All language subtitles for Tale.Of.A.Lake.2016

In the beginning -

Earth's water was bound in minerals.

Water is thought to have originated
from icy comets and meteors.

All of this the ancient Finns
already knew.

The national epic, Kalevala -

describes how water
originated in the mountains:

waters came down from the sky
and grew beneath the rocky surface.

In the ice age, the northern
hemisphere was covered by ice.

Movement of the ice carved out depths
and its weight left depressions -

which would later form lakes.

There are around 190,000 lakes
in Finland.

TALE OF A LAKE

The never-ending cycle of water
is the basis of all life.

In Finnish mythology -

Vellamo is the goddess of water
and Ahti the guardian of all waters.

Forever reborn in
the bubbling spring water -

is Ahti and Vellamo's daughter,
the tiny water spirit Ahitar.

She appears in a mist-

to watch over the water folk
and guard the waters and shores.

The Arctic chars know
when Ahitar's birth is near -

and rush to greet her
as the clouds of mist clear.

Ahitar spends her early years
in the spring -

raised by arctic chars.

Soon she befriends all the different
plant and animal spirits.

According to the tale, water
spirits grew up in the springs -

and learned to take care of
the water folk.

When the water spirits
were old enough -

the winter sky was lit up by
northern lights in celebration.

After the ice melts water can flow
freely, and it is time to move on -

toward the lake.

Nature knows something great
and joyous is about to happen:

Ahitar, the tiny water spirit -

begins her first journey
in the eternal cycle.

All the animals and plants were known
to have their own guardian spirits -

who looked after their own.

Tapiotar was
the guardian spirit of birds.

She waited in the open water -

and greeted the whooper swans
arriving, trumpets blaring, -

on the icy runway.

Many Finnic people thought -

the swan was their divine ancestor.

They believed swans had been humans
before breaking down to birds.

The European otter hunts
in a large area.

Its territory can cover over
50 kilometers of waterways.

It lives in the water
but also spends time on land.

The otter is a solitary creature.

Otters use their sensitive whiskers -

to help track fish even in the
darkness of underwater ice.

Otters are playful animals
that love to -

slide from one ice hole to another
and downhill on their tummies.

The female looks after
the offspring by herself.

The pups often stay with their mother
for over a year.

Hillervo is the guardian spirit
of otters

She sends her people to carry
the message forward:

Ahitar is on her way to the lake.

Amphibians frogs were the first
vertebrates to live on land -

yet they still return to the water
to reproduce.

Toads can hibernate underwater -

since they can breathe through their
skin as well as with their lungs.

Toads can live for over 50 years.

Toad wrestling matches
commence in the spring -

following the rules
of ancient Greek Olympics.

Soon though it starts to look
more like freestyle wrestling.

The winner is awarded
the fairest of all toads.

There aren't enough brides
for everyone, though.

The battle-worn toad must crawl back
to its solitary abode -

and wait for a whole year before
spring and the next wrestling match.

Come springtime, the warm sun and
the cold hard ice engage in battle.

Every year the ice has to surrender.

It then starts moving and forcing
its way through everything -

until it softens and melts.

The elk have spent the winter
together grazing in large herds.

In the spring
they begin to make their way -

towards new pastures
following their age-old routes.

Even large waterways
cannot stop the elk.

In Finnish folk tales, the elk
guardian spirit is called Laus.

He tends to the elk and
breaks the herd into groups.

After having spent
a long winter together -

friends must finally part ways.

Laus explains why some
must cross the water -

while others stay behind.

Sufficient food must be available
for everyone in the summer.

Perch and roach swim upstream
to spawn.

Not everyone makes it, and only
the strongest get to reproduce.

Some continue on,
and others stay behind.

Only the cycle of water
is never-ending.

In many ancient tales,
the world is created from an egg.

In Kalevala, the egg's lower half
becomes the earth -

and the upper half becomes the sky.

The yolk turns into the sun -

the white transforms into the moon -

all the coloured bits
become the stars -

and the darker bits change
into clouds in the sky.

From that same egg
our whole world was hatched -

fish and birds were born too.

From the tiny egg hatched
the brown trout fry -

the miracle of new life.

The water flows from the spring into
streams and rivers, toward the lake.

One part of the water cycle
is about to end.

As it flows, the water washes
dirt away and is cleansed itself -

in rapids and strong currents -

grabbing some oxygen
and nutrients on the way.

It is renewed.

The fresh, oxygen-rich water
flows into the lake.

Shrouded by mist,
Ahitar inspects her new home.

