from Ehstnische Volkslieder, collected by Heinrich Neus (1850)

The Salme songs are the cosmological centrepiece of Estonian folk religion: the myth of the divine maiden born from a hen found on the meadow, courted by three celestial suitors — the Moon, the Sun, and the Star. Salme rejects the Moon for his restlessness and the Sun for his destructive habits, and accepts the Star, who comes with fifty horses and sixty coachmen. The Star feasts, strikes his sword, demands his bride — and Salme, the orphan, laments that she has no mother to adorn her for the wedding.

Heinrich Neus (1795–1876) collected these songs from across Estonia in the first half of the nineteenth century and published them in his monumental three-volume Ehstnische Volkslieder (Estonian Folk Songs), printed in Reval (Tallinn) in 1850–1852. This is the foundational collection of Estonian oral poetry — over 1,300 songs in bilingual Estonian-German format. The Salme songs open the collection, reflecting their status as the most sacred and widely known of all Estonian folk traditions.

The two variants presented here tell the same story with different emphases. Variant A is leaner and more dramatic; Variant B adds the detail of the hen’s transformation over months and days, names the mother who finds it, and doubles the Moon’s duties and the Sun’s faults. Variant A ends with Salme’s orphan’s lament — one of the most poignant passages in Baltic folk literature. Variant B ends at the Star’s demand, before the lament. The celestial courtship motif has deep parallels across the Finno-Ugric and Baltic world: the Latvian dainas, the Finnish Kalevala, and the Lithuanian suřinks share this mythic architecture of maiden-sky-suitor.

These songs have never before appeared in English translation.

A.

There was a young woman;
She went to herd the cattle,
Found a hen upon the meadow,
Took the hen home.
From the hen grew a human being —
The dewy maiden Salme.

Then came three suitors:
One was the Moon, the second the Sun,
The third the Star’s boy.

The Moon’s boy came
With fifty horses,
With sixty coachmen.
Salme called from the granary,
Spoke from the stone-house:
“No, I will not go to the Moon!
The Moon has three duties:
Once he rises at dawn,
Then at the setting of the sun,
Then at the rising of the sun.”

The Sun’s boy came
With fifty horses,
With sixty coachmen.
Salme called from afar:
“No, I will not go to the Sun!
The Sun has many faults:
He sends scorching heat,
He turns the weather mild;
When the mild hay season comes,
He sends down rain;
When the precious oat-sowing comes,
He thunders drought —
Burns the harvest of oats,
Kills the barley in the field,
Casts the flax on sandy ground,
Presses the peas into furrows,
Behind the house hardens the wheat,
And the lentils along the woodland.”

The Star’s boy came
With fifty horses,
With sixty coachmen.
Salme called from the granary:
“Lead the Star’s horse to the stable,
The Star’s sled to the stall-beam,
Give him fresh hay,
Bring him oats,
Cover him with fine linen,
Spread broad cloth over him:
His eyes to sleep in silk,
His hooves to rest in oats.
Sit down, Star, be seated
Before the lovely table,
By the fine white wall,
On the rowan bench,
Before the spiced dishes
Sprinkled with finest pepper.”

Then they brought the Star inside:
“Eat, Star! Drink, Star!
Live, Star, in joy!”

The Star struck his sword,
Clinked his gold ornament,
Rattled his spur-wheels:
“I will not eat, I will not drink!
Stand the keen one on the floor —
Send Salme to the hall!”

Salme called from the granary,
Over the yard from the house:
“Dear bridegroom, dear boy,
You gave me time to grow —
Give me time to adorn myself.
Slowly adorns herself the fatherless,
Slowly adorns herself the motherless,
Slowly girds the orphan.
No mother to adorn me,
No parents to dress me —
Village mothers adorn me,
Old women dress me.
Cold counsel gives the village,
People of an iron heart.”

B.

She went to lead the cattle to the pasture
On a feast-day’s early morning,
On a workday at the hour.
She found a hen on the cattle-path,
A rooster on the golden hill.
The hen wove beautiful silks,
The rooster golden fringe-yarn.
The mother gathered it into her apron,
Tucked it in the fold of her shirt,
Carried it home to her hall,
Set it upon the grain-chest.

