Release date is 2026-04-28

Tapio Riikonen

Kodin kukka ja uhrikuusi by Eino Leino is a narrative poem (poetic tale) written in the early 20th century. Set in the forests and lakes of Kainuu, it weaves nature mysticism with village life to tell of a maiden torn between human love and a supernatural calling. The likely topic is the conflict between earthly devotion and a fatal, sacred attraction to the forest’s frost spirit embodied in a sacrificial spruce.

The poem follows a village’s “house flower,” a pure and lively girl, and the neighboring boy who grows up with her and loves her. Moonlit rows, summer bonfires, and tar-kiln nights frame her deepening pull toward the Hallan haltia, the frost spirit who calls from the uhrikuusi on Vuokatti. Despite her mother’s warnings and the suitor’s heartfelt vision of a shared farm life, the maiden answers the spirit’s summons. After a ruinous frost night, she climbs Vuokatti, sings farewell to parents and suitor, and meets the spirit at the sacrificial spruce. In their embrace her life is drained; she sinks into the lake as a water lily, while the spirit is renewed and the land grows fertile. The people prosper, the spirit still yearns for the lily on moonlit nights, and the human narrator remains behind with sorrow—and song. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Ahjo, 1920