..... Click the link for more information. gave the cycle its present form, editing the material and sometimes writing transitional verses himself. Lönnrot published the collection of 50 runes (nearly 23,000 lines) in 1849. Its effect on Finnish art in all its branches has been great. The rhythms of the epic had a strong influence on the composer. Jan Sibelius Sibelius, Jean Julius Christian (zhän y
`ly..... Click the link for more information. , who used it in a number of works, notably Karelia (1893). The eight-syllable trochaic line of the Kalevala was imitated by Longfellow in Hiawatha.
Bibliography
See tr. by W. F. Kirby (1907, new ed. 1956) and F. P. Magoun (1963).
Kalevala
Finnish national epic. It was compiled by Elias Lonnrot from the songs and ballads of Finland's oral tradition and published in complete form in 1849. Kalevala, the dwelling place for the poem's chief characters, is also a poetic name for Finland, meaning “land of heroes.” The epic contains a creation story and adventures of legendary heroes. The main character is Väinämöinen, a musician and seer of supernatural origins. Other characters include Ilmarinen, a smith who forged the lids of heaven; Lemminkäinen, a warrior-adventurer and charmer of women; and Louhi, the female ruler of a land in the north. Though the Kalevala depicts conditions during the pre-Christian era, it also seems to foretell the decline of the old religions.
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