Having found out a few hours ago that today is Kalevala Day in FInland, I decided to do a quick post in honor of it. The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, it being the Matter of Finland just as the Nibelungenlied is the Matter of Germany and the Aeneid is the Matter of Rome.

Elias Lönnrot, a Finnish doctor, assembled the Kalevala from oral folktales in the 1800s. He was inspired by James MacPherson, as were so many collectors of national folklore during that period. The Kalevala would go on to be a major catalyst in bringing about a national consciousness among the Suomi people of Finland. More history and an early English translation of Lönnrot's text can be found here.

Translations of the epic soon reached the West, where it would inspire poets and authors up to the present day. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a huge fan. Judging from references in The Star Rover, Jack London read it. Those references would later lead Robert E. Howard to--briefly--place mentions to the Finnish hero, Il-Marinen, in a couple of yarns. Meanwhile, J.R.R. Tolkien was also reading the Kalevala and was influenced by it in several ways. The tale of the tragically flawed hero, Kullervo, seems to have been the basis for Turin Turambar and The Children of Hurin. Kullervo might have had some influence upon Anderson's The Broken Sword and Moorcock's Elric as well.

The Kalevala—with its tales of magic, monsters and bloody mayhem—has also inspired numerous artists over the last century and a half. I have hastily assembled a fairly representative gallery of art, including works by N.C. Wyeth, Nicolai Kochergin and Willy Pogany.

Kippis sisään!