The Kalevala
Do you know about :-
- “Steady old” Väinämöinen
- Smith Ilmarinen and the Sampo
- “Wanton” Lemminkäinen (and his mother, who brought him back to life after he drowned in the river of Tuonela)
- Louhi, mistress of Northland
- Kullervo
- Marjatta
They are the major characters from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic poem, compiled in the early 1800s from oral traditional tales by Elias Lönnrot. More information available from Wikipedia.
An English translation (by Keith Bosley) is available for loan from the secretary. It is always difficult to translate poetry into another language while still attempting to make it sound like poetry, and this translation can be hard going at times (I wouldn’t advise trying to read the whole 600+ pages in one go!), but is a valiant effort. I would recommend the section about the death and resurrection of Lemminkäinen (poems 12..15) as a taster.
Many paintings have been inspired by the Kalevala,
notably by artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
Two examples are shown below. The society also has a book detailing
Akseli Gallen-Kallela's life with many examples of his paintings which
is available for loan by contacting the secretary.
“Lemminkäinen and his mother”
“Väinamöinen’s Departure”