Lyrics Alkusanat - Hedningarna

Now we'll adjust our tones and voices
We'll adjust and clear our voices
So to sing some good and bright songs
And to do our best at singing

We'll adjust our tones and voices
Like the strings of two kanteles
Like two instruments of brass, yes
Like two instruments of brass

I heard some runes out in the open
Through the moss I heard some words, too
Through the stocks I heard some whisper
Through the stocks I heard some whisper

My own words that I was given
All the words I learned and thought through
Words I brushed off from the hay-heads
Words I broke off from the heather

A song widens out from one end
Out of singing grows the song
The mouth tells about all those things
That fill the thoughts of her who's singing

A thoughtless singer stows in her song
Piles up in the song she's singing
Everything that falls in her mind
All that stumbles out from her mouth

Of that I know the song of the thoughtless
Long is the song of a thoughtless singer
With only two words of some beauty
Often even less than two words

When a wise one is the singer
She knows when to end her song, too
A good song ends at the right time
A short song is a song with beauty

The rapids that rush on in torrents
Do not endlessly pour water
Nor does now a worthy singer
Sing her songs without a reason