From Lönnrot's Collection of Ancient Finnish Charm Songs
The Kostosanoja — Retribution Words — are the tietäjä's counter-strike. Where the Evil Eye charms were defensive, these are offensive: the charm-singer seizes another's curse and drives it back through the curser's own body. The tongue that spoke the curse rots. The mouth that breathed the hex grows over with moss. The throat that shaped the words fills with a plug of fire. These are not gentle incantations. They are the teeth of the tietäjä's art.
The second part of this section, the Alkuperäisyyden tiedustus — Investigation of Origin — is the diagnostic heart of Finnish shamanic medicine. Before the tietäjä can cure, he must learn what he faces. He interrogates the illness directly: Are you God's creation or a sorcerer's work? Did you come from the water or the earth? From the wind or the fire? From the graveyard or Manala, the underworld? From the foam of rapids or the stumps of crosses? The six investigation charms map the entire Finnish cosmology of harm — every element, every landscape, every spiritual domain from which sickness might arise. The questioning is forensic, exhaustive, poetic. It is also a kind of exorcism: to name the origin of evil is to begin its banishment.
These incantations were collected by Elias Lönnrot and published in Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People, Helsinki, 1880). This is the fourth file in the charm-singer sequence, following the Foundational Words, Protection Words, and Evil Eye Words. Translated from the Finnish by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
Kostosanoja — Retribution Words
a.
Whoever incites something,
Rocks the golden tongue —
May they receive their own words,
May their own hatred roll back,
May it dawn upon their home,
Fall upon their dwelling,
Fester in their heart,
Be tasted in their liver,
Twist in their lungs,
Leap about their lap,
Take hold of their body,
Seize upon their flesh!
Whoever reports my words —
May it pass through their head,
Descend from their brain,
May the root of their tongue twist,
May their hair grind from their head
As needles, as steel points,
As thorns, as stinging barbs!
Whoever curses with curses,
Speaks words of cursing —
A fiery plug in their throat,
A copper wedge in their mouth,
Hiisi's bane in their teeth,
Lemmo's lock upon their jaws,
May their throat turn to stone,
May their mouth be overgrown with moss!
b.
Whoever may have cursed,
Wagged the cursing tongue,
Flapped the cursing lips,
Chopped with cursing teeth —
May the stones curse them;
Whoever may have blasted,
May the blasts blast them;
Whoever may have scorched,
May the hearthstones scorch them;
Whoever may have broken,
May the quarrels break them;
Whoever may have envied,
May the spite envy them;
Whoever may have breathed harm,
May death breathe upon them,
May their tongue rot,
May their mouth be overgrown with moss!
c.
Whoever harshly tries me —
Push Hiisi's folk into fire,
The masters from the inner corner,
The mistresses from the door-corner,
Face-first into flame, head-first into fire,
Knees into the hot embers;
Turn their eyes upward,
Wrench their necks with plague,
Churn the blood in their shoulders,
Trample the guts within,
Boil the lungs in the belly,
Before my words are received,
Or the mind considers them,
Or the thought guesses them!
Alkuperäisyyden tiedustus — Investigation of Origin
a.
I seek out your old woman,
I remind your mother:
Whence have you, trouble, fallen,
Whence has the evil come
Into the wretch's poor body,
Into the body the mother bore?
I do not know your maker,
Nor do I know your sender —
Are you an illness God created,
A doom ordained by the Lord,
Or are you made by human making,
Another's bringing, another's creation,
Placed here for payment,
Built for the price of coin
To do hired deeds,
To toil at paid work,
To fell what was carried,
To destroy what was made?
If you are an illness God created,
A doom ordained by the Lord,
Then I turn to my Creator,
I give myself to my God —
The Lord does not forsake the good,
The Creator does not lose the fair.
But if you are made by human making,
Trouble squeezed from another's pouch,
Well can I learn your kin,
Find the place of your birth:
From there the troubles came before,
From there the evils happened —
From the roads of sorcerers,
From the meadows of song-men,
From the home-grounds of villains,
From the threshing-floors of wizards,
From the bog-noses of witches,
From the hilltop heads of swindlers,
From the words of hidden sorcerers,
From the twistings of the long-haired,
From the long back of Pohjola,
From the broad land of Lapland,
From the wallowing-places of reindeer,
From the elk's ski-grounds,
From the homesteads of the dead,
From the eternal dwellings of Manala,
From the shifting earths,
From the moving grounds,
From the whirling gravels,
From the ringing sands.
b.
Whence have you, villain, fallen,
Hiisi's illness, taken hold,
To devour, you bloody dog,
Manala's cur, to tear apart,
To break what was baptized,
To fell what was christened?
