Kalevala

Lore & Background

Elias Lönnrot, a physician, botanist, linguist, and poet, compiled the Kalevala while serving as district health officer in Kainuu. He made eleven field trips over fifteen years, collecting poems from Finnish, Karelian, and Ingrian oral traditions. The work is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry that recounts the Creation of the Earth and details the conflicts and retaliatory voyages between the people of Väinölä (the land of Kalevala) and the land of Pohjola, including the construction and theft of the mythical Sampo, a wealth-producing machine. The first version, known as the Old Kalevala, appeared in 1835 with 12,078 verses. The most familiar edition, published in 1849, contains 22,795 verses divided into fifty folk stories. An abridged 1862 version includes all fifty poems but only 9,732 verses. A related, more lyrical collection called the Kanteletar, also compiled by Lönnrot, was published in 1840 and is considered a sister collection. The poetry, also called runic song, was common across Finland and Karelia before the 18th century, when European rhymed verse began to displace it. Finnish folk poetry was first transcribed in the 17th century, but most remained oral until systematic collection efforts in the 19th century. The oldest themes, such as the origin of Earth, may be up to 3,000 years old, while newer elements, like the arrival of Christianity, date from the Iron Age, which lasted in Finland until around 1300 CE.

Reader's Guide

It is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature, alongside J. L. Runeberg's The Tales of Ensign Stål and Aleksis Kivi's The Seven Brothers. Internationally, the Kalevala partly influenced J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, especially The Children of Húrin. The poetry tradition, known as runic song, was common throughout Finland and Karelia before the 18th century but declined due to European rhymed poetry and Reformation-era prohibitions. Collecting efforts in the 19th century became systematic, with almost half a million pages of verse archived. The oldest themes, such as the origin of Earth, may be as old as 3,000 years, while newer events like the arrival of Christianity date to the Iron Age (until c. 1300 CE). Finnish folklorist Kaarle Krohn proposed that 20 of the 45 poems have possible Ancient Estonian origin.

Did You Know?

• The Kalevala was compiled by Elias Lönnrot, who was a physician, botanist, linguist, and poet.
• Lönnrot made eleven field trips over fifteen years to collect the poems.
• The Kalevala partly influenced J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, especially The Children of Húrin.