It grew one month, grew two,
Grew a third of the third month,
A week into the fourth,
And two days more besides.
The mother went to look in the granary —
It was the maiden Salme.

Now suitors came to Salme:
One was the Moon, the second the Sun,
The third the Star’s boy.

“Not to the Moon shall I go, golden one,
Nor my silver wreath to the Sun.
The Moon has six duties:
Between-times he shows himself,
Between-times still before the twilight,
Then too he rises through the dawn.
The Sun has five faults:
When the mild hay season comes,
He sends down rain;
When the precious oat-sowing comes,
He thunders drought;
When the ripe rye harvest comes,
He sends down torrents.

To the Star I will go,
To the Star I give my hand, my love.
Lead the Star’s horse to the stable,
The Star’s sled to the stall-beam,
Before the lovely wall,
By the fine white wall,
Before the hay, before the oats,
Before the meal’s sweet draught,
Before the soup, full-measured,
Before the foam’s bright beauty!”

The Star sat in the hall,
On the broad seat-bench,
Before the handsome dining-table.
“Eat, Star! Drink, Star!
Drink, Star, as in joy!”

The Star struck his sword,
Clinked his gold ornament:
“Stand the keen one on the floor —
Send Salme to the hall!”

Colophon

Source: Heinrich Neus (ed.), Ehstnische Volkslieder. Urschrift und Übersetzung (Reval: Kluge und Ströhm, 1850), Vol. I, pp. 1–3. Two variants of the Salme song (Songs I.A and I.B).

Translation: Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated independently from the Estonian source text. Neus’s German translation was consulted for reference where OCR artifacts obscured the Estonian original. No prior English translation of these songs is known to exist.

Note: The Salme songs occupy the opening position in Neus’s collection, reflecting their pre-eminent status in Estonian folk tradition. The name Salme (cognate with Finnish salmi, “strait, channel”) connects the maiden to water and passage. The celestial courtship motif is one of the oldest and most widespread elements in Finno-Ugric and Baltic mythology — the maiden who chooses among cosmic suitors appears in Latvian dainas, Finnish Kalevala poetry, and Lithuanian folk songs, always encoding cosmological knowledge in the language of courtship. The Estonian form is distinctive for Salme’s agricultural pragmatism: she rejects the Moon and Sun not for moral failings but for their practical effects on farming.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Salme laulud

Estonian source text from H. Neus, Ehstnische Volkslieder (Reval: Kluge und Ströhm, 1850), Vol. I, pp. 1–3. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. The text is reconstructed from the archive.org OCR (identifier: ehstnischevolks00neusgoog) with correction of obvious scanning artifacts. The original 19th-century Estonian orthography is preserved.

A.

Olli üksi neri naene;
Läksi karja satemaie;
Leidis kanna wainulta,
Wiis se kanna koioje.
Kannalt kaswis innimenne,
Sulla Salme neitsikenne.

Siüs sestullid kolmed kosjad:
Üks olli kuu, teine päwa,
Kolmas tähte poilikenne.

Tulli kuu poilikenne
Wiekümmenel hobbosel,
Kuekümmenel kutsarilla.
Salme hüdis aidastana,
Könneles kiwwi koiasta:
Ei minna kuule lähhä!
Kuul on kolmi ammetida;
Korra touleb koidikul,
Wahhel päwa werangul,
Korra päwa toulangul.

Tulli päwa poilikenne
Wiekümmenel hobbosel,
Kuekümmenel kutsarilla.
Salme hüdis kautselt wasta:
Ei minna päwale lähhä!
Päwal pa jo wide:
Pallawaste peige päwa,
Helledaste heidab ilma;
Kui on helle heina aega,
Siis ta wihmada wihhistab;
Kui on kallis kaera külwi,
Siis ta poudada pörristab,
Kaera külwie kautab,
Odrad pöllule pölletab.
Linnad litis liwakuie,
Herned wao wahhele,
Tästerad toa tahhaje,
Läätsed känas kändaaie.

