Editing Two Trees of Valinor (section)

=== The Sampo in the ''Kalevala'' ===

Tolkien read the Finnish ''[[Kalevala]]'' closely. Its central symbol is the magical [[Sampo]], a device that brought wealth and good fortune to its owner, but whose mechanism is described only vaguely. Jonathan Himes, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', has suggested that Tolkien found the Sampo complex, and chose to split the Sampo's parts into desirable objects. Its pillar became the Two Trees of Valinor with their Tree of life aspect, illuminating the world. Its decorated lid became the brilliant Silmarils, which embodied all that was left of the light of the Two Trees, thus tying the symbols together.<ref name="Himes 2000">{{cite journal |last=Himes |first=Jonathan B. |year=2000 |title=What J.R.R. Tolkien Really Did with the Sampo? |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=22 |issue=4 |at=Article 7 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol22/iss4/7}}</ref><ref name="Crawford 1888">{{cite book |last1=Lönnrot |first1=Elias |author1-link=Elias Lönnrot |last2=Crawford |first2=John Martin (trans.) |author2-link=John Martin Crawford (scholar) |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune10.htm <!--also Gutenberg--> |title=Kalevala |chapter=Rune X |year=1888}}</ref>