Transcript Kalevala - University of Oulu

Kalevala
Elias Lönnrot
• April 9, 1802 – March 19, 1884
• philologist and collector of
traditional Finnish oral poetry
– Kantele, 1829–1831
– 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)
Elias Lönnrot’s Trip
• he toured the
countryside of
Finland, Sapmi
(Lapland),
• nearby portions
of Russian
Karelia
Akseli Gallen-Kallela
• April 26, 1865 - March 7, 1931
• painter who is most of all
known for his illustrations of
the Kalevala
• 1925 – he began
illustrations for Kalevala,
but they were still
unfinished because of his
death
Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Kalevala
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National epic of Finland
Name can be interpreted as “Lands of Kaleva” (-la and –lä ending meaning
places)
22,795 verses, divided into fifty cantos or "chapters" (Finnish runo)
Collected by Elias Lönnrot - It has been estimated that the Kalevala
comprises: one third of word for word recordings by the collectors, 50% of
material that Lönnrot adjusted slightly, 14% of verses he wrote himself
based on poem variants and 3% of verses purely of his own invention
Kalewala, taikka Wanhoja Karjalan Runoja Suomen kansan muinoisista
ajoista (The Kalevala, or old Karelian poems about ancient times of the
Finnish people), known as simply the Old Kalevala, came out in two
volumes in 1835–1836; The Old Kalevala consisted of 12,078 verses or
thirty-two poems.
Lönnrot continued to collect new material, which he integrated into a second
edition - Kalevala (the Kalevala), published in 1849 - "new Kalevala"
contains fifty poems, and is the standard text of the Kalevala read today
Kalevala has been translated into 49 languages
– into Polish: 1974 - Józef Ozga-Michalski based on the work of Karol
Laszecki and 1998 by Jerzy Litwiniuk
– into Russian: 1888 - Leonid Petrovic Belsky
Väinämöinen
• central character in the Finnish
folklore and the main character
in the national epic Kalevala,
• old and wise man, and he
possessed a potent, magical
voice,
• in the Estonian national epic
Kalevipoeg a similar hero is
called Vanemuine,
• Central figure in stories about
the birth of the world
• son of the primal goddess
Ilmatar
Kantele
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Finnish traditional plucked
string instrument of the zither
family
Väinämöinen invents the first
kantele with the jawbone of a
giant pike and a few hairs
from Hiisi's gelding
The music it makes draws all
the forest creatures near to
wonder at its beauty. The
kantele has a distinctive belllike sound.
Later Väinämöinen makes a
wooden kantele, strung with
the hair of a willing maiden,
and its magic proves equally
profound.
Väinämöinen
• Relations in nowadays culture:
– Gandalf in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord
of the Rings.
– wizard of Tolkien's, Saruman the
White
– In art he is described as an old man
with a long white beard - popular
appearance for wizards in fantasy
literature,
– finnish folk metal band Ensiferum –
songs "Old Man" and "Little
Dreamer“,
– comic strip "Väinämöisen paluu” by
Petri Hiltunen
– science-fiction book: Joan D. Vinge’s
“The Summer Queen” – characters:
Vanamoinen, Ilmarinen and Kullervo