Sampo
The Sampo is the wonder-working mill of Finnish epic, forged by the great smith Ilmarinen as the bride-price demanded for the hand of the maiden of Pohjola. In the Kalevala the Sampo grinds out limitless grain, salt, and gold for its possessor, making it the engine of the northern world's wealth. The heroes of Väinölä and Louhi, the mistress of Pohjola, fight over it in the great raid that follows; during the sea-battle the Sampo is shattered and lost overboard, and the fragments that wash ashore are said to have given the sea and the land of Finland their richness. Its true shape and nature a