The competition between Wainamoinen and Ilmarinen turns a courtship in Northland into a test of precedence, reputation, and the maiden’s freedom to choose. Ilmarinen has been wooing the Maiden of the Rainbow for three years when Wainamoinen sails north to seek her too. Ilmarinen’s pursuit of his rival ends not in violence but in an agreement to let the maiden decide; her rejection of a sea-born hero then makes clear that Wainamoinen’s gifts and arrival cannot command her consent.

The Rival Courtship

The episode begins with Wainamoinen bound for the dismal Sariola, another name used here for the Northland to which Ilmarinen has been wooing. Wainamoinen is described as the cleverer suitor who sails ahead to court the bride Ilmarinen has sought for three long years. The contrast is pointed: Ilmarinen’s courtship has endured, but Wainamoinen’s arrival unsettles its apparent claim. The maiden is not simply a distant prize at the end of a journey; her decision has become the stake between two established heroes.

Wainamoinen’s approach is marked by the vessel itself. He sails on the waters, seated at a copper helm, carrying costly presents and priceless gems from Kalevala. His voyage therefore combines movement toward the Northland with a display of wealth and standing. Yet the narrative does not treat the gifts as a guarantee of success. The question of who may marry the maiden will be answered by her choice, not settled by which suitor arrives first or bears the richest offerings.

Ilmarinen Gives Chase

When Ilmarinen hears the story of Wainamoinen’s voyage, he stands motionless, and silent grief settles over him. The stillness makes the news register as a personal blow: the blacksmith who has spent years courting the maiden now learns that a rival is sailing to claim her attention. His response is not to abandon the courtship. He travels north for a day, then another, and continues through the following day until he catches Wainamoinen on the third.

Ilmarinen intercepts Wainamoinen by bringing his own magic vessel alongside the other boat. This meeting converts a rivalry that had unfolded across distance into a direct negotiation. Ilmarinen proposes that the maiden be allowed to wed the man she chooses and follow the one she selects. Wainamoinen agrees, and the two resolve to court her in peace. Their pact changes the terms of the contest: neither man will settle the matter by force or by claiming that prior pursuit entitles him to her.

The Maiden’s Judgment

The Maiden of the Rainbow’s responses distinguish her judgment from the suitors’ competition. She speaks after the presentation of costly gifts and gems from Kalevala, but the scene does not show those offerings deciding her. Her mother’s advice also enters the exchange. The hostess of Pohyola rebukes her daughter for choosing the ancient blacksmith, invoking Ilmarinen’s identity as the maker of the wondrous Sampo and the craftsman who hammered its colored lid. The Sampo thus functions as more than a valuable object in the episode: its making is the evidence of Ilmarinen’s exceptional skill and a reason his name carries weight in the marriage discussion.

Wainamoinen lands before Ilmarinen and draws out his gaily covered vessel, placing his arrival and display against the blacksmith’s pursuit. But when the maiden answers her suitor, she refuses the sea-born hero. Her words make Wainamoinen’s maritime identity a limit rather than an advantage: the gifts, vessel, and journey that announce his courtship cannot override her preference. The contrast with her mother’s appeal to Ilmarinen’s work makes the direction of the choice legible, even as the episode’s emphasis falls on the maiden’s right to decide.

Significance of the Contest

The event gives the courtship a clear ethical structure. Wainamoinen and Ilmarinen may compete, but the agreement between them places the decision with the person whose marriage is at issue. Their peaceable resolution matters because the scene has already made the stakes emotionally sharp: Ilmarinen’s grief follows the news of his rival’s approach, and his three-day pursuit brings the two suitors face to face. The answer is not to erase that rivalry but to set a boundary around it.

The episode also contrasts different grounds for a suitor’s claim. Wainamoinen arrives by sea with precious gifts; Ilmarinen is associated with a three-year courtship and the extraordinary craft that produced the Sampo. Neither history nor display is presented as ownership of the maiden. Her refusal of Wainamoinen supplies the decisive turn, while her mother’s rebuke shows that even familial counsel may conflict with the choice she makes. The contest therefore ends its immediate question not with a victory won by speed or force, but with the maiden’s judgment exerting the final authority.