When the first morning dawns -

she sees how Päivätär,
the mother of all living things -

directs life-giving sunlight
onto the lake.

From her golden threads
she weaves her beams of light.

The lake's ecosystems
are powered by the sun.

All they need is just a few fractions
of daylight.

The lake is an important part
of the cycle of water -

which is why the water spirits -

had to make their home here.

People who lived close
to nature understood -

that humans were a part of nature -

and needed to respect
its delicate balance.

The eldest of the perch guides Ahitar
and introduces the water folk to her.

The perch spawns over
a long period of time -

from May to as late as July.

A large female perch can lay up
to 50,000 eggs.

Right after spawning -

the new generation
must be closely guarded.

The northern pike has always been
an important fish for Finnish folk.

The mysterious pike -

was considered the king of fish.

According to an epic poem of
its birth pikes came from the sky -

and brought fire and music to people.

People knew the pike's skull
was made up of a hundred bones -

and each one was given a name
and meaning when casting spells.

These days the skull bones are
used to calculate the pike's age.

The black-throated loon
is a very timid bird.

People believed the mysterious loon
was a messenger of the gods -

and some even thought the dead
could assume the shape of the bird -

and return to their families
and ask for food.

Black-throated loons were thought
to keep evil spirits away -

and so people would brush
their cows with loon feathers -

to keep predators
from attacking the herd.

No one knows why some birds
gather in flocks -

and how their pecking order
is established.

It's hard for a new member of the
flock to be elected as the leader.

Birds are thought to have evolved -

from small dinosaurs that lived
in the Jurassic period.

The scales became feathers
to keep the dinosaur warm.

When their upper limbs became
stronger and their bones hollow -

the feather-covered creatures
took to the skies.

Water birds have played a crucial
part in the lives of ancient Finns.

Birds carried messages from gods -

but were also
an important source of food.

People welcomed returning migratory
birds after a food-scarce winter.

Water birds appear in rock paintings
thousands of years old.

The miraculous origin of the world -

life hatched from an egg,
is repeated in the life of a bird.

It takes a very little time
before the water bird chicks -

are ready to leave the nest
after hatching.

On land the chicks
would be easy prey.

They are safer on water.

They must, however, learn to respect
the water territories of other birds.

It would be foolish to go near
a red-throated loon's home.

It is said that the bear was born
where the moon lives -

in the heart of day
on the Big Dipper's shoulder.

From there,
it was lowered onto the Earth -

in a golden cradle
hanging from a silver sling.

White-tailed eagles wear five
different suits during their lives:

four suits in their youth
and one for old age.

In many stories,
the eagle acts as a messenger -

and in Kalevala
it rescues Väinämöinen -

and helps other heroes as needed.

Lake shores are a haven
for many insects.

The metamorphosis, when they migrate
from water to land is fascinating.

The dragonfly is a magical creature -

that has lived on the earth for
hundreds of millions of years.

It spends a great part of its life
underwater -

as a monstrous larva that feeds
on other underwater creatures.

Mosquito eggs hatch in the water,
and they become swimming larvae.

The larvae breathe
through the surface -

using a thin tube that protrudes
from their rear end.

Insects born in water need to be
reborn into a whole new world -

with completely different laws
for life.

These insects change from divers
into fliers.

They become airborne in order to
reproduce and lay eggs.

From the water, a new cycle of life
begins once again.

Without insects
there would be no birds:

they live side by side
in nature's delicate balance.

Water striders have measured -

the span of the lake many times -

while others beneath the surface -

such as polyps and moss animals
are left far behind.

The beaver is known
as an ecosystem engineer -

because its purpose in life
is to build.

It makes its environment ideal for
the preservation of its own species -

by building clams and creating a
fine nest inside a water enclosure.

The dams can be several metres high
and tens of metres long.

For rafting timber,
beavers also build channels -

that can reach hundreds of metres
in length.

When threatened, the beaver may stay
underwater for as long as 15 minutes.

Its body functions slow down.

This is made possible by a diving
reflex many mammals carry -

as a legacy from a time when their
ancestors still lived in the water.

A beaver family sometimes include
offsprings from the previous year.

As many as ten beavers may live
together in the same nest.

As autumn comes, Tapiotar,
the guardian spirit of birds -

gathers her flocks and directs
them due south for the winter.

It is time to bid a touching farewell
to the summer and its bustling life.

One can also hear joy and eagerness
in the flocks' farewell calls.

The water folk say good bye -

to a summer bright
and vibrant with life -

seeking peace and quiet
as the nights get darker.

They need not go far
from their home lake.

They can seek shelter in the nooks
and crevices of the deep.

