Kalevala — Land of Heroes

notes

The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland and Karelia, compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1802–1884) from oral folk poetry he collected during eleven field expeditions across Karelia between 1828 and 1834. The first edition ("Old Kalevala") appeared in 1835, and the definitive expanded edition ("New Kalevala") in 1849, comprising 50 runos (cantos) and 22,795 lines. Lönnrot's work is generally regarded as one of the most successful reconstructions of a lost epic tradition ever undertaken — comparable in ambition, though not method, to the Homeric compilation attributed to Peisistratus. The oral songs he recorded were the survivals of a much older Finno-Karelian mythological tradition, preserved in remote villages by aged rune-singers still active in the 19th century. The epic centres on three great heroes: Wainamoinen (Väinämöinen), the wise old singer-sage; Ilmarinen, the eternal smith who forged the sky; and Lemminkainen, the reckless warrior-lover. Its central plot object is the Sampo — a mysterious mill of plenty forged by Ilmarinen for the mistress of the north, and later stolen back and destroyed in a sea battle. J.R.R. Tolkien read the Kalevala in Kirby's translation as a Birmingham schoolboy and cited it as one of the primary inspirations for his own mythology; the character of Kullervo directly influenced Túrin Turambar. The Finnish national identity is inseparable from this text. Translation: John Martin Crawford, "The Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland," New York: Alden, 1888. Public domain.

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