Tulli tähte poifikenne
Wiekümmenel hobbosel,
Kuekümmenel kutsarilla.
Salme hüdis aidastana:
Talli wige tähhe hobbonne,
Tähhe lauko latterie,
Andke ette heinolida,
Kandke ette kaerolida,
Peitke penie linnoie,
Katke laia kangaalla,
Silmad sidie maggama,
Kabjad kaeraje lebbama.
Isse, tähte, istutage,
Ette se ihhutud lauda,
Tahha se tahhutud seina,
Alla pinki pihlakane,
Ette need road rohhised
Peale pipparad parremad.

Todi siis tähte tubbaje:
“Sö, tähte, jo, tähte,
Ella, tähte, römustaste!”
Tähte möökada terristab,
Kulda elkoda ellistab,
Kannus-karrada kerristab:
“Ei tahha süa, ei tahha jua!
Toge mo omma tubbaje,
Saatke Salme pörmandale!”

Salme hüdis aidastana,
Ülle oue honeesla:
Peiokenne, poilikenne,
Annid aega kaswadesla,
Anna aega ehtidesla.
Kaua ehhib se isata,
Kaua ehhib se emmata,
Kaua waene wöde läksi.
Ei olle eite ehtimasla,
Wannemad walmistamasla,
Külla eided ehhitawad,
Wannad naeled walmistawad.
Külla annab külma nouu,
Rahwas raudese südame.

B.

Eit läks karja satemaie
Pühhapäilla hommikulla,
Arripäilla aegadelle;
Leidis kanna karja teelta,
Kukke kullatud mäelta.
Kanna siblis sidilida,
Kukke kulda narmaaida.
Eite poimis pöllejeni,
Seädis särgi rüppejeni,
Wiis temma koio kamberie,
Seädis salwe sörwa peäle.

Kaswas ku, kaswas kaksi,
Kaswas kortel kolmat kuda,
Weel näddale neljat kuda,
Peäli pari päwa kaksi.
Eit läks aita watamaie —
Sai Salme neitlikenne.

Salmel tullid kossilassed:
Üks olli kuu, teine päwa,
Kolmas tähte poilikenne.

En kulles kuule lää,
Höbbe pärg ei päwaleni.
Kuul on kuli ammetida:
Wahhelt ta warragi touleb,
Wahhelt enne walgeida,
Kohhe touseb koidikulla.
Päwal wisi wilikesta:
Kui on helle heinaaega,
Siis temma wihmada wihhistab;
Kui on kallis kaerakülwi,
Siis temma poudada pörristab;
Kui on ruge rukki leikus,
Siis temma kasteta kahhistab.

Tähhele minnagi lähnen,
Tähhele armas annan kätta.
Wi talli tähhe hobbonne,
Tähhe lauko latterie,
Eitte se ihhutud seina,
Tahha se tahhutud seina.
Ette heinad, ette kaerad,
Ette sulpi su pärralta,
Ette rokka rohkeesta,
Eite wahto walgeesta!

Tähte tuppa istumaie,
Alla pitka istepinki,
Eite laia sömalauda.
“Sö, tähte, jo, tähte,
Jo, tähte, römullana!”
Tähte möökada terristas,
Kulda elkoda ellistas:
“Toge mo omma tubbaje,
Saatke Salme pörmandale!”

Source Colophon

The Estonian source text is reproduced from the OCR of Heinrich Neus (ed.), Ehstnische Volkslieder. Urschrift und Übersetzung (Reval: Kluge und Ströhm, 1850), archive.org identifier ehstnischevolks00neusgoog. Public domain (1850 publication; Google scan confirms copyright expired; also available as NeusEhstnischeVL18502 with CC Public Domain Mark 1.0). Obvious OCR artifacts from the Fraktur-era print have been silently corrected where the intended Estonian was unambiguous; the original 19th-century orthography is otherwise preserved.

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