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Kalevala is derived from the Finnish soccer player Sami Hyypia.
:''For other meanings of '''Kalevala''', see: ]''

The '''''Kalevala''''' is a book and ] which the Finn ] compiled from ] and ] ] in the ]. It is held to be the ] of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of ] ]. ] in the Republic of Karelia and other Balto-Finnic speakers also value the work. The ''Kalevala'' is credited with some of the inspiration for the ] that ultimately led to ] in ].

The name can be interpreted as the "lands of Kaleva" (by the Finnish suffix -la/lä for place). The epic consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty ]s or "chapters" (Finnish ''runo'').

], ]]]

==Compilation==
{{main|Elias Lönnrot}}

Elias Lönnrot (1802–84) was a ] and a district health officer in ], an eastern region of Finland which in his time was an autonomous ]. The son of a ] in the village of ], he entered the ] (the successor of which is the ]) in 1822 and started his poem collection journeys in 1827. He made a total of eleven ]s during a period of fifteen years.

===The poetry===
]
Finnish folk poetry was first written down in the ], followed by a few collectors during the next centuries. In the 19th century, collecting became more extensive and systematic. Altogether, almost two million verses were collected during this time. Of these, about 1,250,000 have been published and some 500,000 remain unpublished in the archives of the ] and the collections in ] and the ] and other parts of ]. By the end of the 19th century this pastime and the cumulating cultural orientation towards eastern lands had become a fashion called ].

Lönnrot and his contemporaries (e.g. A.J. Sjögren and D.E.D. Europaeus) collected most of the poem variants (one poem might have up to two hundred variants) scattered across the regions of Karelia and ] amongst the ]. They carefully noted the name of the poem singer, his or her age, the place of performance and the date in their records. During his fourth field trip in September 1833 Lönnrot got the idea that the poems might represent a wider continuity when poem entities were performed to him along with comments in normal speech connecting them.

The poetry was usually sung to tunes built on a ], sometimes assisted by the '']'' (a kind of five-string ]). The rhythm could vary but the tunes were arranged in either two or four lines consisting of five beats each. Sometimes the poems were performed ]ly, sometimes they were a part of a "singing-match" between knowers of the tradition. Despite the vast geographical distances and cultural spheres separating the individual singers, the poetry was always sung in the same metre, the so-called ''archaic trochaic tetrametre''. Its other formal features are ] and ] and inversion into ].

The ] of this ] is uncertain. The seemingly oldest themes (the beginning of the world) have been interpreted to have their roots in distant ] while the seemingly latest events (e.g. the arrival of ]) seem to be from the ].

Of the tens of poem singers who contributed to the ''Kalevala'', significant ones include:
* ] (1769–1840)
* Matro
* Ontrei Malinen (1780–1855)
* Vaassila Kieleväinen
* Soava Trohkimainen

===Lönnrot’s contribution to Kalevala===
Lönnrot arranged the collected poems into a coherent whole. In this process he merged poem variants and characters together and left out verses that did not fit in or composed lines of his own in order to connect certain passages into a logical plot. He even invented a few names which could be used for a character throughout the whole story. It has been estimated that the ''Kalevala'' comprises: one third of word for word recordings by the collectors, 50% of material that Lönnrot adjusted slightly, 14% of verses he wrote himself based on poem variants and 3% of verses purely of his own invention. What can be thought to be Lönnrot's most significant contribution is the arrangement of the poems. In the preface of Old Kalevala (signed on ], ]), Lönnrot highlights the possibility that somebody other than him could select different poems variants and that Kalevala would still be as genuine as it was on the day of its completion. As a matter of fact, Lönnrot added some 3,000 verses of poem variants in the end of the Old Kalevala for others to compare...

===Publishing===
The first version of Lönnrot's compilation, ''Kalewala, taikka Wanhoja Karjalan Runoja Suomen Kansan muinoisista ajoista'' (The Kalevala, or old Karelian poems about ancient times of the Finnish people), also known as simply the ''Old Kalevala'', came out in two volumes in ]–]. The ''Old Kalevala'' consisted of 12,078 verses or thirty-two poems.

Lönnrot continued to collect new material, which he integrated into a second edition, ''Kalevala'' (the Kalevala), published in ]. This "new Kalevala" contains fifty poems, and is the standard text of the Kalevala read today.

===Translations===

Of the five full translations into English, the older translations by John Martin Crawford (1888), William Forsell Kirby (1907) and the more recent Eino Friberg translation (1989) follow the original rhythm (]) of the poems (which may sound cumbersome to English ears). The Canadian, Edward Taylor Fletcher, also translated selections of the ''Kalavala'' in 1869, reading them before the ] on 17 March of the same year.
<ref>Fletcher, E. T. Esq. "The Kalevala, or National Epos of the Finns." ''Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec'' NS 6 (1869): 45-68.</ref>

The scholarly translation by Francis Peabody Magoun Jr. (1963) is an attempt to keep the literal meaning of the poem intact for study and preservation reasons and is written in prose; the appendices of this version also contain many notes on the history and culture of the poem, comparisons between the original ''Old Kalevala'' and the most well-known version today, and a detailed glossary of terms and names used in the poem. The most recent version by the poet ] (1998) is written in a more fluid linguistic style.

A notable partial translation of the German translation (by ] published in ]) was made by Prof. ] in ] and published by Leypoldt & Holt. An article on this version is available .

So far the ''Kalevala'' has been translated into forty-nine languages. Parts of the book have been translated to sixty languages.

