"Mielikki and Her Nine Sons" is a Finnish fairy tale published in the compilation Tales from a Finnish Tupa. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and is classified in the international Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index as ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", in a version of the story that occurs in Northern Europe and Northwest Russia, namely, in Finland, Estonia, and among Finno-Ugric languages spoken in Russia.
Despite the same classification as a form more commonly found across Europe, the tale and variants collected in the Finno-Ugric languages more closely resemble the East Slavic redaction, akin to The Tale of Tsar Saltan, by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
Summary Three maidens go for a walk in the woods and talk to each other: the first promises to make bread for the whole army with three barley seeds, the second that she can weave clothes for the army with three stalks of flax, and the third, named Mielikki, that she will bear nine sons. A king named Aslo overhears their boasts and chooses Mielikki as his wife. The bards celebrate the occasion with a song that describes the royal children as having hands of gold, feet of silver, a "shining dawn" on their shoulders, a moonbeam on their chests, and "stars of heaven" on their foreheads. The king's servants procure a midwife for the queen and find an old woman named Noita-Akka.
Each time the queen bears three sons that are replaced by three crows by Noita-Akka and hidden near a white stone in the woods. The third time, however, Mielikki protects two sons from the midwife's machinations, but she and her two children are cast in the sea in a barrel. Mother and children, named Martii and Olavi, wash ashore on an island. A sturgeon appears and asks to be cut open, so it can help the siblings. The elder brother refuses, while the younger one does: inside the fish, they find a blue cloth and a white handkerchief: the blue cloth can manifest a palace for them, and, when waved over the shore, a bridge will appear to connect with the mainland. It happens thus, and the family live out their days there, but they pocket the white handkerchief, for a later occasion. One day, a beggar visits Mielikki's island, eats and drinks at the boys' palace, then goes to King Aslo's court to describe the sights he saw there, especially the boys' astral birthmarks and metal-coated legs and arms.
Based on the beggar's description, which reminds him of his wife's promise, King Aslo asks the beggar to be taken there to this island. He goes to Mielikki's island and finds his wife and two of his children there. The King then takes them back to the castle. After the joyous reunion, the two remaining brothers decide to look for their missing siblings. Queen Mielikki, realizing her sons are set on a quest to rescue their brothers, prepares some rieska with her breastmilk to be given to her missing sons. They find an old woman's house, and the old woman tells them their seven brothers become gulls by wearing feather robes, so, in order to lift their curse, the pair must burn the brothers' feather robes.
Analysis Tale type The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children". It corresponds, in Finland, to the Finnish type AT 707, Kolme kultaista poikaa ("Three Golden Boys"). According to the Finnish Folktale Catalogue, established by scholar Pirkko-Liisa Rausmaa, the third sister promises to bear either nine or three golden sons, the witch Syöjätär replaces the sons for crows, and the mother and the only son(s) she rescued are thrown in the sea in a barrel.
The Finnish tale type more closely resembles the East Slavic variants of the tale type, wherein the wonderful children are born with "legs of gold up the knee, arms of silver up to the elbow", mother and son(s) are cast in a barrel, and build a palace for themselves.
Motifs In a late 19th century article, Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne noted that Finnish variants "always" ("всегда", in the original) begin with the three sisters, and the youngest promising to bear children with marvelous qualities: golden hands and silver feet, or with astral birthmarks (moon on the forehead and sun on the crown). The number of promised children may vary between 3, 9, and 12, and, according to Aarne, nine is the number that appears in variants from Eastern Finland. Lastly, in all variants ("всехъ вариантахъ", in the original), the queen and one of her sons are cast in the sea in a barrel and wash ashore on an island.
French comparativist Emmanuel Cosquin, in a 1922 article, noted that in a Finnish tale from Russian Karelia, the remaining two sons, cast in the sea along with their mother, prepare small loaves of bread with their mother's milk and go to rescue their elder brothers, a motif that appears in two similar Belarusian tales. Cosquin then concluded that the use of mother's milk served to confirm the brotherly relationship between the hero and his brothers.
Variants Finland In a late 19th century article, Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne noted that the story was found "all over" Finland, but it was "especially common" in the eastern part of the country, namely, in Arkhangelsk and Olonets.Аарне А. "Несколько параллелей финских сказок с русскими и прочими славянскими". In: "". Vol. 8, 1898, Tome 1. pp. 108-109. Likewise, according to Finnish scholar Pirkko-Liisa Rausmaa (1972), the Finnish variants amount to 100 texts (in a later publication, 106 texts), being "more common" in the eastern portion of Finland.Rausmaa, Pirkko-Liisa. Suomalaiset kansansadut: Ihmesadut. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1988. p. 501.
