Kalevala
Sign in to saveThe Kalevala () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish, Karelian and Ingrian folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
AI overview
The Kalevala is a 19th-century epic poem compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish, Karelian, and Ingrian folklore, telling stories of creation, conflicts between rival lands, and the magical Sampo machine. It matters because it preserves and shaped the mythology and cultural identity of Finnish and related peoples.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Book · Open Library
- Author
- Elias Lönnrot
- First published
- 1940
- Editions
- 19
- Subjects
- Translations into Kannada, Kalevala, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism, Finnish Epic poetry, Translations into German, History and criticism, Kommentar
via Open Library
Key facts
- Book.name
- Kalevala
- Book.title_orig
- Kalevala Kalewala
- Book.image
- Kalevala1.jpg
- Book.caption
- First edition, 1835
- Book.author
- Elias Lönnrot
- Book.country
- Grand Duchy of Finland
- Book.language
- Finnish
Article
60 sectionsContents
- Collection and compilation
- Elias Lönnrot
- Poetry
- History
- Lönnrot's field trips
- Methodology
- Form and structure
- Metre
- Schemes
- Poetry example
- Lönnrot's contribution to the ''Kalevala''
- Publishing
- Finnish language
- Translations
- The story
- Introduction
- Cantos
- First Väinämöinen Cycle
- First Lemminkäinen Cycle
- Second Väinämöinen Cycle
- Ilmarinen's Wedding
- Second Lemminkäinen Cycle
- Kullervo Cycle
- Second Ilmarinen Cycle
- Theft of the Sampo
- Louhi's Revenge on Kalevala
- Marjatta cycle
- Characters
- Väinämöinen
- Ilmarinen
- Lemminkäinen
- Ukko
- Hiisi
- Joukahainen
- Louhi
- Kullervo
- Marjatta
- Influence
- Finnish daily life
- Finnish calendar
- Art
- Literature
- Re-tellings
- Works inspired by
- Music
- Classical music
- Folk metal
- Other musical genres
- Film and television
- Military
- Interpretations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- Translations
- Retellings
- Analysis
- Encyclopedia
- External links
The Kalevala () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish, Karelian and Ingrian folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
The Kalevala is regarded as the national epic of Finland and Karelia, and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature along with J. L. Runeberg's The Tales of Ensign Stål and Aleksis Kivi's The Seven Brothers. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the intensification of Finland's language strife that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. The work is known internationally and has partly influenced, for example, J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium (i.e. Middle-earth mythology, especially The Children of Húrin).