- Kalevala
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1. (italics) the national epic of Finland (1835, enlarged 1849), compiled and arranged by Elias Lönnrot from popular lays of the Middle Ages.2. the home or land of Kaleva; Finland.[ < Finnish]
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Finnish national epic.It was compiled by Elias Lonnrot from the songs and ballads of Finland's oral tradition and published in complete form in 1849. Kalevala, the dwelling place for the poem's chief characters, is also a poetic name for Finland, meaning "land of heroes." The epic contains a creation story and adventures of legendary heroes. The main character is Väinämöinen, a musician and seer of supernatural origins. Other characters include Ilmarinen, a smith who forged the lids of heaven; Lemminkäinen, a warrior-adventurer and charmer of women; and Louhi, the female ruler of a land in the north. Though the Kalevala depicts conditions during the pre-Christian era, it also seems to foretell the decline of the old religions.* * *
Finnish national epic compiled from old Finnish ballads, lyrical songs, and incantations that were a part of Finnish oral tradition.The Kalevala was compiled by Elias Lönnrot (Lönnrot, Elias), who published the folk material in two editions (32 cantos, 1835; enlarged into 50 cantos, 1849). Kalevala, the dwelling place of the poem's chief characters, is a poetic name for Finland, meaning “land of heroes.” The leader of the “sons of Kaleva” is the old and wise Väinämöinen, a powerful seer with supernatural origins, who is a master of the kantele, the Finnish harplike stringed instrument. Other characters include the skilled smith Ilmarinen, one of those who forged the “lids of heaven” when the world was created; Lemminkäinen, the carefree adventurer-warrior and charmer of women; Louhi, the female ruler of Pohjola, a powerful land in the north; and the tragic hero Kullervo, who is forced by fate to be a slave from childhood.Among the main dramas of the poem are the creation of the world and the adventurous journeys of Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, and Lemminkäinen to Pohjola to woo the beautiful daughter of Louhi, during which the miraculous sampo, a mill that produces salt, meal, and gold and is a talisman of happiness and prosperity, is forged and recovered for the people of Kalevala. Although the Kalevala depicts the conditions and ideas of the pre-Christian period, the last canto seems to predict the decline of paganism: the maid Marjatta gives birth to a son who is baptized king of Karelia, and the pagan Väinämöinen makes way for him, departing from Finland without his kantele and songs.The Kalevala is written in unrhymed octosyllabic trochees and dactyls (the Kalevala metre) and its style is characterized by alliteration, parallelism, and repetition. Besides fostering the Finnish national spirit, the poem has been translated into at least 20 languages; it has inspired many outstanding works of art, e.g., the paintings of Akseli Gallén-Kallela and the musical compositions of Jean Sibelius. The epic style and metre of the poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow also reflect the influence of the Kalevala.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
