Väinämöinen is the eternal bard who established the land of Kaleva and exerts order over chaos. He brought Kalevala into contact, at first friendly, but later hostile, with Pohjola, their northern dark and threatening neighbour. The creation and theft of the Sampo, a magical artifact created by Ilmarinen, the the following attempt to retake it, and a fight that ends up splintering the Sampo into pieces which was dispersed around the world to parts unknown, was the culmination of this conflict.

The ''Kalevala'''s 50th and last poem relates the tale of the maiden Marjatta, who gave birth to a newborn son after eating a berry. The child was brought to Väinämöinen, who concludes that an infant born under unusual circumstances must be put to death. The newborn child, who was only two weeks old, chastised the old sage in response, pointing out his transgressions, such as enabling the maiden Aino, sister of Joukahainen to drown herself. The child is baptized and crowned king of Kalevala, while the defeated Väinämöinen, recognizing his waning powers, traveled to the shores of the sea, where he sings for himself a copper boat, sailing away from the mortal realms. As he departs from the mortal realms, he vows to return when he is needed once more. His departure from the mortal realm is an allegory for the retreat of paganism and the rise of Christianity.

Väinämöinen's first mention in literature was in a 1551 list of Tavastian gods by Mikael Agricola. He was described by Agricola and other writers as the god of chants, songs and poetry. In the ''Kalevala'', an epic poem compiled compiled from Karelian and Finnish folklore by Elias Lönnrot, his mythological background was stripped away, and he was instead made the son of the goddess Ilmatar.

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4in%C3%A4m%C3%B6inen Wikipedia]
*[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5186/5186-h/5186-h.htm Project Gutenberg]
*[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Kalevala Wikisource]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/vainamoinen/4005-78442/ Comic Vine]
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