the islander's wife

Role: mother of the island maiden · First appears: Canto IV · The Island Maiden

In Canto IV · The Island Maiden, the islander’s wife learned that her daughter, the island maiden, was lost. She and the islander searched the sea for her body, then found her ornaments on the beach and heard from her that she could not return home, weighed down by the water.

In Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer, the islander and his wife returned home weeping and planted an oak and a fir in remembrance of their missing daughter. She tended an egg, warming it by day and nursing it at night; she also helped return a fish to the sea, and tended a young eagle that later escaped.

In Canto VI · The Kalevide and the Sword-smiths, the islander returned home and grumbled to his wife about his failed journey. He asked the dwarf no larger than Kalev's thumb to fell the oak, and the dwarf agreed in exchange for release and a gold dish.

Relationship record

Life events

• The mother learned that her daughter was lost.(Canto IV · The Island Maiden)
  • With: the islander
  • “The father's cry of despair fully roused the mother, who sprang up, and ran down to the shore, only to learn that her daughter was lost.”
• The mother and father searched the sea for their daughter's body.(Canto IV · The Island Maiden)
  • With: the islander
  • “Then the mother took a rake with a long copper handle, and the father took his net, and with them they sought for their daughter's body at the bottom of the sea.”
• The parents found the island maiden's ornaments on the beach and learned she had a home beneath the sea.(Canto IV · The Island Maiden)
  • With: the island maiden the islander
  • “Her father and mother came to seek her, and found only her ornaments scattered on the beach. They called her by her name, and implored her to go home with them; but she answered that she could not, for she was weighed down by the water; and she related to them her adventure with the copper man.”
• The islander and his wife planted an oak and a fir in remembrance of their missing daughter.(Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer)
  • With: the islander the island maiden
  • “Meantime the islander and his wife, not being able to find their daughter, returned home weeping, and planted the oak and the fir in the field where their daughter used to swing in the evening, in remembrance of her.”
• They warmed the egg by day and nursed it at night.(Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer)
  • With: the islander
  • “Then they went to look in the helmet where they had put the egg; but it was cold and damp, so the mother put the egg in the warm sun by day, and nursed it in her bosom at night.”
• They returned the fish to the sea after it prayed for its liberty.(Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer)
  • With: the islander
  • “Next they visited the fish, which prayed for its liberty, and they restored it to the sea.”
• The egg hatched into an eagle, which escaped after the mother tended it.(Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer)
  • With: the islander
  • “The oak and fir now reached the clouds; and a young eagle was hatched from the egg, which the mother tended; but one day it escaped and flew away.”
• The islander asked the dwarf to fell the oak; the dwarf agreed in exchange for release and a gold dish.(Canto VI · The Kalevide and the Sword-smiths)
  • With: the islander the dwarf no larger than Kalev's thumb
  • “The islander asked the dwarf if he would fell the oak-tree, and he consented at once, on condition that he should be released from his captivity; he was also given a dish of pure gold.”

Canto IV · The Island Maiden

• child: the island maiden “Her mother awoke, and thought it was only a bad dream; but her father hastened to her aid, armed with a great club.”

Canto V · The Kalevide and the Finnish Sorcerer

• child: the island maiden “Meantime the islander and his wife, not being able to find their daughter, returned home weeping, and planted the oak and the fir in the field where their daughter used to swing in the evening, in remembrance of her.”

Canto VI · The Kalevide and the Sword-smiths

• married with the islander “and he returned home, grumbling to his wife at the failure of his long and fruitless journey.”

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Extracted from the original text of The Kalevipoeg. Made with Rho MD.