Legend
Vanemuine's song on Toomemägi
Once, the god of song, Vanemuine, came down to earth on Toomemägi hill in Tartu and sang. Every living thing gathered to listen, and each took away a part of his song. The forest learned to rustle, the river to murmur, the wind to howl and the birds to sing. The nightingale and the lark caught the sweetest notes. People understood the whole song, and that is why they can sing of everything: joy, sorrow and love. Then Vanemuine rose back to the sky, but his song stayed on the hill above the Emajõgi.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Kord laskus laulujumal Vanemuine Tartus Toomemäele ja hakkas laulma. Kõik elusolendid tulid kuulama ja igaüks õppis tema laulust oma osa. Mets õppis kohisema, jõgi vulisema, tuul vihisema ja linnud laulma. Ööbik ja lõoke said endale kõige ilusamad helid. Inimesed mõistsid kogu laulu ja seepärast oskavad nad laulda kõigest: rõõmust, kurbusest ja armastusest. Siis tõusis Vanemuine taas taevasse, aga tema laul jäi Emajõe kohal mäele.
Source: From the Estonian myth of Vanemuine's song, as written down by F. R. Faehlmann (1840).