Are you from the swamp, or from the earth,
Or have you swirled up from the water,
Cast yourself from the bogs,
Splashed out of the springs,
Slipped from the water's film,
Climbed from the water's skin?
Were you made by incantation,
Made by spell, placed by curse,
Or have you come unknowing,
Wandered without aim
From the clan's gossip,
From the kindred's murmurings,
Heated up from village curses,
Taken hold from village words,
From the evil minds of men,
From the threatenings of heroes,
From the thoughts of old women,
From the words of cunning women?
c.
I do not know that one,
Nor can I guess
Whence you, Hiisi, have wheezed in,
Devil, taken up quarters
In the innocent heart,
In the blameless belly:
Are you from the waters of sorcerers,
From the lilies of sealed ponds,
From the dens of water-dogs,
From the water-Hiisi's hinges,
From the black depths of the sea,
A thousand fathoms deep?
Or are you from Kalma's heath,
From the earth within the mainland,
From the womb of a dead man,
From the skin of the eternal dead,
From the armpit of the grave-dweller,
From under the liver of Manala's folk,
Broken from the stumps of crosses,
Looked out from women's graves,
From beside the painted church,
From the edge of the holy field,
From the great battle-cairns,
From the killing-grounds of men?
d. The Great Cosmological Investigation
Whence did you, evil, place yourself,
Whence, demon, did you cut yourself in,
Whence, wretch, did you tear yourself,
Hiisi's castaway, did you hurl yourself?
Who is it that created you,
Who fashioned you, miserable one,
To devour, to gnaw,
To bite, to blast?
Have you, gentle one, come from water,
Flowed from the foam of waters,
From the hissing streams,
From the roaring rapids,
From the rapids' hard foam,
From the burning whirlpools,
From the great backs of the sea,
From the cap-topped waves,
Or from the gentle waters,
From the running streams,
From the shaking bogs,
From the splashing springs?
Or have you, rough one, come from earth,
Troll, risen from the field,
From the naked clearings,
From the unplowed lands,
From the muddy hollows,
From the mossless swamps,
From the skirts of Mudcastle,
From the shoulders of Water-ridge,
From the forest-Hiisi's hinge,
From the creaking of five mountains,
From the top of the copper fell,
From the copper hilltop,
From the bear's rock-hollow,
From the bear's boulder-chamber,
From the tracks of the running wolf,
From the steps of the low-snouted,
From the fox's crying-places,
From the hare's hiding-grounds,
Cast from the colt's foam,
Gathered from the dog's lather?
Or come from the fire-place,
Gathered from the embers,
Come from the hot stones,
From the sauna amidst the smoke?
Or are you the wind's nursling,
The cold wind's trembling-child,
On the level sky,
Beyond the thunder-clouds,
Come here by the wind's roads,
By the cold wind's driving-paths,
From the wind's rocking-places,
From the cold wind's drivings?
e.
Whence came this trouble,
Whence did this evil happen?
Is the illness brought by the wind,
Brought by wind, drawn by water,
Fetched by the hat-sail,
Pushed by the sea's surge?
Or from the mainland earth,
From within the blue forest,
From the house of the golden hillock,
From the spruce-chest's pantry,
From the rustling grasses,
From the murmuring spruces,
From the sighing pines,
From the rot-topped pine-stumps,
From the crown of the rotten pine,
Or from that stake
Where the raven has perched,
Where the black bird has crouched?
f.
Whence have you, doom, come here,
Slipped in, excessive illness,
Into the pine-wood nest,
Into the pine-log house?
From the winds of the sky,
Or from the deep navels of the water,
Come as wind into the house,
Entered as smoke within?
From fire, or from tar,
Or from molten iron,
Or from old places,
Or from raspberry-bush ruins?
From yards, or from fields,
From stones, or from stumps?
Or have you hatched from spruce-needles,
Pressed from willow-shoots,
Come from the graveyard-heaths,
From within the churchyard's ground,
Come from church-circuits,
From holy-place whirlings,
Where enchantment works its charm,
Where worship is laid in worship's mind?
Colophon
Kostosanoja (Retribution Words) and Alkuperäisyyden tiedustus (Investigation of Origin), nine 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, lines 2395–2833. This is the fourth file in the charm-singer sequence, following the Foundational Words (Loitsian perustussanoja), Protection Words (Varomussanoja), and Evil Eye Words (Kateen sanoja) previously archived.
The Retribution Words are the tietäjä's offensive counter-magic — returning curses, hexes, and malice to the body of the sender. The Investigation of Origin charms are the diagnostic core of Finnish shamanic medicine, in which the charm-singer interrogates the illness about its source before beginning treatment. Together they map the full Finnish cosmology of harm: water, earth, wind, fire, the dead, Manala, sorcerers, village gossip, and the elements themselves.
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
Kostosanoja
a.
Ken mitä kehottelevi,
Kielen kullan keikuttavi,
Saakohot omat sanansa,
Vierköliöt omat vihansa,
Kotihinsa koitukohon,
Majahansa maatukohon,
Syämessänsä syöpyköhön,
Maksoissansa maistukohon,
Keuhkoissansa kiertyköhön,
Helmoissa hypitelköhön,
Ruvetkohon ruumiihisen,
Käyköhön käpylihoihin!
Ken sanani kertonevi,
Läpi päästä lähteköhön,
Aivoista alentukohon,
Kielen kanta kiertyköhön,
Hiukset päästä hiertyköhön,
Neuloina teräsneninä,
Äiminä äräsperinä!
Ken kiroin kiroelevi,
Sanovi kirosanoja,
Kulkkuhun tulinen tulppa,
Vaaja vaskinen kitahan,
Hiien haitta hampahisin,
Lemmon lukko leukoihinsa,
Kaelensä kivettyköhön,
Suunsa sammaloitukohon!
b.
Kuka lienevi kironnut,
Kiron kielin kuikuttanut,
Kiron huulin humpsuttanut,
Kiron hampahin hakannut,
Sen kivet kiroelkohot;
Ken lienevi louhtanunna,
Sitä louhet louhtakohot;
Ken lienevi paahtanunna,
Sitä paaet paahtakohot;
Ken lienevi rikkonunna,
Sitä riiet rikkokohot;
Ken lienevi kaehtinunna,
Sitä kahna kaehtikohon;
Ken lienevi suuellunna,
Sitä surma suuelkohon,
Kielensä märäntyköhön,
Suunsa sammaloitukohon!
c.
Ken mua kovin kokevi,
Tunge, Hiitola, tulehen,
Isännät perisopesta,
Emännät ovisopesta,
Suin sytehen, päin tulehen,
Polvin kuumihin poroihin;
Silmät käännä kellellehen,
Niskat ruttohon rutaise,
Vello verta hartioissa,
Sotke suolia sisässä,
Keitä keuhkoja mahassa,
Ennenkun sanani saapi,
Tahi mieli miettinevi,
Ajatus on arvannevi!
Alkuperäisyyden tiedustus
a.
Etsittelen eukkoasi,
Muistuttelen muoriasi,
Mist' oot, pulma, puuttununna,
Taikea tapahtununna,
Iho'on imento raukan,
Emon tuoman ruumihisen.
En tunne tekiätäsi,
Enkä tieä saajoasi,
Ootko tauti Luojan luoma,
Surma säätämä Jumalan,
Vain olet teko tekemä,
Toisen tuoma, toisen luoma,
Pantu tänne palkan eestä,
Rahan änskällä rakettu,
Tekemähän tinkatöitä,
Rahatöitä raatamahan,
Kannettua kaatamahan,
Tehtyä teloamahan?
Lienet tauti Luojan luoma,
Surma säätämä Jumalan,
Niin mä luome Luojahani,
Heitäime Jumalahani;
Ei Herra hyveä heitä,
Luoja kaunista kaota.
Kun lienet teko tekemä,
Pulma toisen pungastama,
Kyllä saan sukusi tietä,
Löyän synnyntäsijasi:
Tuolta ennen pulmat puuttui,
Tuolta taikeat tapahtui,
Tietomiesten tienohilta,
Laulumiesten laitumilta,
Konnien kotisijoilta,
Taikurien tanterilta,
Noitien noronenistä,
Mäkipäistä möyrymiesten,
Salanaarojen sanoista,
Pitkähiusten pintehistä,
Pohjan pitkästä perästä,
Lapin maasta laakeasta,
Peuran piehtaro-sijoista,
Hirven hiihtokankahilta,
Kalmalaisten kartanosta,
Manalan ikimajoilta,
Mullista muhajavista,
Maista liikuteltavista,
Somerilta pyöriviltä,
Hiekoilta heliseviltä.
b.
Mist' oot, herja, heittäynnä,
Hiien tauti, tarttununna,
Syömähän, verinen koira,
Manan rakki, raastamahan,
Eistittyä rikkomahan,
Kastettua kaatamahan?
Ootko suosta, vai oot maasta,
Vain oot veestä vellottunut,
Hettehistä heittäynyt,
Lähtehistä läikähtynyt,
Ve'en liitasta lipunut,
Veen kalvosta kapunut?
Onko sua luoten luotu,
Luoten luotu, pannen pantu,
Ootko tullut tunnotonna,
Tavoitonna tammoellut,
Sukukunnan suuteloista,
Lajikunnan lausunnoista,
Kiihtynyt kylän kiroista,
Tarttunut kylän sanoista,
Miesten mielistä pahoista,
Urohien uhkannoista,
Akkojen ajatuksista,
Naisten naarojen sanoista.
c.
