From Lönnrot's Collection of Ancient Finnish Charm Songs
The Kateen sanoja — Evil Eye Words — are the tietäjä's counter-magic against envy. In Finnish folk belief, the envious gaze (kateus, from kate, "envy") was not merely a social irritant but a genuine spiritual assault. The evil eye could curdle milk, sicken children, wither crops, and bring ruin to a household. These incantations were the charm-singer's defensive arsenal.
The six charms in this section form a graduated response. Some invoke divine protection — Väinämöinen and Jesus appearing side by side in the same breath, as they often do in Finnish folk religion. Others are purely retaliatory: the envier's own eyes bleed, their mouth is mossed shut, Hiisi's bloody blanket is bound over their face, and their own curses are sent spiraling back through their body from mouth to heel. The fiery knife of charm (c) — forged in a fiery forge by a fiery smith — is one of the most vivid images in Finnish charm poetry.
These incantations were collected by Elias Lönnrot and published in Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People, Helsinki, 1880), the most comprehensive pre-SKVR collection of Finnish shamanic verse. Translated from the Finnish by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
a.
I do not guard against envy,
I do not beware the spiteful
In these laborious works,
In these harsh affairs —
Let the mistress of the household guard,
Let Väinämöinen protect!
If one should look with envy,
Perceive with crooked eyes,
Cast with wrathful eyelids,
Rage with spite —
Let the eyes pour blood,
Let the skull crack and flash,
There into hell's fire,
Into the evil power's flame!
Let water-bristles grow
Inside those envious eyes,
Thick as an axe-handle,
Long as a bowstring —
Let those too pour blood
Along and across the cheeks!
Whoever does not look with envy,
May Jesus bless that one
To be with honeyed eyes,
To walk with honeyed mind!
b.
Whoever looks with envy,
Twists with crooked eyes,
Or chatters with the mouth,
Afflicts with words —
Hiisi's dung upon their eyes,
Hiisi's scab upon their face,
A fiery plug in their mouth,
Lemmon's lock upon their jaws!
Let their mouth be mossed over,
Let the root of the tongue break,
Let one eye run like syrup,
The other leak like butter —
There into the fierce fire,
Into Hiisi's coal-pit,
Let the head dry to stone,
Let a film grow over all!
c.
Whoever looks with envy,
Perceives with worthless tongue,
Thinks with harsh thoughts,
Utters a bitter word —
Scab upon the envier's eye,
Soot in the sorcerer's nostril!
Let the Devil close the mouth,
And bolt shut the words,
The jaws from moving too much,
The teeth from parting!
If that does not suffice,
I have a fiery knife
Inside a fiery sheath,
Made by a fiery smith
In a fiery forge —
With it I crush the envious mouths,
I destroy my enviers.
d.
Whoever looks upon this,
Peers from the side —
Let them look with honeyed eyes,
Let them gaze with syrup-eyelids!
But if the envious look,
If the crooked-eyes perceive —
Let thorns tear their eyes,
Let branches take their eyes,
Let a dry spruce grow,
Let a rough iron branch bush forth,
Rough branch, bristled crown,
Gazing toward the front of the house,
Where their eye is bound,
Where their sight is bitten,
So they cannot escape unaided,
Cannot get clear without help,
In this bright lifetime,
Under the golden-bright moon!
e.
If the envious look,
If the crooked-eyes squint,
Grin through the windows,
Peek about the yards,
Listen in the lanes,
Reckon along the fence-edges —
Hiitola's bloody blanket,
Hiisi's bloodied coverlet,
Carried by five men,
Be bound upon their eyes,
Be pressed upon their ears!
Hiisi's hat upon the shoulders
Of those who sit in windows,
Of those who stand at the bridge's end,
Of those who eavesdrop at the lane's end,
Of those who lurk in between —
So the eyes cannot see,
So the ears cannot hear!
f.
Whoever looks with envy,
Watches with false intent,
Or perceives with tongue,
Afflicts with words —
Their own words to their mouth,
Their own curses to their head,
Their thoughts under their belt,
Their spells to their womb,
Their sinking-spells to their belly,
Their rotting-spells to their liver,
Their concealing-spells to their spleen,
Their twisting-spells to their lungs,
Their curdling-spells to their heart,
To their right shoulder,
To their left heel!
Colophon
Kateen sanoja (Evil Eye Words), six incantations from Elias Lönnrot's Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), published by the Finnish Literary Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura), Helsinki, 1880. This is the third file in the charm-singer sequence, following the Foundational Words (Loitsian perustussanoja) and Protection Words (Varomussanoja) previously archived.
These counter-charms represent the tietäjä's graduated arsenal against the evil eye — from divine invocation (Väinämöinen, Jesus) through direct retaliation (fiery knife, Hiisi's blanket) to the most elegant defense: returning every curse to its sender's own body. The syncretism of pre-Christian and Christian elements in charm (a) — where Väinämöinen and Jesus protect in the same breath — is characteristic of Finnish folk religion as it survived into the 19th century.
