | 292 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.kindle.images | 266 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78564.txt.utf-8 | 69 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/78564/pg78564-h.zip | 109 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
Similar Books
About this eBook
| Author | Leino, Eino, 1878-1926 |
|---|---|
| Title | Kodin kukka ja uhrikuusi : Runoelmia |
| Original Publication | Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Ahjo, 1920. |
| Credits | Tapio Riikonen |
| Language | Finnish |
| LoC Class | PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures |
| Subject | Finnish poetry -- 20th century |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78564 |
| Release Date | Apr 28, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 647 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |