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Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland Complete

Elias Lönnrot,

John Martin Crawford (Translator)

4.05 · Rating details · 4,073 ratings · 276 reviews

The Kalevala is the great Finnish epic, which like the Iliad and the Odyssey, grew out of a rich oral tradition with prehistoric roots. During the first millenium of our era, speakers of Uralic languages (those outside the Indo-European group) who had settled in the Baltic region of Karelia, that straddles the border of eastern Finland and north-west Russia, developed an o ...more

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Paperback, 690 pages

Published January 29th 2010 by Hardpress Publishing (first published 1835)

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· 4,073 ratings · 276 reviews

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Jul 24, 2014 Warwick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poetry, mythology-and-legend, folklore-fairytales, finland, epic

When Elias Lönnrot was born in 1802, Finland was a province of Sweden; by the time he came to compile the Kalevala in the 1830s and 1840s, it was part of the Russian Empire. ‘Finnishness’ was (and had been since the twelfth century) little more than a shared idea, and sometimes a dangerous one at that. So this epic is a part of that nineteenth-century fashion for literary and linguistic nationalism that also gave us curiosities like Pan Tadeusz in Poland or The Mountain Wreath in Serbia-Monteneg ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-shelf, fantasy, poetry

Oh my goodness, this is a real treasure!

I was expecting this classic Finnish mythos, this fantasy epic, to be kinda dense and worldly and weighty, but I didn't expect it to be totally readable, droll, classy, and exciting. I also didn't expect to see it as the source material for so many classics I adore, including most of the stories behind Tolkien's The Silmarillion and a good portion of his LoTR.

It reads like a fantastically mythical adventure from start to Finnish and it's no wonder, even i ...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Erin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poetry, religion, history

This is a thought-provoking piece of majestic work. Thought-provoking because as I read it, an insane amount of questions kept coming to mind which I will try (completely incompletely) to compile here, although not with the mastery of Elias Lonnrot.

So, without further ado, three important lessons that I learned from The Kalevala:

Lesson 1: The Kalevala has fuck-all to do with Lord of the Rings.

Yes, yes, I know. Tolkien studied Finnish - an impressive feat because it holds the records for the mos ...more

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Aug 09, 2015 Edward rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, poetry, translated, 5-star, denmark-norway-sweden-finland

Foreword
Dedication
Finnish Pronunciation
Introduction
Select Bibliography

--The Kalevala

Notes
Appendix: Sibelius and the 'Kalevala'

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Jan 15, 2012 Antonomasia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: folklore, c19th, nordic, 2013, poetry, mythology, finland

OUP edition, translated by Keith Bosley

"...the kind of excitement that palaeontologists felt on discovering a live coelacanth". Exactly! I'm not one of the scholars of early European epic Bosley is talking about in that paragraph of his wonderful introduction, just someone who once did a dissertation type thing on "pagan survivals" in late medieval (English) religion and sadly had to conclude that there was very little evidence for anything beyond the odd motif. But in Finland, there was an anc ...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Robert rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poetry, myth-legend-saga

Chances are that if you've heard of this work at all it's because it was the inspiration for Longfellow's Hiawatha, you've just heard about the publication of Tolkien's Story of Kullervo or you're some kind of expert in Epic Poetry. Which is to say it's fairly obscure outside it's native Finnland, where, by contrast everybody knows it because it's the National Epic, heavily influencing the development of a Finnish national consciousness.

(A brief aside on Tolkien: he used the Finnish language as Chances are that if you've heard of this work at all it's because it was the inspiration for Longfellow's Hiawatha, you've just heard about the publication of Tolkien's Story of Kullervo or you're some kind of expert in Epic Poetry. Which is to say it's fairly obscure outside it's native Finnland, where, by contrast everybody knows it because it's the National Epic, heavily influencing the development of a Finnish national consciousness.

(A brief aside on Tolkien: he used the Finnish language as inspiration for Quenya, the language of the High Elves, as can be seen, for example, in his use of "ilma" , "air" in the name Iluvatar, the creator the world, also seen in the Kalevala's magical smith, Ilmarinen who forged the sky.)