Lönnrot's collection includes variant readings (marked Toisin) from different manuscript sources and regional traditions. These scholarly variants have been omitted from this translation for clarity; the base text of each charm has been translated in full.
Translated from the Finnish for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. This is, to the translators' knowledge, the first complete English translation of these incantations.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲
Source Text
a.
En tieä kaetta kaita,
En varata yastoksia,
Näissä töissä työlähissä,
Asioissa ankaroissa;
Kaitsekolion käin emäntä,
Varatkohon Väinämöinen!
Een katehin katsonevi,
Silmin kieroin keksinevi,
Luonevi vihaisin luomin,
Yastoksin yarostanevi.
Silmät verta vuotakohon,
Bäämettä räpäjäköhön,
Tuonne helvetin tulehen,
Pahan vallan valkeahan;
Yesikarvat kasvakohot
Sille silmien sisähän.
Kirvesvarren vahvuiset,
Jousijäntehen pituiset.
Nekin verta vuotakohot
Pitkin, poikin poskiloita!
Ken ei katsone katehin,
Senpä Jesus siunatkohon
Simasilmin ollaksensa.
Mesimielin käyäksensä!
b.
Ken katehin katsonevi,
Silmin väärin väännellevi.
TaJii suulla suuellevi,
Sanoilla sa'atellevi,
Hiien sitta silmillensä,
Hiien karsta kasvoillensa.
Suuhunsa tulinen tulppa,
Lemmon lukko leuvoillensa;
Suunsa sammaloitukohon,
Kielen kanta katketkohon.
Silmä juoskohon simana.
Toinen voina vuotakohon,
Tuonne tuimahan tulehen,
Hiien hiilihinkalohon,
Pää kiveksi kuivakohon,
Kalvo päälle kasvakohon!
c.
Ken katehin katsonevi.
Kielin kehnoin keksinevi,
Ankehin ajatellevi.
Sanan harkan haastanevi.
Karsta silmähän katehen,
Noki noian sieramehen;
Hitto suuta sulkekohon,
Ja sanoja salvatkohon,
Leuvat liioin liikkumasta,
Hampahat hajoamasta!
Jos ei sitte siitä huoli.
On mulla tulinen veitsi
Tulisen tupen sisässä,
Tulisen sepän tekemä
Tulisessa ahjosessa.
Jolla sorran suuteliat.
Kaotan kaehtiani.
d.
Ken se päälle katsonevi,
Viereltä tähystänevi,
Katsokoon metisin silmin,
Simaluomin luinailkohon!
Jospa katsovat katehet,
Kierosilmät keksinevät,
Bisu silmät riipiköhön,
Oksa silmät ottakohon;
Kuiva kuusi kasvakohon,
Bautaoksa pensiköhön,
Bautaoksa, karkkulatva,
Katellen koan etelien,
Johon silmänsä sitovi,
Näkimensä näykkäjävi,
Jott' ei pääse päästämättä,
Selviä selittämättä,
Sinä ilmoisna ikänä.
Kuuna kullan valkeana!
e.
Jospa katsovat katehet.
Kierosilmät siiristävät,
Ikkunoista irvistävät.
Pilkistelevät pihoilla,
Kujosilla kuuntelevat.
Aitovierin arvelevat,
Hiitolan verinen vaippa,
Hiien hursti hurmehinen,
Viien miehen kannettava,
Silmille siottakohon,
Korville kohettakohon,
Hiien hattu hartioille,
Ikkunoissa istujille,
Sillan päässä seisojille,
Kujan päässä kuurtajille.
Välillä väjystäjaie.
Silmin siintämättömäksi.
Korvin kuulemattomaksi!
f.
Ken katekin katsonevi,
Valehin valvattanevi,
Tahi kielin keksinevi,
Sa'atellevi sanoilla.
Suuhunsa omat sanansa,
Päähänsä omat panonsa,
Ajatukset alle vyönsä,
Koitukahat kohtuhunsa,
Vatsahansa vaipukahat,
Maatukahat maksoihinsa,
Pernoihinsa peittykähät,
Kiertykähät keuhkoihinsa,
Syämehen sykertykähät,
Olkahansa oikeahan,
Vasemehen kantapäähän!
Source Colophon
Kateen sanoja (a–f), in: Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia, 62 osa), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880, pp. 10–11 (lines 2165–2395 of the digitized text). Digitized by Google Books; retrieved from Internet Archive (identifier: suomenkansanmui00lngoog). Public domain.
OCR artifacts preserved as found in the digitized text. Notable OCR patterns: B for P/R (e.g., Bautaoksa for Rautaoksa), Y for V/J at word-initial position. Variant readings (marked Toisin in the original) are omitted from this presentation; the base text of each charm is reproduced in full.
🌲