Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) was a pioneer of Finnish literature and the first major novelist to write in Finnish. His masterpiece Seven Brothers (1870) laid the foundation for Finnish literary expression.
In Kivi’s works, everyday life and poetry, laughter and seriousness walk side by side. Even beer and the joy of company appear in his language as part of life’s warm, earthy reality.
Kivi, Alexis: Seven Brothers. Translated from the Finnish by Alex Matson. New York: Coward – McCann, 1929.
Supper was ready at last: seven round loaves, two oaken trenchers of steaming bear’s-meat and a pail of beerstood on the table. The beer they had brewed themselves, carefully recollecting their mother’s methods of preparing the beverage. They had brewed it stronger, however, than ordinary peasant ale. Dark red it foamed in the pail; and wert thou to swallow a can of it, thou wouldst not fail to feel a slight dizziness in thy brain. (The Christmas Beer Regulation of the Seven Brothers)
Let’s eat and drink boys, for now it is Christmas, Christmas for all, for men and for beasts. Brother Timo, pour a little ale over Valko’s oats. That’s it, at least a whole can. (p. 141)
Drink, brother, God’s creation, drink, for now it’s Christmas and there’s plenty in the storeroom. (p. 142)
But here comes the pail again, bubbling and frothing like Kyrö Rapids… Take a swig, brother Tuomas, a real man’s swig, I’ll soon do that. That’s how a man drinks. (p. 144)
We lived as well in olden day
Beyond the river here;
The driftwood kept our fire ablaze
And water was our beer. (p. 144)
But now our drink is the brown juice of the barley. (p. 144)
Nights are many, but Christmas comes only once a year, so let us rejoice now. (p. 153)
Would our ale have made thee drunk?
Empty three cans of it into thy mug and see if thou dost notice a blaze like in thy attic. (p. 154)
Let us carol and rejoice,
Christmastide is here:
Now the vats are full of ale,
Full the tankard and the pail;
Full of ale, full of ale,
Full the tankard and the pail.
(p. 154)
We’re not, in any case, going to close our eyes just yet, but round a foaming pail of ale and in the light of resinous torch will relate merry tales and legends up there in the gallery’s warmth. (p. 158)
They undressed and filling their pail once again with ale, climbed on to the gallery. There all in their shirts, they sat amidst their straw in the steaming heat. Busily the foaming pail went round from man to man, and in a crack in the wall a pine torch burned with a golden flame. (p. 158)
Here we can truly roast ourselves like sausages in a straw-filled oven, and it is the hot stones of our fireplace that give us our warmth. Eero, pour a can of ale on the oven and we’ll see what barleyjuice steam tastes like. (p. 158)
Don’t let us waste a fine drink.
We can’t afford to live in beer steam, not we.
It would be jolly to taste it.
Let’s hear it splash, Eero. (p. 159)
Bring meat and mulled ale for the sake of our dear lives and souls. (p. 171)
And then we had a dram. (p. 183)
A mug of ale and two spans of spirits as a chaser is a fair amount of measure for a tired man’s throat and head. (p. 219)
But Juhani drew ale and the foaming tankard was passed from man to man. (p. 331)
It’s to pour ale down thy face I ask thee. (p. 350)
Come and drink ale till thy belly splits! (p. 352)
From man to man the foaming ale was passed. (p. 366)
Aleksis Kivi’s Heath Cobblers (Nummisuutarit) A comedy in five acts and Kullervo: A comedy in five acts. Translated by Douglas Robinson. North Star Press of St Cloud., 1993.
And say did we shake each other’s hands on drink to deal then, an we had a whale of good time all that day and a little on the next, too. Heath Cobblers (p. 111)
And girls, see that the boys don’t lack for beer out there. Heath Cobblers (p. 126)
Maybe beer will calm it. Kullervo (p. 71)
But there’s the beer, let’s all sit and let the beer do its best. Kullervo (p. 72)
Drink hearty pal, you a lousy gob-hoblin, slug it down and grimace like a goblin. Kullervo (p. 75)
Slug it down till you pop. Attaboy, you merry fellow. In beer, ver-r-ritas, bud. Kullervo (p. 76)
Kivi, Aleksis: Odes. Selected and translated with an introduction by Ketih Bosley. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 1994
Drinking Song
(from a play) [Olviretki Schleusingenissä]
Hail,brown barley juice,
Hail, golden-mouthed god!
