the widow

Also known as: a young widow · Role: widow · First appears: Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 1

In Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda, the widow found Salme and Linda as a hen and an egg had become maidens, and raised them as her foster-children. The orphan girl became her maid-of-all-work, carrying wood and water.

The widow opposed Linda’s match with Kalev, but Linda accepted him. Salme departed with the Youth of the Stars, bidding her foster-mother farewell; later, Linda also bade the widow farewell as Kalev drove her away in his sledge.

Relationship record

Life events

• The widow found Salme and Linda as a hen and an egg had become maidens.(Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 1 · 📍 the province of Lääne)
  • With: Salme Linda
  • “The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme; the egg had given birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the well.”
• The orphan girl became the widow’s maid-of-all-work.(Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 1)
  • With: the orphan girl
  • “The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme; the egg had given birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the well.”
• Linda accepted Kalev, despite the widow's opposition to the match.(Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 2)
  • With: Kalev Linda
  • “A sixth suitor now appeared in the person of the young and handsome giant Kalev. All the wedding-guests grumbled, and even the widow was opposed to the match; but he pleased Linda, and she accepted him at once.”
• Salme departed with the Youth of the Stars, leaving her foster-mother behind.(Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 2)
  • With: Youth of the Stars Salme
  • “But now the Youth of the Stars could delay no longer, and Salme took an affecting farewell of her foster-mother and all her kith and kin, declaring that she would now be hidden behind the clouds, or wandering through the heavens transformed into a star. Then she mounted her sledge, and again bade her foster-mother a last and eternal farewell.”
• Kalev drove away with Linda in his sledge, and they reached their home.(Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 2)
  • With: Kalev Linda
  • “After Salme's departure, the wedding-festival of Linda was kept up for some time, and when Kalev finally drove off with her in her sledge, she bade farewell to her foster-mother; but Kalev reminded her that she had forgotten the moon before the house, who was her father; the sun before the storehouse, who was her old uncle; and the birch-tree before the window, who was her brother, besides her cousins in the wood.”

Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 1

• foster-child: Salme “The widow went into the storehouse to look at her foster-children, and what did she behold on raising the lid of the basket? The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme; the egg had given birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the well.”
• foster-child: Linda “The widow went into the storehouse to look at her foster-children, and what did she behold on raising the lid of the basket? The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme; the egg had given birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the well.”
• foster-child: the orphan girl (The text identifies the orphan girl as one of the widow’s foster-children.) “The widow went into the storehouse to look at her foster-children, and what did she behold on raising the lid of the basket? The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme; the egg had given birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the well.”

Canto I · The Marriages of Salme and Linda · Part 2

• foster-child: Salme “At last Salme herself appeared in the hall, but the Meadow-Queen and the wood nymphs had so adorned her that her foster-mother did not know her again, and asked in astonishment, ‘Is it the moon, or the sun, or one of the young daughters of the sunset?’”

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