Kalevala facts for kids

"Aino-Taru" (The Aino Story) by Akseli Gallen-Kallela 1891

Kalevala is the Finnish national epic. This means it is a book that is very important to Finnish people.

Kalevala has many stories in it. The stories of Kalevala are poems that are very old. Long ago, people sang these poems. The poems have a unique metre that is not known outside Finnic languages. There are many themes in these stories from different times in the past. The oldest themes are from the stone age. Many of the poems are collected from Karelia and areas nearby.

Heroes have adventures in these stories. The most important heroes are Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, Lemminkäinen and Kullervo. The enemies of heroes are Louhi and Joukahainen. Many stories in Kalevala are about two countries fighting each other. These countries are the land of Kalevala and land of Pohjola. The Land of Kalevala is the land of Heroes. Pohjola is the land of enemies. Pohjola is an evil and cold place somewhere far north.

Elias Lönnrot was a man who collected these poems and made a book of them. Kalevala has been translated into many languages. There is also an English Kalevala.

Images for kids

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  Elias Lönnrot

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  The statue of Väinämöinen by (1888) decorates the Old Student House in Helsinki

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  A caricature of Elias Lönnrot by A. W. Linsen: "Unus homo nobis currendo restituit rem" – "One man saved everything for us by running".

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  Notable towns visited by Elias Lönnrot during his 15 years of field trips – both sides then belonged to Russia

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  Karelian poem singing brothers Poavila and Triihvo Jamanen reciting traditional Finnish folk poetry, Uhtua, 1894.

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  Ilmatar by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1860

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  Lemminkäinen's Mother by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1897

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  Kullervo Speaks to His Sword by Carl Eneas Sjöstrand, 1868 (cast into bronze in 1932)

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  Väinämöinen is deeply identified with his kantele. (Väinämöinen's Play, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1866)

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  Mistress of the North, Louhi attacking Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back. (The Defense of the Sampo, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1896)

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  Entrance hall of the National Museum of Finland with Kalevala frescoes by Gallen-Kallela

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  The lachrymose Kullervo has been a source of inspiration for several artists. (Kullervo's Curse, Gallen-Kallela, 1899)

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  Jean Sibelius in the 1950s. Sibelius is Finland's most famous composer. Many of his works were influenced by the Kalevala.

See also

In Spanish: Kalevala para niños