The Kalevala

The Kalevala is the great Finnish epic, and as a national poem it is unique among epics. The epics of other nations were written after the era of the myths and legends which they record had passed away.

The epic of Finland, the Kalevala, was gathered from the lips of living Finns, who still believed and reverenced the myths and legends of their forefathers. Dr. Elias Lonnrot, the author of this modern epic, was born in Sammatti, Finland, April 9th, 1802. In 1822 he commenced the study of philology and natural science at the University of Abo; then the science of medicine in the University of Helsingfors, in 1827. He took his degree in 1832, and began the practice of medicine. In 1853 he was appointed Professor of the Finnish language and literature at Helsingfors. By his rare talents and still rarer energy he soon made of the Finnish a literary language, and through it he made known to the world the early civilization of Finland.

In the olden time Finland was an independent empire; but in the twelfth century it was conquered by Sweden and converted to Lutheran Christianity. During the union of Finland with Sweden, from the 12th to the 19th century, the cultured classes adopted the Swede language, and the Finnish remained only with the illiterate. The ancient language of Finland was thus fast disappearing.

In 1809 Russia, in a war with Sweden, conquered and kept the Swedish province of Finland despite the opposition and aversion of the Finns. But Russia ruled her new territory wisely, and granted to the Finns many privileges. In her efforts to destroy Swedish influence Russia endeavored to restore the native Finnish language, and the natives, dropping the Swede, were soon able to read and write Finnish. But in 1872 the work of Russianizing the Finns began by making education in the Russe language compulsory in the public schools. The Czar of Russia was only Grand Duke of Finland; and the established or state church continued to be the Lutheran. But Russia has since totally absorbed Finland. It was during the early Russian occupation of Finland that the Kalevala was gathered together and written by Doctor Lonnrot. This seer and prophet of the Finns travelled on foot from the Gulf of Finland to the White Sea, through villages and towns, from peasant homes to peasant huts throughout Finland, gathering material for this great epic. Songs and legends had been handed down from generation to generation descriptive of the time when Finland and the Finns were a nation to themselves. This period of his nation's history Lonnrot desired to perpetuate. The Finns immediately recognized in the Kalevala their national epic, and its marvellous success has been the admiration and wonder of Europe ever since. Translations soon appeared in Swedish, German, French, and later in English, the work of John Martin Crawford (two volumes, 1888). William Sharp, in his review of the Kalevala, says: "The Kalevala describes Finnish life and nature with extraordinary minuteness and beauty; and that no national poem is to be compared with it in this respect, unless it be some of the epics of India."

The Kalevala, the ancient name of Finland, which means "the land of heroes," has for its main theme the contests between the Finns and the Lapps, just as the Iliad relates the contests between the Greeks and the Trojans. Another interpretation is given as to its being allegorical, a contest between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil; the Finns representing Light and Good, the Lapps Darkness and Evil.

The framework of the Kalevala consists of four cycles of folk-songs; interwoven with these are seven distinct romances or folk-tales--The Tale of Aino, the Fishing of the Mermaid, the Wooing of the Daughter of Air, the Golden Bride, the Wooing of the Son of Kojo, the Captivity and Deliverance of the Sun and Moon, the Story of the Virgin Maria; and besides these many prayers and incantations, magic songs, marriage songs, and so forth.

Max Muller says: "From the mouths of the aged, an epic poem has been collected equalling the Iliad in length and completeness; nay, if we can forget for a moment all that we in our youth called beautiful, is not less beautiful. A Finn is not a Greek, and a Wainanoinen was not a Homer. But if a poet may take his colors from that nature by which he is surrounded, if he may depict the men with whom he lives, the Kalevala possesses merits not dissimilar from those of the Iliad, and will claim its place as the fifth national epic of the world."

The five epics are the "Ionian Songs" (Iliad and Odyssey), the Mahabarata, the Shahnamah and the Niebelungen. But the great importance of the Kalevala rests upon its having rejuvenated the national spirit of the Finns. The surprising development of the Finns during the last half of this century is to a large extent due to Elias Lonnrot of Helsingfors, who by his great work rescued from utter oblivion the early civilization of Finland. The meter is so much like Hiawatha that it is said that Longfellow chose his metrical form from his knowledge of the great Finnish epic. A few lines from the prologue and from the Rune of Mariatta will exemplify the style of the Kalevala: