The Kalevala

15 hrs. 53 min.

Poetry

Language Russian

Narrator Vladimir Samoylov

Description

The Kalevala is the Karelian-Finnish epic: a Finnish poem compiled by the scholar Elias Lönnrot, first published in a shorter form in 1835 and then with many more songs in 1849. The title Kalevala, given to the poem by Lönnrot, is the epic name of a country where Finnish folk heroes live and act. The suffix “la” means a place of residence, so “Kalevala” is the abode of Kaleva—the mythological progenitor of Finnish champions: Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, Lemminkäinen, sometimes called his sons. The material for creating the extensive poem of 50 songs was drawn from separate folk songs (runes), partly epic, partly lyrical, and partly magical in character, recorded from the words of Finnish peasants by Lönnrot himself and collectors who came before him. Best remembered are the ancient runes in Russian Karelia, in the Arkhangelsk Governorate (the Vuokkinie mi parish) and the Olonets Governorate (in Repo le and Khimo le), as well as in some parts of Finnish Karelia and on the western shores of Lake Ladoga, up to Ingria. In more recent times (1888), the runes were recorded in significant quantity on the west of the region beyond St. Petersburg and in Esthonia (K. Kron). In an ancient Germanic (Gothic) word, runa (runo), the Finns now call a song in general; but in ancient times, in the pagan period, special meaning was attributed to magical runes—or runes-spells (loitsu runo)—as a product of shamanic beliefs that once prevailed among the Finns, just as among their relatives—the Lapps, Voguls, Zyryans, and other Finno-Ugric peoples.