Regional tales Finnish author collected three Finnish variants he grouped under the banner Naisen yhdeksän poikaa ("The Woman's Nine Children").Salmelainen, Eero. Suomen kansan satuja ja tarinoita. Helsingissä: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. 1871. pp. 87–108. In one of his tales, titled Tynnyrissä kaswanut Poika ("The boy who grew in a barrel"), summarized by W. Henry Jones and Lajos Kropf, the king overhears three daughters of a peasant woman boasting about their abilities, the third sister promising to bear three sets of triplets with the moon on their temples, the sun on the top of their heads, hands of gold, and feet of silver. She marries the king, and her envious older sisters substitute the boys for animals. She manages to save her youngest child, but both are cast into the sea in a barrel. They reach an island; her son grows up at a fast rate and asks his mother to prepare nine cakes with her milk, so he can use them to rescue his brothers.Jones, W. Henry; Kropf, Lajos. The Folk-Tales of the Magyars. London: Published for the Folk-lore society by Elliot Stock. 1889. p. 337 (Notes on Folk-tale nr. 11).
In another tale, titled Saaressa eläjät and translated into German as Die auf der Insel Lebenden ("Living on an island"), the third sister promises to bear three sons in each pregnancy and marries the king. The king sends for a midwife and a mysterious woman offers her services - the witch Syöjätär. The witch replaces the children with animals, but by the third time, the mother hides her latest son. The mother is cast in the sea in a barrel and washes ashore on an island. She and her son pray to God for a house, and He grants their prayer. The king marries another wife, the daughter of Syojatar, who tells him about wondrous things in a faraway place: three pigs, six stallions, and eight golden boys on a large stone. The son decides to find the eight boys and asks his mother to prepare cakes with her breastmilk. He brings his eight brothers back to their mother. The king decides to visit the island, meets his wife and nine sons, and discovers the truth.Erman, George Adolf, ed. (1854). "Die auf der Insel Lebenden" [The Island People]. In: Archiv für Wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland 13, pp. 580–586. (In German)Jones, W. Henry; Kropf, Lajos. The Folk-Tales of the Magyars. London: Published for the Folk-lore society by Elliot Stock. 1889. p. 385 (Notes on tale nr. 25).
August Löwis de Menar translated a Finnish variant from Ingermanland, with the title Bruder und Schwester und die goldlockigen Königssöhne ("Brother and Sister, and the golden-haired sons of the King"): a pair of siblings, a boy and a girl, flee from home and live in the forest. One day, the king finds the girl, naked atop a tree, and asks if she is a baptized woman. They marry and she gives birth to two golden-haired sons in each pregnancy, but they are replaced for animals and given to a devil. The mother gives birth to a seventh son and she is banished in the sea in a barrel. They reach an island and God helps them by creating a grand palace. The seventh son asks his mother to prepare cakes with her breastmilk because he decides to find his six brothers. He reaches the house of the devil and takes his siblings back to his mother. One day, the king visits their island palace and wishes to be told a story. The seventh son tells the king, their father, the story of their family. The king recognizes his sons and reconciles with his wife.Löwis of Menar, August von. Finnische und estnische Volksmärchen. Jena: Eugen Diederichs. 1922. pp. 53–59, 292.
Estonia The tale type is known in Estonia as Imelised lapsed ("The Miraculous Children"). Estonian folklorists identified two opening episodes: either the king's son finds the three sisters, or the three sisters are abandoned in the woods and cry so much their tears create a river that flows to the king's palace. The third sister promises to bear the wonder children with astronomical motifs on their bodies. The story segues into the Tale of Tsar Saltan format: the mother and the only child she rescued are thrown into the sea; the son grows up and seeks the wonders the evil aunts tell his father about: "a golden pig, a wonderous cat, miraculous children".Monumenta Estoniae antiquae V. Eesti muinasjutud. I: 2. Koostanud Risto Järv, Mairi Kaasik, Kärri Toomeos-Orglaan. Toimetanud Inge Annom, Risto Järv, Mairi Kaasik, Kärri Toomeos-Orglaan. Tartu: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseumi Teaduskirjastus, 2014. pp. 689-691, 733-734. . According to Estonian folklorist , tale type ATU 707 registers almost 45 Estonian variants, mainly in southern Estonia, around Setu-Vastseliina.
Regional tales Folklorist William Forsell Kirby translated an Estonian version first collected by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald,Kreutzwald, Friedrich Reinhold. Ehstnische Märchen. Zweiter Hälfte. Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses. 1881. pp. 142–152. with the name The Prince who rescued his brothers: a king with silver-coated legs and golden-coated arms marries a general's daughter with the same attributes. When she gives birth to her sons, her elder sister sells eleven of her nephews to "Old Boy" (a devil-like character) while the queen is banished with her twelfth son and cast adrift into the sea in a barrel. At the end of the tale, the youngest prince releases his brothers from Old Boy and they transform into doves to reach their mother.Kirby, William Forsell. The hero of Esthonia and other studies in the romantic literature of that country. Vol. 2. London: John C. Nimmo. 1895. pp. 9–12.