Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes (Kirby translation)

Author(s)

• Elias Lönnrot

The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. It is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala played an instrumental role in the development of the Finnish national identity, the intensification of Finland's language strife and the growing sense of nationality that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. The first version of The Kalevala (called The Old Kalevala) was published in 1835. The version most commonly known today was first published in 1849 and consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty songs. The title can be interpreted as "The Land of Kaleva" or "Kalevia." If the rhythm of the poetry sounds familiar to American readers, it is probably because Henry Wadsworth Longfellow borrowed its trochaic tetrameter form for his famous "Song of Hiawatha." Of the five complete translations of the Kalevala into English, it is only the older translations by John Martin Crawford (1888) and William Forsell Kirby (1907) which attempt strictly to follow the original rhythm (Kalevala meter) of the poems. Modern writers influenced by the Kalevala include J. R. R. Tolkien, whose epic "Lord of the Rings" trilogy make use of both style and content from the Finnish work. - Summary by Wikipedia (edited and supplemented by Expatriate)

1. Runo 01
2. Runo 02
3. Runo 03
4. Runo 04
5. Runo 05
6. Runo 06
7. Runo 07
8. Runo 08
9. Runo 09
10. Runo 10
11. Runo 11
12. Runo 12
13. Runo 13
14. Runo 14
15. Runo 15
16. Runo 16
17. Runo 17
18. Runo 18
19. Runo 19
20. Runo 20
21. Runo 21
22. Runo 22
23. Runo 23
24. Runo 24
25. Runo 25
26. Runo 26
27. Runo 27
28. Runo 28
29. Runo 29
30. Runo 30
31. Runo 31
32. Runo 32
33. Runo 33
34. Runo 34
35. Runo 35
36. Runo 36
37. Runo 37
38. Runo 38
39. Runo 39
40. Runo 40
41. Runo 41
42. Runo 42
43. Runo 43
44. Runo 44
45. Runo 45
46. Runo 46
47. Runo 47
48. Runo 48
49. Runo 49
50. Runo 50