Now, I think this is a crying shame because one doesn't have to get very far (say 3 Cantos out of 50) into the Kalevala, which was constructed by Lonrott from Finnish folk songs he collected, before realising that Hiawatha is a trite, juvenile pastiche that is fairly patronising to both the Native American and Finnish cultures Longfellow stole from in order to create his most famous and hugely popular work. The parallels are obvious but reading the Kalevala will connect you to a mythic time past and a culture evolved but still alive now in a way that cutesy Hiawatha, Minnehaha and co. never can. The heroes of this epic, Vainamoinen, Ilmarinen and others have greater stature, more complex character and more visceral connection to their Scandinavian landscape and lifestyle than Longfellow's pale imitations can even imagine. They also have more interesting, exciting and just plain weird adventures - magical duels by song, I don't know how many visits to the land of the dead, the forging of magical and mysterious artifacts, quests, conflicts and more. It's great stuff.

It's also surprisingly easy to read, especially if you take it at just a Canto at a time, like I did. Being immersed in such a vivid, magical, strange world for a long time is a delight anyway. The verse (of this translation, at least) is not stuck in a nightmare of endless iambic meter that swiftly lulls one to sleep, either. Instead lines of variable length maintain a swift narrative (for the most part see below) and I found it pretty easy to read about 10-15 p (a typical Canto length) without losing focus.

The Finnish folk tradition divides up into men's and women's songs. Lonrott didn't discriminate and collected both. When he came to assemble his epic tale from all the song fragments, he incorporated elements from both traditions. The contrast is strong and remarkable; men's songs focus on adventure, magic, conflict, hunting and history. Women's songs focus on the domestic, weddings, marriage, farming, which are comparatively dull and slow. The revelation of an outrageously sexist society is unavoidable; it sucked to be a woman or girl back then.

Bards and song feature heavily in Epic but never so much, in my experience, as in the Kalevala. The most prominent hero is a bard, magic is primarily performed by song and no opportunity is missed to demonstrate how important music, song and story telling were in that mythic land of legend. And the myths presented here are great; fantastical, preposterous, adventurous and most of all tremendous fun: I shall miss hearing about the exploits of the oldest bard, Vainamoinen, forger of the mysterious Sampo, Ilmarinen, and their cohorts and enemies, such as Louhi, hag of the North who stole the sun and the moon. ...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Ammon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Ammon by: Jean Sibelius

Here's my trochaic rendition of my synopsis of the Kalevala:

Wainomainen, ancient minstrel,
Ilmarinen, magic blacksmith,
Lemmenkainen, reckless hero.
They get dumped by Lappish women.
Will they still the magic Sampo
With its lid of many colors?
You bet they will, motherfuckers.

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Aug 04, 2016 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: theclassics, scandinavian-authors

I've never gotten into Finnish history or literature as much as I've followed the other Scandinavian countries. Although, let's face it: Finland is amazing. Not just because they drastically lowered their infant mortality rate by putting their babies in cardboard boxes, and have the best education system in the world. But also because no one knows where they came from! Their language and culture and even genes are very different from the rest of Scandinavia.

And so the Kalevala is also an anomaly ...more

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Feb 04, 2015 Caroline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philip-ward-500-books, scandinavian, poetry

Old woman of underground
soil-dame, earth-mistress
now set the sward pushing up
the strong earth heaving!
The earth will not want for strength
ever in this world
while there’s love from the givers
and leave from natures’s daughters.

This poem immerses you in physical and mythical Finland. Every page is filled with original, lyrical communion with the natural world. Every episode combines folk heroes, folk wisdom, fantastic shape-changing and song. Because above all else you understand Finland as a coun ...more

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Jul 19, 2013 Deborah Ideiosepius rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historic-fiction, europe

I had never heard of the Kalevala, but recently I visited Finland for the first time (hopefully not the last) and it is everywhere; Go to an art gallery, or a historical house, or a museum and things based on the Kalevala are everywhere. Drive down the highway and there is a construction company named after a character in the Kalevala. So it soon became evident that if I wanted to understand anything about Finland I would have to read it. It proved to be no great effort; reading the Kalevala was I had never heard of the Kalevala, but recently I visited Finland for the first time (hopefully not the last) and it is everywhere; Go to an art gallery, or a historical house, or a museum and things based on the Kalevala are everywhere. Drive down the highway and there is a construction company named after a character in the Kalevala. So it soon became evident that if I wanted to understand anything about Finland I would have to read it. It proved to be no great effort; reading the Kalevala was pure pleasure.

In the mid 1800’s a scholar named Elias Lonnrot decided that Finland needed it’s own mythological background, separate from Russia or Sweden both of which had historically major impact on the area that is now Finland. He spent a number of summers wandering in remote areas and collecting the folk stories or folk songs which he then amalgamated into the Kalevala. With a remarkable perspective for someone of that era, he wanted this epic tradition to, as much as possible; reflect the tradition which pre-dated Christianity.

I have always regretted that I could not love the ‘classical epics’ as much as I wanted to. The Illiad and Odyssey I read mostly with impatience. The Hiawatha ‘epic’ dragged so badly that I never quite finished it. They all seemed so ponderous and moralistic. The Kalevala is not. It danced off the pages straight into my imagination and proceeded to embed itself cheerfully into my own personal mythology. I can’t even say what makes it so easy to read. But for weeks after I finished it phrases from the story would pop into my head at the most unexpected times.

It starts with a fairly standard creation myth, standard in that it is purely symbolic, however in one way it is not at all standard; the central creation figure is a woman and most tend to be men. It then proceeds though fifty verses to tell the stories of the ‘wise old man’ figure ‘steady old Vainamoinen’ the feckless oversexed young man ‘wanton Lemminkainen’, the craftsman ‘Smith Ilmarinen’ and many others. Like most folk or mythological figures they do amazing things, create machines, go on voyages, decide to fly or become other beings, talk to animals ect. Where they differ from many other mythologies is how phenomenally human, fallible and ultimately likeable they are. The likeability of the characters is one of the things that sets this epic aside for me from others.

As the Kalevala progresses the stories get closer to the modern day, and the last one is basically about the numinous of mythological beliefs being cast out from the society which has been integrated into christianity. I was sorry it ended, and predictably, as I am not christian, resented the ending while still recognising the phenomenal amount of work that went into this and that it could not have gone on forever. ...more

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Nov 23, 2015 Maaike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, favourites

4.75*
That was great. I never expected I would ever finish it, it being over 600 pages of poetry, but I did, and I enjoyed every second of it.
We all know Greek, Roman and Norse mythology, but Finnish mythology is unfortunately very unheard of. By reading this epoch you can see how the lives of Finnish people centuries ago were influenced a lot by nature. The nature in the story is alive; it speaks, thinks and feels. Birds, fish, bears and wolves all play a vital role in the tale, the god-heroes a ...more

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Apr 25, 2014 Markus rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, pillars-of-fantasy, classics, mythology, fantasy, poetry, nordic-culture

Let me first clarify that the two-star rating is based solely on my experience with this book, and not on its overall quality.

There were two reasons why I started reading the Kalevala a while ago. Firstly, because it was one of Tolkien's major inspirations in his writing career. Secondly, because it seemed like a classical version of sword & sorcery mixed with old poetry. And that's amazingly enough just what it is.

The negative part is that the story is incredibly boring, filled with endless ...more

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Feb 22, 2018 Ian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a revised version of an Amazon review of two “Kalevala” translations, originally written and posted in 2004, and greatly enlarged in 2012.

For its appearance in Goodreads, I’ve made some additions (and omissions), briefly discussing two other, and readily available, older translations, which I had originally just mentioned.

One thing I learned from the original version of this review is that a reviewer proposes, but only Amazon disposes. (A lesson repeated frequently during the last couple ...more

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Sep 20, 2018 Biblio Curious rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-global-epic-project

The backstory of how this epic came to be is also fascinating & is riddled with language awesomeness. Women have important roles to play. And sometimes, men are simply buffoons. It's such a wonderful change of pace from these old epics to see women hold their own so well. In the early parts, among my favourite are when the man is newly created, he actually takes time to stop and think. He reflects on what he should do. When he stops thinking, that's when everything falls apart for him. There ...more

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Nov 04, 2017 Michael Haase rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Kalevala is without a doubt the most insanely hilarious and absurd epic poem or collection of epic poems I've ever read. It's really quite difficult to put to word just how ridiculous the story of The Kalevala truly is. In this book, you'll find a man peeling a rock and crafting a boat out of yarn, a man being born on top of a pile of burning charcoal with a pair of miniature smithing tools in each hand, a single bee going on a vast journey to collect special honey to be used as healing oint The Kalevala is without a doubt the most insanely hilarious and absurd epic poem or collection of epic poems I've ever read. It's really quite difficult to put to word just how ridiculous the story of The Kalevala truly is. In this book, you'll find a man peeling a rock and crafting a boat out of yarn, a man being born on top of a pile of burning charcoal with a pair of miniature smithing tools in each hand, a single bee going on a vast journey to collect special honey to be used as healing ointment for a man that was sliced in pieces and then sewn back together again, two old guys calmly chatting by the stove about the origin of metal while one of them is spewing blood everywhere from his knee, and the most amazing part of all, instead of people fighting each other with swords and spears they have epic rap battles! These are just a few things that happen in the text! Honestly, I've never encountered an epic with as many crazy surprises as this. Each chapter I was just waiting to see what sort of madness would occur next.

The characters are also more appealing and ironically more realistic than those of other epics. They have an emotional capacity and vulnerability that sets them apart from other epic heroes, especially Scandinavian heroes.

Besides the outlandish things going on in the plot, I was rather confused by the composition. The text seems disjointed when you look at the religious underlining. I saw the Christian god as well as Judas being mentioned alongside Thor, and it goes without saying that neither of those two figures and their respective mythologies fit in with The Kalevala's origin story for the universe.

The reason I'm giving The Kalevala only three stars is because despite the immensely amusing narrative, the book becomes very tedious and boring at times, as well as overly repetitive with its style. I haven't read the Finnish text, so I don't understand the original rhythm and rhyme scheme of it, but the Oxford version displays a manner of reiterating phrases and strophes with a few word variations, in a melodic fashion. This gets weary after a while, as the reader must wade through the same texts over and over again.

There is also a weird manner in which everything is done in pairs of three, like Goldilocks with the three bears. If a man is wounded he visits three houses, when a person is facing trials to win a maiden's hand he must face three trials, etc. etc. Weirdly enough, Goldilocks is even mentioned in the Oxford edition, though they probably don't say Goldilocks in the Finnish version.

Then there is the incredibly boring 100+ page passage about marital rites and obligations, which is coincidentally followed by the most entertaining part of the book imo.

Likewise, there is also a large portion about a character named Kullervo which I just didn't care for. I found him an unattractive character and the passage the most the resembling to other Germanic epics about feuds and revenge. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the story and seems sort of like a digression.

Lastly, I cannot reconcile myself with the fact that the original authors of these poems tacitly endorse kidnapping, theft, rape, and wrath-induced murder. Is the reader supposed to side with Väinämöinen and his gang after they've just stolen the livelihood of the northern folk? What was the purpose of including all those bride-kidnapping scenes?

Don't let yourself be intimidated by the size of the book. It reads fast, especially if you skip all the repeated phrases and superfluous details. It's entertaining, full of surprises, and contains a cast of goofy characters, but also has countless boring passages as well. ...more

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Aug 07, 2015 Bryan Alexander rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lit, storytelling, poetry

Notes on reading the Kalevala:

I don't want to offer a scholarly analysis here. Instead I want to offer my impressions on first reading this work, and assume you all can fire up Google for more information. (This edition's introduction is excellent, and I recommend it)

I read the Kalevala because I was visiting Finland for the first time and wanted to dive into that nation's culture. I ended up staying in a Kalevala-themed hotel, which was fun.

It's an unusual work to read, mostly for formal reason Notes on reading the Kalevala:

I don't want to offer a scholarly analysis here. Instead I want to offer my impressions on first reading this work, and assume you all can fire up Google for more information. (This edition's introduction is excellent, and I recommend it)

I read the Kalevala because I was visiting Finland for the first time and wanted to dive into that nation's culture. I ended up staying in a Kalevala-themed hotel, which was fun.

It's an unusual work to read, mostly for formal reasons. For starters, the book is a series of 50 poems. Stories or cycles stretch across several or many of them, like the tragic tale of Kullervo (poems 31-36). Knowing the contours of those stories helps the reader make sense of each poem.

At a smaller level, the poems have the frequent habit of having a line repeat the previous line with a twist: "the maids are sporting/the beauties are capering" (125), "he built a fence with no gap/knocked up with without a gate" (440). You have to be ready for this, withholding your expectation that the next line you read will advance things. And as with other, older epics, the Kalevala likes to repeat tag lines, such as "steady old Väinämöinen" and "wanton Lemminkäinen".

Tonally the Kalevala resembles ancient epics and mythic texts, combining heroic acts with tall tales and a touch of the supernatural. The supernatural appears through the power of song and poetry, which lets bards alter reality with well-performed verse. There aren't many gods, beyond the frequent evocation of some major, unnamed deity ("Old Man"). A scary witch is able to carry an army on her back when she shape shifts into bird form (depicted on this edition's glorious cover). A mother resurrects her son, a bit like the story of Osiris. And nobody's quite sure what the Sampo is, beyond a fine macguffin.

So what's the book about? There isn't a single plot, other than Väinämöinen's career, which frames the epic and constitutes some of the better parts. Instead the Kalevala works like a linked short story collection, each story capable of standing on its own, while making some links to other tales. There's an origin story, a hilarious magic contest, the epic Sampo raid, several marriage/kidnapping plots, and ultimately a version of Findland's Christianization.

It's a strange treat, at least for this reader who's new to Finland. Characters are engaging, like the manic Lemminkäinen, tragic Aino and Kullervo, and grumpy old man/Merlin Väinämöinen. The stories move in unexpected directions. Some scenes have the force of fairy tales. As a materialist I found much to dig into, such as the way poems reflect the conditions of living in a very cold climate (lots of hunting, little agriculture, many scenes with skiing and sledges). ...more

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Dec 03, 2016 Mina Soare rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Mina by: Langfocus on Youtube

Shelves: gods, anthology, nordic, teacheables, witches-wizards-warlocks, mythology, murders, family

Kalevala is a national treasure to the Finns, a collection of mythology that is the more precious for containing both the creation myth as well as cultural insights into the Finnish culture. It stands in comparison with other such treasures as the The Poetic Edda , the Greeks' Theogony and The Illiad & the Odyssey and so on. What's more, its stories and the Finnish perspective on stories common all around the world color a vivid picture of their culture.

What sets Kalevala apart is that ...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Panagiotis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In fact i decided to read kalevala because one of my favorite band,Amorphis from Finland,writes music that deals with stories from this epic poem.Well,i did right,cause as a fan of worldwide Mythologies,Kalevala offered me all the things i just wanted to read.Gods,evil witches,heroes,battles and exciting,heroic,funny or tragic stories.Recommended to all people who like such stuff,by reading this you will also put yourself in a place comparing the stories with similar of other's Mythologies.One o ...more

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May 18, 2016 Louisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology, epic-poetry

Väinämöinen with his harp

The Kalevala is a delight; a wonderful rendering of ancient Finnish mythology. The English translation by John Crawford (1888) reads beautifully and follows closely the Finnish cadence with eight syllables in every line. While the male heroes Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen provide most of the action, I thought it was interesting to see how the Finnish world was created entirely by females; the Daughter of the Ether and a seabird that lays golden eggs on her knee ...more

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Apr 20, 2008 Rena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As a Finn, this epic speaks to my heart. I haven't finished the book--shameful--but the poetry and story are amazing. The Kalevala was the oral tradition of the Finns and this translation preserves that feeling.

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Feb 14, 2017 Theo Logos rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poetry, mythology-folklore-fairytales, vikings-etc, audio-books

Listening to The Kalevala can be a haunting experience. Its verse has a mesmerizing, sing-song quality that makes amble use of repetition. This has a certain beauty and charm, but what it lacked, for me, was the power of portraying its characters and their deeds with any kind of visceral reality. Though its heroes and villains are truly intriguing, the verse that described them kept me from fully immersing in their stories.
The heroes here are at once larger than life, god-like, yet full of huma ...more

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Jul 28, 2009 Yiting Shen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was inspired by the special Kalevala exhibition at the Atheneum Art Museum in Helsinki the past weekend. The paintings and sculptures drew me into the epic world.

The words have served as vivid memories for my short visit. The English translation is rather easy to read compared with the Homeric Iliad or Odyssey. More importantly, as I read close and loud into the lines, Kalevala has the light touch, and sense of humor. It's not as cold as you think - Finns are warm as I encounter, from the very ...more

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Dec 28, 2009 Bettie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: winter-20092010, fraudio, poetry, published-1835

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 29, 2009 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Laura by: Bettie

Shelves: scandinavian-literature, audio-books, read-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 11, 2011 Jeremiah Peter rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Thank god for that charm against bears! I have yet to be eaten by one, so it must have worked. The book itself is very very very dry and very very very difficult to get through, but again, no more bears!

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Sep 10, 2017 P.E. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: finnish-literature, mythology, vivid-dream

Matching Soundtrack :
Just A Poke - Sweet Smoke

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Oct 01, 2017 Hayley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-world, poetry

The Kalevala is Finland’s epic. The title comes from Karelia, a region that straddles Finland and Russia and is where the stories come from. Elias Lonnrot collected these oral stories and stitched them together to write The Kalevala, published in 1835. Lonnrot’s project is part of the nineteenth-century interest in the folk (think ballad revival and the Grimm’s fairytales). Lonnrot’s Finnish work is also regarded as Finland’s national epic and a work of nation-building. First a province of Swede ...more

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Apr 02, 2019 Rebecca added it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Let the words scatter from my mouth, let me tell my tale, let the soundings reverberate.

In this text words spoken well, poetics sung, thoughts recounted become literal magic. Any reader would like that. We have the typical mythic tales. Women being wooed, forced into marriage, and sometimes eking out of it. Incest, creation myths, solar body shrouding, and the birth of Jesus.

Though I loved the translation, in some of the notes, once the translator explained their word choice, I immediately disa ...more

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Aug 05, 2019 Jemppu added it · review of another edition

How could I forget: most kids in Finland must've been fed epic fantasy at some point, as a part of their basic education. And there certainly are several characters of intrigue in this epos.

Gallen-Kallela-Lemminkainens-Mother

Brothers-at-arms Lemminkäinen and Iku-Tiera being my personal favourite duo, though very briefly present as such. Also, blacksmith Ilmarinen warrants a mention.

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Oct 02, 2018 Clarissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literatura, fantasia

It is such a shame that not many people know about this book, as it is truly a hidden treasure.

I came to read the Kalevala because I am a Tolkien fan, and I wanted to get to know what was one of his favorite books and main sources of inspiration.

It is surprisingly easy to read if you have into account that it is an epic poem. I was immersed in this strange and fantastical world, and in the tragedy and poetry that it conveys. From what I saw in this poem, Finish mythology is very different from ...more

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About Elias Lönnrot

Elias Lönnrot

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Elias 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 ha Elias 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. ...more

Books by Elias Lönnrot

Kalevala, the Land of Heroes, Volume Two

Kalevala: The Land of the Heroes, Volume I

The Old Kalevala and Certain Antecedents

Vaeltaja - muistelmia jalkamatkalta Hämeestä, Savosta ja Karjalasta 1828

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Trivia About The Kalevala

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Quotes from Kalevala: The Epi...

“Once to swim I sought the sea-side,
There to sport among the billows;
With the stone of many colors
Sank poor Aino to the bottom
Of the deep and boundless blue-sea,
Like a pretty son-bird, perished.
Never come a-fishing, father,
To the borders of these waters,
Never during all thy life-time,
As thou lovest daughter Aino.

Mother dear, I sought the sea-side,
There to sport among the billows;
With the stone of many colors,
Sank poor Aino to the bottom
Of the deep and boundless blue-sea,
Like a pretty song-bird perished.
Never mix thy bread, dear mother,
With the blue-sea's foam and waters,
Never during all thy life-time,
As thou lovest daughter Aino.
Brother dear, I sought the sea-side,
There to sport among the billows;
With the stone of many colors
Sank poor Aino to the bottom
Of the deep and boundless blue-sea,
Like a pretty song-bird perished.
Never bring thy prancing war-horse,
Never bring thy royal racer,
Never bring thy steeds to water,
To the borders of the blue-sea,
Never during all thy life-time,
As thou lovest sister Aino.

Sister dear, I sought the sea-side,
There to sport among the billows;
With the stone of many colors
Sank poor Aino to the bottom
Of the deep and boundless blue-sea,
Like a pretty song-bird perished.
Never come to lave thine eyelids
In this rolling wave and sea-foam,
Never during all thy life-time,
As thou lovest sister Aino.
All the waters in the blue-sea
Shall be blood of Aino's body;
All the fish that swim these waters
Shall be Aino's flesh forever;
All the willows on the sea-side
Shall be Aino's ribs hereafter;
All the sea-grass on the margin
Will have grown from Aino's tresses.” — 18 likes

“Words shall not be hid
nor spells buried
might shall not sink underground
though the mighty go.” — 14 likes

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