Book Cover of Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes

Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes

by Elias Lonnrot

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.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

Finnish

Published In

1835

Author

Elias Lonnrot image

Elias Lonnrot

United State

Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, (1835, enlarged 1849), from...

More on Elias Lonnrot

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

The Psalms and Odes of Solomon Cover image

The Psalms and Odes of Solomon by Rendel Harris

The Odes of Solomon is a collection of 42 odes attributed to Solomon. Various scholars have dated the composition of these religious poems to anywhere...

The Ballad of the White Horse  Cover image

The Ballad of the White Horse by Gilbert K. Chesterton

The Ballad of the White Horse is a poem by G. K. Chesterton about the idealised exploits of the Saxon King Alfred the Great. Written in ballad form, t...

Collected Poems 1901-1918  Cover image

Collected Poems 1901-1918 by Walter de la Mare

Early poems written by Walter de la Mare. de la Mare is best remembered for his works for children.

The Song of Roland Cover image

The Song of Roland by Anonymous

The Song of Roland is an 11th-century epic poem (chanson de geste) based on Roland and the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during the reign of Charle...

The Giaour Cover image

The Giaour by George Gordon Byron, Lord

The Giaour is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 by John Murray and printed by Thomas Davison. It was the first in the series of Byron's Ori...

Evangeline Cover image

Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follo...

The Odyssey Cover image

The Odyssey by Homer

A wandering king who's a war-hero doomed to roam the earth by a vengeful God, a plethora of fantastic experiences, a wife battling the invasion of sui...

The Faerie Queene, Book 2 Cover image

The Faerie Queene, Book 2 by Edmund Spenser

The Second Booke of the Faerie Queene contayning The Legende of Sir Guyon or of Tempaurance. The Faerie Queene was never completed, but it continues t...

The Man in the Panther's Skin Cover image

The Man in the Panther's Skin by Shota Rustaveli

It is a captivating adventure tale that takes readers on a journey through ancient lands filled with heroic knights, noble quests, and timeless values...

The Iliad of Homer, Rendered into English Blank Verse Cover image

The Iliad of Homer, Rendered into English Blank Verse by Homer

The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer. Usually considered to have been written down circa t...

Reviews for Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes

No reviews posted or approved, yet...