Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FINLAND'S NATIONAL EPIC
It's hard to overestimate the influence on Finland of theKalevala,an epic tale compiled
from the songs of bards that tells everything from the history of the world to how to make
decent homebrew. Intrepid country doctor Elias Lönnrot trekked eastern Finland during
the first half of the 19th century in order to collect traditional poems, oral runes, legends,
lore and folk stories. Over 11 long tours, he compiled this material with his own writing to
form what came to be regarded as the national epic of Finland.
The mythology of the topic blends creation stories, wedding poems and classic
struggles between good and evil. Although there are heroes and villains, there are also
more nuanced characters that are not so simply described. The main storyline concen-
trates on the events in two imaginary countries, Kalevala (characterised as 'our country')
and Pohjola ('the other place', or the north). Many commentators feel that the epic
echoes ancient territorial conflicts between the Finns and the Sámi. Although impossible
to accurately reproduce the Finnish original, the memorable characters are particularly
well brought to life in poet Keith Bosley's English translation of theKalevala,which is a
fantastic, lyrical read.
The first version ofKalevalaappeared in 1833, with another following in 1835 and yet
another, the final version,Uusi-Kalevala(New Kalevala), in 1849. Its influence on genera-
tions of Finnish artists, writers and composers was and is immense, particularly on paint-
er Akseli Gallen-Kallela and composer Jean Sibelius, who repeatedly returned to the work
for inspiration.
Beyond Finland the epic has influenced the Estonian epicKalevipoegand American
poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Indeed, JRR Tolkien based significant parts of his
mythos on theKalevala.
