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The Old Kalevala and Certain Antecedents
English, Finnish (translation)
- GenresFinnish Literature
332 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Elias Lönnrot
97 books71 followersElias Lönnrot was a Finnish philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for composing the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic compiled from national folklore.
Lönnrot was born in Sammatti, in the province of Uusimaa in Finland. He studied medicine at the Academy of Turku. To his misfortune the year he joined was the year of the Great Fire of Turku, burning down half the town – and the University. Lönnrot (and many of the rest of the University) moved to Helsinki, where he graduated in 1832.
He got a job as district doctor of Kajaani in Northern Finland during a time of famine in the district. The famine had prompted the previous doctor to resign, making it possible for a very young doctor to get such a position. Several consecutive years of crop failure resulted in enormous losses of population and livestock; Lönnrot wrote letters to the State departments, asking for food, not medicines. He was the sole doctor for the 4,000 or so people of his district, at a time where doctors were rare and very expensive, and where people did not buy medicines from equally rare and expensive pharmacies, but rather trusted to their village healers and locally available remedies.
His true passion lay in his native Finnish language. He began writing about the early Finnish language in 1827 and began collecting folk tales from the rural people about that time.
Lönnrot went on extended leaves of absence from his doctor's office; he toured the countryside of Finland, Sapmi (Lapland), and nearby portions of Russian Karelia to support his collecting efforts. This led to a series of books: Kantele, 1829–1831 (the kantele is a Finnish traditional instrument); Kalevala, 1835–1836 (possibly Land of Heroes; better known as the "old" Kalevala); Kanteletar, 1840 (the Kantele Maiden); Sananlaskuja, 1842 (Proverbs); an expanded second edition of Kalevala, 1849 (the "new" Kalevala); and Finsk-Svenskt lexikon, 1866–1880 (Finnish-Swedish Dictionary).
Lönnrot was recognised for his part in preserving Finland's oral traditions by appointment to the Chair of Finnish Literature at the University of Helsinki. He died on March 19, 1884 in Sammatti, in the province of Uusimaa.
Lönnrot was born in Sammatti, in the province of Uusimaa in Finland. He studied medicine at the Academy of Turku. To his misfortune the year he joined was the year of the Great Fire of Turku, burning down half the town – and the University. Lönnrot (and many of the rest of the University) moved to Helsinki, where he graduated in 1832.
He got a job as district doctor of Kajaani in Northern Finland during a time of famine in the district. The famine had prompted the previous doctor to resign, making it possible for a very young doctor to get such a position. Several consecutive years of crop failure resulted in enormous losses of population and livestock; Lönnrot wrote letters to the State departments, asking for food, not medicines. He was the sole doctor for the 4,000 or so people of his district, at a time where doctors were rare and very expensive, and where people did not buy medicines from equally rare and expensive pharmacies, but rather trusted to their village healers and locally available remedies.
His true passion lay in his native Finnish language. He began writing about the early Finnish language in 1827 and began collecting folk tales from the rural people about that time.
Lönnrot went on extended leaves of absence from his doctor's office; he toured the countryside of Finland, Sapmi (Lapland), and nearby portions of Russian Karelia to support his collecting efforts. This led to a series of books: Kantele, 1829–1831 (the kantele is a Finnish traditional instrument); Kalevala, 1835–1836 (possibly Land of Heroes; better known as the "old" Kalevala); Kanteletar, 1840 (the Kantele Maiden); Sananlaskuja, 1842 (Proverbs); an expanded second edition of Kalevala, 1849 (the "new" Kalevala); and Finsk-Svenskt lexikon, 1866–1880 (Finnish-Swedish Dictionary).
Lönnrot was recognised for his part in preserving Finland's oral traditions by appointment to the Chair of Finnish Literature at the University of Helsinki. He died on March 19, 1884 in Sammatti, in the province of Uusimaa.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 30, 2012
This collection of early versions of the Finnish Kalevala is essential reading for anyone who wishes to explore how Lonnrot worked with the materials that he collected on his field trips and expanded into the New Kalevala by adding linking and expansion sections. The versions collected here are also useful for those who are interested in exploring the oral formulaic theories of epic composition.
The works collected in this volume include the Proto Kalevala, Old Kalevala, Elias Lonnrot's dissertation On Vainamoinen, translations from Reinhold Von Becker's earlier collections of Kalevala type poetry and critical material such as a concordance of comparisons between the three versions of the Kalevala.
The translation is by Francis Peabody Magoun, well known for his work on oral theories connected with the Old English Beowulf. In these translations from Finnish Magoun keeps his translations of formulaic phrases uniform to preserve the oral feel of the material, thus earning himself an honorary degree from Helsinki university and membership of the Kalevala Society for his works on the Kalevala.
The works collected in this volume include the Proto Kalevala, Old Kalevala, Elias Lonnrot's dissertation On Vainamoinen, translations from Reinhold Von Becker's earlier collections of Kalevala type poetry and critical material such as a concordance of comparisons between the three versions of the Kalevala.
The translation is by Francis Peabody Magoun, well known for his work on oral theories connected with the Old English Beowulf. In these translations from Finnish Magoun keeps his translations of formulaic phrases uniform to preserve the oral feel of the material, thus earning himself an honorary degree from Helsinki university and membership of the Kalevala Society for his works on the Kalevala.
June 30, 2024
I stumbled across this book at a library sale, and I had never heard of it, and knew nothing about it. I've enjoyed Scandinavian lore in the past, with things like the poetic Eddas and the Icelandic sagas, and decided to give it a read. This is similar, but definitely different. I found these verses far less comparable to something like Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, and more like a cross between Reynard the Fox and Paul Bunyan. With no overarching plot or moral, the verses (historically sung by experienced singers) are an entertaining lope through a landscape that makes little sense to outsiders like me. Calling this an epic is a mistake, as others have pointed out. This is no Homer, but the stories, steeped in local culture, are their own kind of tasty. Trying to psychologize these stories had only limited effect for me, and they were at their finest when I didn't try to analyze them at all. But when I could enter the state of curious childlike absorption, I found myself longing to belong to a place and time that had storytellers, and stories, like these. I rate them approvingly because I hope for a world with storytellers, and stories that make us listen.
March 10, 2019
The only drawback is you have to refer to a copy of Francis Peabody Magoun's translation of the New Kalevala (isbn:0674500105) to find Lönnrot's introduction to the Old Kalevala and the Proto-Kalevala. It would have been nice to have them included in this volume.
May 31, 2015
"magic words learned" p. 3
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews