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In Finnish mythology, the Sampo was a magical artefact that brought good fortune to its holder; nobody knows exactly what it was supposed to be. According to Lönnrot's interpretation in the Kalevala, it was a quern or mill of some sort that made flour, salt, and gold out of thin air.

The Sampo was a pivotal element of the plot of the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, compiled in 1835 (and expanded in 1849) by Elias Lönnrot based on earlier Finnish oral tradition. In the expanded second version of the poem, the Sampo is forged by Ilmarinen, a legendary smith, as a task set by the Mistress of PohjolaPohjola is a location in Finnish mythology, referring to Pohja (North), as a point of the compass, the Northland — the whole polar region, and in the world of the Kalevala, the land of the Sami. In the real world Pohjola includes parts of Lapland and anci in return for her daughter's hand. "If you can forge the Sampo / brighten the bright-lid / you'll get the maid for your pay / for your work the lovely girl." Ilmarinen works for several days at a mighty forge until finally the Sampo is created: "And then the new Sampo ground / and the bright-lid rocked; / ground a binful at twilight - / one binful to eat / another it ground to sell / and a third to store at home." The Sampo has been interpreted in many ways: a world pillar or treeIn certain Indo-European religions there was a belief in a world tree such as Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, and in Hinduism a banyan tree., a compassThis article is about the navigational tool. For other meanings, see Compass (disambiguation A compass (or mariner's compass is navigational instrument for finding directions. It consists of a magnetised pointer free to align itself accurately with Earth' or astrolabeFrom the 16th century to the 18th century (when the sextant was invented) the astrolabe was the chief navigational instrument. An astrolabe consists of a circle marked in degrees (similar to a protractor) with a rotating arm attached at its center. When t, a chest containing a treasure, or a mint stolen by VikingViking refers in a loose sense to the North Germanic (ethnically Scandinavian) population of Northern Europe in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, which during this time colonized, raided and traded the lengths of the coasts, rivers and islands of Eurs from ByzantiumByzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. Byzantium was originally settled by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzantas. The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original Greek name Byzantion . as the poet Paavo HaavikkoPaavo Haavikko (born 1931) is a Finnish poet and playwrite, considered one of the country's most outstanding writers. He is winner of the Neustadt Prize for literature in 1984. Selected Works Poetry Winter Palace ( 1959) Twenty-one ( 1974) Dramatic plays has suggested. The discovery of the Antikythera mechanism prompted some to compare features of its construction with the Sampo. When Ilmarinen's homeland later falls upon hard times and sends an expedition to retrieve the Sampo, it is ultimately smashed and lost at sea in the ensuing battle.

In 1959 the joint Russian-Finnish film production "Sampo" (titled "The Day the Earth Froze" when released in the United States) adapted the Kalevala to the big screen. Directed by Risto Orko and Aleksandr Ptushko, and written by Väinö Kaukonen and Viktor Vitkovich , the movie somewhat alters the circumstances surrounding the Sampo's creation; the evil witch Louhi kidnaps Ilmarinen's sister Annikki to compel him to build a Sampo for her. However, the movie remains reasonably true to the original tale in broad outline, and the Sampo's fate is the same.

Episode 422 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced in the 1992/ 93 season, used "The Day the Earth Froze" as its subject. Most memorably, the movie failed to explain the nature and significance of the Sampo at any point, assuming it as background knowledge that most non-Finnish viewers lacked. The Sampo was thus thrust into modern-day Internet folklore as a terribly important and useful artefact that nobody understands the importance or use of.

Sampo is also quite a common given name in Finland.