helen99: A windswept tree against a starlit sky (Default)
helen99 ([personal profile] helen99) wrote2003-11-14 05:16 pm

Finnish poetry

Of course, the Finns have something to say about this:

"In the yard there grows a Rowan.
Thou with reverent care
Should'st tend it.
Holy is the tree there growing.
Holy likewise are it's branches.
On it's boughs the leaves are holy.
And it's berries yet more holy."

From The Kalevala, a compilation of Finnish
oral poems dating back to the first century A.D.

PS: No matter how holy they might be, don't eat any part of this tree, especially not the berries. I repeat, don't eat the berries...

[identity profile] yldann.livejournal.com 2003-11-24 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, as long as you remove the seeds, the berries are ok. However, the berries are a bit small, and sitting there removing the seeds to make rowanberry jelly might be a bit of a task. Even if I did it, my inclination would be to give the jelly as an offering to the land...