#Ingeborg Matintytär

[soffiisims]

1315

I do not know how to even begin to tell you, what I must tell. We have now lost both of our parents, Matti and I. They are gone.

Last night my brother Matti came running to tell me that our mother was unwell. She has not got up all day, he told me. We both knew, that she had been giving her meals to the children. Matti told me about it, but also told, that he has not said anything to stop her. They are his children in the end, and naturally Matti wanted them to have all the food we are able to give them. They need it the most. But it turned out, that mother has not been eating anything in days, or that is what my brother suspected.

So I left the children with Mats and followed my brother immediately to my childhood home. We came too late. Our mother was no longer. She was laying down on straws in the sauna, where Matti had carried her, so she could be in peace and not be bothered by the children. She was laying still and silent and pale. The whole house was in disorder. Valpuri was crying, the children were up and my father was so upset, he did not even notice our arrival at first. Oh, it was horrible!

Our father refused to leave mother alone. We tried to persuade him to come with us to the house and have some rest, but he absolutely refused. He was furious, that Matti went for me and not for our uncle, who could have given mother her extreme unction and a candle to burn. And now it was too late.

We left father alone with his sorrow and went to the house. We left the sauna door open, so mother's soul could get out. We decided it would be wise for me to stay the night and help washing mother next morning and prepare her for the deathwatch and the burial. We should remember to burn the straws, that mother was now laying on, so she would not stay and hunt the house.

We went to sleep in a great agony. I still could not quite understand, what had happened. It was over before I got to see her. I could hear my father crying out loud in the sauna. I thought I could feel my heart crush. I drifted to sleep without knowing, that our misery and grief was only beginning.

I woke up, when Matti was shaking my shoulder in the early hours of the morning.

"What is it?" I asked, when I saw my brother's eyes wide open. He looked terrified.

"He lighted up the sauna", he said.

"What? Who?" I said.

"The sauna is burning down. Father is in there", he answered. I jumped up and ran outside. Matti was right and I could see, that saving father from the flames was way too late. The whole building was covered with light and rumble. But I still I heard myself screaming:

"He is burning alive! We have to get him out of there!"

People were gathering from the nearby houses, men carrying water buckets with them. Everyone moved so slow. I dashed towards the fire, but then someone wrapped their arms around me and stopped me on my tracks.

"Let me go!" I screamed, "LET ME GO!"

The sauna burned many hours. For me it was all a blur after that. All that was left from the sauna my father had build was a pile of ashes and bones. My mother and my father side by side.

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Resources (about death in medieval Finland): Aalto, Ilari. Vuosi keskiajan Suomessa. p. 167–168.

[soffiisims]

1310

Piritta was buried to our local small cemetery, near her father. Matti visits her often with Aune, who is asking constantly where her mother has gone. I cannot believe how it must feel. Both of them miss Piritta so very much, like we all. Matti tries to tell little Aune, that her mother has gone to the Great Watcher's heavenly realm, and she is all better now. Still, Aune is wondering, when her mother will be coming back.

Matti told me the other day, that even though he loves his daughter very much, it is painful to see baby Ingeborg, who took Piritta away from him. I said, that it was not little Ingeborg's fault that Piritta died. Many women die in childbirth, like do many children. It is part of life. And at least Ingeborg survived.

"That is what Piritta would have wanted. I am certain of it. At least I would have given my life over my children, if I would have given the choice", I said. My words made Matti seem thoughtful.

I hope little Ingeborg can give him some comfort. Piritta did not leave him alone. He admitted, that he is very lucky to have his girls.

"Aune resembles her so much", I heard him whisper. He was right of course. Aune is spitting image of Piritta.

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[soffiisims]

1310

Piritta went into labor very suddenly in the night. I got the word later the next day, when it was all over. I was a little confused, when my father came to visit. Usually Matti comes himself to tell the happy news. This time, the news were not happy.

The labor was quick but deadly. Piritta lost a lot of blood and mother send Matti to get a priest. The only one, who could help Piritta now were the Watcher. Mother did everything she could, but in the end there was nothing left doing. Except to pray.

Piritta gave birth to a daughter. First my mother had thought they had lost the baby too, because she was all blue. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. But mother managed to get the baby breathing and in no time she was crying, like she should. But mother knew, Piritta couldn't hear it. She fainted and collapsed on the floor. And by the time Matti came back with the priest, she was gone.

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[soffiisims]

1316

The next year came with more heartbreak. My brother Matti lost her little daughter Ingeborg. She was too fragile to handle this famine, that is now our curse. Rain comes pouring and rots our crops before they even get to grow above the ground. The food just not have enough nutrients to keep our children alive.

Ingeborg is now with her mother she never got the chance to meet. They are together now.

Ingeborg Matintytär

1310–1316

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