Editing Sampo (section)

==Interpretation==
The Sampo has been interpreted in many ways: a [[world pillar]] or [[world tree]], a [[compass]] or [[astrolabe]], a chest containing a treasure, a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Coining (metalworking)|coin die]], a decorated [[Vendel period]] shield, a Christian [[relic]], etc. In the ''[[Kalevala]]'', compiler [[Elias Lönnrot|Lönnrot]] interpreted it to be a [[quern-stone|quern]] or [[mill (grinding)|mill]] of some sort that made [[flour]], [[salt]], and [[gold]] out of thin air. The world pillar/tree hypothesis was argued for by figures such as [[Christian theosophy|theosophian]] [[Pekka Ervast]], historian of religions [[Uno Harva]] and the linguist [[Eemil Nestor Setälä]] in the early 20th century.<ref name="yleselitykset">{{cite news |last1=Heikura |first1=Pasi |title=Aristoteleen kantapää ja Sammon selitykset |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/09/23/aristoteleen-kantapaa-ja-sammon-selitykset |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Yle |date=23 September 2014 |archive-date=6 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706220532/https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/09/23/aristoteleen-kantapaa-ja-sammon-selitykset |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the archaeologist Elena Kuz'mina the Sampo mill myth originates from the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] ''skambhá'' (support, pillar, column), and was borrowed into [[Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric]].<ref name="kuz">{{cite book|editor-first = J.P. |editor-last1 = Mallory | first1 = Elena E. | last1 = Kuz'mina | title= The origin of the Indo-Iranians | series = Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series | volume =3 | year = 2007 | publisher=Brill| isbn = 9789004160545 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheOriginOfTheIndo-iranians/page/n74 56] | url = https://archive.org/details/TheOriginOfTheIndo-iranians }}</ref> In the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' the 'skambhá' is a creature that supports the universe, analogous to the [[World Tree]] – the Sampo has been claimed to be the Finnish equivalent of the world tree.<ref name="kuz"/><ref>{{citation|first = J.| last = Erdodi | year = 1932 | title = Finnische Sampo, ai. Skambha| journal = Indogermanische Forschungen | volume =3 }}</ref>