I’ll praise you always
Prostrate on the sod,
To you I give
My inmost heart,
For you I leave
Thank-offerrings,
Crawling in your temple here,
O you everlasting beer!
Waking, sleeping, I
Greet your foaming power.
Hail, brown barley juice,
Hail, strong foaming cheeer!
Let it all go down.
So long as it’s beer.
What would it matter
If heaven shot
Bolts with a clatter
Down through the world
And should fry the earthly sphere.
So long as there’s me and beer?
Hail, brown barley juice,
Hail, strong foaming cheer!
Kivi, Aleksis: Olviretki Schleusingenissä: Näytelmällinen osotelma 4:ssä osassa, somistanut Pekka Vuori. Helsingissä: Otava, 1996. (Ale Tour in Schleusingen)
But where the glasses clink, there too kisses resound. (p. 20)
A tankard of ale, maiden, to chase away sleep. (p. 20)
Let us raise our tankards, brothers, and sing till earth and sky do sway. (p. 25)
One tankard of ale may the watchman drink during his watch; should he drain a second, let it be forgiven him. But if a third he downs, let him be reproved by the sergeant. And should he quaff a fourth – then let the matter be reported to the captain. (p. 32)
A tankard poured upon a man’s crown shall rouse him, sure enough. (p. 36)
Ale your heart’s best friend. (p. 53)
They must be given a little, for sudden stop is dangerous that’s what our feldsher has said. (p. 53)
Drink now as medicine, but in moderation. (p. 58)
Fresh air and fresh ale are the best medicine. (p. 65)
Long live joy, and long live foamy ale! (p. 66)
Sit there and drink handsomely, be merry and drive sorrow into the depths of the sea. (p. 66)
Go ahead and drink, but do it nicely. (p. 66)
If you lose your friend, drink beer; if your girl betrays you, drink beer. (p. 66)
A beer doth make a man quite hearty. But many, I have noted, it doth not cloud the eyes of the soul, nay, rather, it doth brighten it. (p. 76)
One more round yet, one circuit through every quarter. (p. 77)
Ha! Ale, ale! What is a German without his ale? What, indeed, would all of Germany be without ale? (p. 92)
Drink your ale, drink your ale, sing aloud, and be joyful, jolly boys! (p. 116)
Hot is the air; and now this ale upon my throat is as wife unto her man – formed for him, to fullfill his longing. (p. 142)
And now I long to drain a foaming jug of ale. Let it flow into that tankard, dear old tavern mother. (p. 150)
Das ist Bier! (p. 170)
The beer phrases were selected by Juhani P in April 2025, and those from the play Olviretki Schleusingenissä were translated by ChatGPT.
See also: https://olviretki.com/the-christmas-beer-regulation-of-the-seven-brothers/
Beer phrases in other languages:
Aleksis Kiven õlleteemalised tsitaadid 🇪🇪
Aleksis Kiven olutaiheisia sitaatteja 🇫🇮
Aleksis Kivi ar alu saistīti citāti 🇱🇻
Aleksis Kivi sörrel kapcsolatos idéze 🇭🇺
Aleksis Kivio su alumi susijusios citatos 🇱🇹
Aleksis Kivis ölrelaterade citat 🇸🇪
Aleksis Kivis ølrelaterede citater 🇩🇰
Aleksis Kivis ølrelaterte sitater 🇳🇴
Bier-rilataj citaĵoj de Aleksis Kivi (esperanto)
Bierbezogene Zitate von Aleksis Kivi 🇩🇪
Biergerelateerde citaten van Aleksis Kivi 🇳🇱
Citações relacionadas com a cerveja de Aleksis Kivii 🇵🇹
Citas relacionadas con la cerveza de Aleksis Kivi 🇪🇸
Citations sur la bière d’Aleksis Kivi 🇫🇷
Citáty o pivu od Alexise Kiviho 🇨🇿
Citazioni sulla birra di Aleksis Kivi 🇮🇹
Cytaty związane z piwem Aleksisa Kiviego 🇵🇱
Dicta cerevisiae apud Alexis Kivi (lingva latina)
Pivom tematicky viazané citáty Aleksisa Kiviho 🇸🇰
Tilvitnanir um öl eftir Aleksis Kivi 🇮🇸