Hornet

The Hornet is Hisi’s evil bird and an agent of sabotage in Ilmarinen’s attempt to make steel from iron. While Ilmarinen seeks the Bee’s help in preparing the materials, the Hornet overhears him, gathers harmful substances, and mixes them into the ore and water as the steel is tempered. The passage establishes the Hornet’s decisive role in turning a cooperative act of craft into a compromised process, though the evidence here does not state the eventual result for the steel.

Identity and Setting

The narrative identifies the Hornet as Hisi’s bird and explicitly characterizes it as evil. It appears at the cottage while the iron bars are heating and the steel is being tempered. Its entrance is not presented as part of Ilmarinen’s work: the Hornet observes from the cottage gable, then acts against the process underway.

The Bee and Ilmarinen’s Request

A Bee has flown in from the meadow, coming from the flowers and settling safely. Ilmarinen addresses the small bird and asks it to bring honey on its wings and tongue so that the water may help produce steel from iron. The Hornet hears these words. The contrast is concrete: the Bee is invited to contribute a useful ingredient, while the Hornet secretly introduces harmful ones into the same work.

The Hornet’s Intervention

The Hornet flies swiftly and gathers what the passage calls Hisi’s horrors: a serpent’s blessing, adder venom, spider poison, and the stings of insects. It mixes these substances with the ore and water while the steel is being tempered. This sequence makes its interference purposeful in effect: instead of aiding the transformation of iron, it contaminates the materials at the critical stage of the smithing process. The passage ends before describing what the adulterated mixture produces, so the Hornet’s act is clear even though its full consequence is not given here.

Narrative Role

The Hornet functions as the hostile counterpart to the Bee in the episode’s making of steel. Both enter the scene in relation to Ilmarinen’s request, but their contributions move in opposite directions: the Bee is asked to bring honey, whereas the Hornet supplies poison and stings without being invited. By having the Hornet overhear the request and act during the tempering, the narrative places the threat inside the work itself rather than outside the smith’s cottage. Its role is therefore defined by covert interference with a craft process, not by any stated conflict or exchange with Ilmarinen.