En nyt tuota tunnekkana,
Enkä arvata alya,
Mist' oot, Hiisi, hingannunna,
Perkele, perehtynynnä,
Syämehen syyttömähän,
Vatsahan viattomahan:
Ootko velhojen vesistä,
Umpilammiin lumpehista,
Lommekoirien ko'ista,
Vesihiien hinkalosta,
Meren mustista mu'ista,
Tuhannen sylen syvästä.
Vai oot Kalman kankahalta,
Maasta manteren sisästä,
Miehen kuolleen kohusta,
Ikimemiehen ihosta,
Kalmalaisen kainalosta,
Manalaisen maksan alta,
Ristin kannoista rikottu,
Naisten kalmoista katsottu,
Kirkon kirjatun sivulta,
Pyhän pellon pientarelta,
Suurilta sotakeoilta,
Miesten tappotanterilta.
d.
Mistä sie, paha, panihet,
Kusta, lempo, leikkasihet,
Mistä, rietta, riivasihet,
Hiien heitto, herjasihet.
Ken se on sinua luonut,
Kuka kurjoa kyhännyt,
Syömähän, kaluamahan,
Puremahan, louhtamahan?
Ootko, vieno, veestä vienyt,
Ve'en vaahesta valunut,
Virroista vihisevistä,
Koskista kohisevista,
Kosken kuohuista kovista,
Palavista pyörtehistä,
Suurilta meren seliltä,
Lakkipäistä lainehista,
Vaiko vienoista vesistä,
Jokiloista juoksevista,
Hereistä hettehistä,
Läikkyvistä lähtehistä?
Vai oot, turkka, maasta tullut,
Peiko, pellosta ylennyt,
Ahoilta alastomilta,
Mailta kyntämättömiltä,
Notkoilta noroperiltä,
Soilta sammalettomilta,
Mutalinnan liepehiltä,
Vesiharjun hartehilta,
Metsähiien hinkalosta,
Viien vuoren vinkalosta,
Vaaran vaskisen laelta,
Kuparisen kukkulalta,
Kontion kivikolosta,
Karhun louhikammiosta,
Hukan juoksevan jäliltä,
Alakärsän askelilta,
Revon rääyntä-sijoilta,
Jäniksen jävintä-mailta,
Varsan vaahesta valettu,
Koiran kuohusta kokoiltu?
Vai tullut tulisijoista,
Kerätty kekälehistä,
Tullut kuumista kivistä,
Saunasta savun seasta?
Vai oot tuulen tuuvittama,
Ahavaisen vaapottama,
Tasaisella taivahalla,
Pontapilvien perillä,
Tullut tänne tuulen teitä,
Ahavan ajelumaita,
Tuulen tuutimasijoilta,
Ahavan ajelemilta?
e.
Mistä puuttui pulmahinen,
Kusta taikea tapahtui.
Onko tauti tuulen tuoma,
Tuulen tuoma, veen vetämä,
Hattupurjehen hakema,
Meren tyrskyn työnnyttämä,
Vai on maasta manteresta,
Sisästä salon sinisen,
Kummun kultaisen koista,
Havulaarin lappiosta,
Ruohoista rohisevista,
Kuusista kohisevista,
Hongista hohisevista,
Mätäpäistä mäntylöistä,
Latvasta lahon petäjän,
Vaiko siitä seipähästä,
Joss' on korppi koikkununna,
Lintu musta muikkununna?
f.
Mist' oot, turma, tänne tullut,
Livahtanut, liika tauti,
Petäjäisihin pesihin,
Huonehisin honkaisihin?
Tuuliltako taivahilta,
Vai syviltä veen navoilta,
Tullut tuulena tupahan,
Savuna sisähän saanut?
Tulestako, tervastako,
Vaiko rauasta sulasta,
Vaiko vanhoista sijoista,
Vaiko vatturaunioista?
Pihoistako, pelloistako,
Kivistäkö, kannoistako,
Vai oot hautunut havuista,
Painunut pajun vesoista,
Tullut kalmiskankahista,
Kuuen kirkkomaan sisästä,
Saanut kirkkokierroksista,
Pyhäpaikka-pyörröksistä,
Jossa lyyli loittanevi,
Mieli palvoin pantanevi?
Source Colophon
Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot, Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880, pp. 11–15 (lines 2395–2833 in the archive.org OCR text). Digitized by Google Books; OCR text from Project Gutenberg / Internet Archive (identifier: suomenkansanmui00lngoog). Minor OCR artifacts silently corrected; variant readings (Toisin) omitted. Public domain.
🌲