According to ancient wisdom, the
birds' guardian spirits told them -

when the time was right to migrate -

and they also guided
the birds along the journey.

Come spring, they would show the way
back north to the nesting grounds.

The guardian spirits may acually be
the earth's magnetic fields.

Birds can sense the lines of force
and navigate by them.

In the autumn,
the brown trout leave the lakes -

and swim upstream towards gravelly
patches where they can spawn.

They travel from lakes
far along the rivers -

to where they have spawned
since times immemorial.

There they were born, and there
they will return each autumn.

The guardian spirit of the trout was
thought to be related to Tapiotar -

who gathered the migratory birds
for their journey south.

Trout spawning is a secret ritual -

no one knew much about.

It takes place in the bottom of fast-
flowing streams, unseen by humans.

The spawning dance of trout
celebrates life.

Flowing water sets the rhythm -

as couples find their way
to the gravelly dance floor -

and females pick their partners
for a dance.

Waters cool down
and all movement becomes slower.

Waters get heavier
as the temperature drops -

reaching their heaviest
at four degrees Celsius.

The four-degree water sinks
to the bottom of the lake -

lifting colder water
upwards towards the surface.

Water is the only substance -

that is lighter when frozen solid
than as a liquid.

Even though the northern pike was
considered the leader of all fish -

it was also labelled
as a "wolf of the waters".

The water wolf was known
as the pike of the underworld -

an omen of death.

Shamans of Lapland believed that
bad souls ended up in pikes' bowels -

and therefore wouldn't eat pike.

The pike played a significant part
in the mythology of ancient Finns.

It could traverse between the
worlds of the living and the dead.

It would swim through the deepest of
depths into the underworld, Tuonela -

but one of Kalevala's heroes,
Ilmarinen, could catch it there.

Viimatar arrives
and brings winter with her.

Everything above the ice stops -

and even beneath the surface
life is much slower.

Everyone has time to dwell
on their own thoughts.

When winter is coming, the northern
pike swims into the depths.

Somewhere deep in the cold,
beneath the ice, lies Tuonela -

the realm of death watched over
by its armoured guards.

The eternal current of living water
flows through even Tuonela -

and that is why no one needs to
stay there forever.

The power of flowing water
always brings life with it.

Viimatar grows an ever stronger roof
of ice on the lake's surface.

When water takes its icy form -

its power shapes and erodes
the earth's crust.

The ice age tore grooves into
a bedrock billions of years in age -

and brought with it ridge gravel
and erratic boulders -

that would divide bodies of water.

Deep beneath the ice -

one finds more evidence
of the power of water.

Rapids have shaped
river bottoms anew.

Flowing water has proved
even more powerful than rock.

Life forms long since extinct
have also been preserved -

within rock layers.

There, somewhere deep in the
underworld beyond consciousness -

lay also the place from which ancient
Finns received their secret skills.

Winter is building
ice roofs on rapids -

creating halls of ice where the union
of water and air is celebrated.

Flowing water and cold air
are joined here.

New life is revealed from underneath
wintery banks of snow.

A seal pup has been born
in a snow cave -

and now it is time for it to venture
out into the wide world.

Saimaa ringed seals give birth
in midwinter so they take shelter -

in a shoreline snow cave with access
to water through a hole in the ice.

The mother uses its front flippers
to dig out a cave from the hole -

undetectable until springtime,
when its roof collapses.

By then the ringed seal pup -

is big enough to manage by itself
in the water.

There are only about three hundred
Saimaa ringed seals in the world -

and they all live in Lake Saimaa.

Saimaa ringed seals are fully adapted
to living in the water -

but because they are mammals,
they have to surface to breathe.

They must also maintain breathing
holes in the ice during wintertime.

These ringed seal can stay submerged
for as long as half an hour.

The rest of nature still waits for
spring to awaken life in the lake:

for millions of fish spawn to
mature into new generations -

for birds to arrive from the south,
for nesting to begin -

for eggs to grow into bird families.

Even though ice
still covers the lake -

the small ringed seal pup underneath
it brings with it a promise:

the cycle of water
will always continue.

The morning mist
arises from the lake -

and with it Ahitar
takes to the skies.

As it evaporates and rises
ever higher, the water is purified.

Thunder and lightning
rid the water of dirt -

and Ahitar is likewise cleansed.

Coming full circle, the water
returns to the earth and forests -

and Ahitar rains down
from the misty clouds -

and back into the spring
where she was born.

There she is reborn new and pure so
that she may start another journey.

Old friends are
waiting in the spring.

Subtitles: BTI Studios