Partial list of translations in chronological order by language (Based partially on the list created by Rauni Puranen):

{| class="wikitable"
|- align=center |
| '''Language''' || '''Year''' || '''Translator''' || '''Remark'''
|-
|rowspan=6| ] || 1841 || ] || old Kalevala (original of 1835)
|-
|| 1864–1868 || ] || new Kalevala (original of 1849)
|-
|| 1884 || ] || free translation
|-
|| 1944 || ] || abridged Swedish edition
|-
|| 1948 || ] || entire Kalevala
|-
|| 1999 || ] and ] || entire Kalevala
|-
|rowspan=3| ] || 1845 and 1867 || ] ||
|-
|| 1927 || ] ||
|-
|| 1991 || ] || entire Kalevala translated using old French vocabulary
|-
|rowspan=4| ] || 1852 || ] ||
|-
|| 1885-1886 || H. Paul ||
|-
|| 1967 || ], ] ||
|-
|| 2004 || Gisbert Jänicke ||
|-
|rowspan=7| ] || 1868 || ] || Partial translation, via. Franz Anton Schiefner's version
|-
| 1869 || Edward Taylor Fletcher || First translation directly from Finnish (with a lengthy essay)
|-
|| 1888 || ] || Full translation, via. Franz Anton Schiefner's version
|-
|| 1907 || ] || Second translation directly from Finnish
|-
|| 1963 || ] || prose translation
|-
|| 1989 || ] || editing and introduction by George C. Schoolfield
|-
|| 1998 || ] || A work of literature that goes beyond translating verse as verse.
|-
|rowspan=5| ] || 1871 || Ferdinánd Barna || translated from Schiefner's German version
|-
|| 1909 || Béla Vikár ||
|-
|| 1971 || Kálmán Nagy ||
|-
|| 1976 || István Rácz ||
|-
|| 1987 || Imre Szente ||
|-
| ] || 1888 || ] ||
|-
| ] || 1891–1898 || M. J. Eisen ||
|-
| ] || 1894–1895 || J. Holeček ||
|-
| ] || 1901 || E. Timcenko ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1907 || ] || selected parts
|-
|| 1994 || ] and ] ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1909 || I. Cocchi ||
|-
|| 1910 || ] ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1937 || Kakutan Morimoto ||
|-
|| 1976 || Tamotsu Koizumi ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1954 || Saul Tschernichovsky ||
|-
|| 1978 || Sarah Tubia ||
|-
| ] || 1954 || Hersh Rosenfeld ||
|-
| ] || 1959 || Iulian Vesper ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1962 || Shih Hêng ||
|-
|| 1985 || Sun Yong ||
|-
| ] || 1964 || Johan Edvard Leppäkoski ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1965 || Hilmi Ziya Ülken ||
|-
|| 1982 || Lale and Muammar Oğuz ||
|-
| ] || 1967 || Albert Lange Fliflet || "i attdiktning ved" (])
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1974 || ] based on the work of ] || Full text translation
|-
|| 1998 || ] || Full text translation
|-
| ] || 1983 || Alpha A. Diallo ||
|-
| ] || 1985 || Mies le Nobel ||
|-
| ] || 1985 || Amrith Someshwar ||
|-
| ] || 1986 || Tuomo Pekkanen ||
|-
|rowspan=3 | ] || 1986 || Cao Xuân Nghiêp ||
|-
|| 1991 || Hoàng Thái Anh ||
|-
|| 1994 || Búi Viêt Hòa's ||
|-
| ] || 1990 || ] ||
|-
| ] || 1991 || Sahban Ahmad Mroueh ||
|-
|rowspan=2| ] || 1991 || Jelka Ovaska Novak || Partial translation
|-
|| 1997 || Jelka Ovaska Novak || Full text translation
|-
| ] || 1991 || Jan Knappert ||
|-
| ] || 1992 || Nino Nikolov ||
|-
| ] || 1992 || Maria Martzouk ||
|-
| ] || 1993 || ] ||
|-
| ] || 1994 || R. Sivalingam (Uthayanan) || Full translation
|-
| ] || 1997 || ], ] || Full translation directly from Finnish. In verse.
|-
|] || 2007 || Orlando Moreira || Full text in verse. (Partial version available online)
|}

==The Storyline==
===Synopses===
{{main|Kalevala (Synopses)}}

]" (The Aino Story) by ] ]]]
'''Cantos 1–10: The first Väinämöinen cycle''': Creation of the world; the first man; Väinämöinen’s and Joukahainen’s encounter; Joukahainen promises his sister’s hand to Väinämöinen in exchange for his life; ] (Joukahainen’s sister) walks into the sea; Joukahainen’s revenge; the wounded Väinämöinen floats into '']'' (Northland); Väinämöinen encounters the Maid of the North and promises the Mistress of the North the '']'' in exchange for her daughter; Väinämöinen tricks the smith ] into ''Pohjola'' where he forges the ''Sampo''.

'''Cantos 11–15: The first Lemminkäinen cycle''': Lemminkäinen steals the maid Kyllikki of the Island; they make a vow; she forgets her vow; Lemminkäinen travels to ''Pohjola'' to propose to the Maid of the North; deeds Lemminkäinen must accomplish: ski for the Demon’s elk, bridle the Demon’s horse and shoot the Swan of '']'' (the land of the dead); a herdsman kills Lemminkäinen and throws his body into the River of ''Tuonela''; Lemminkäinen’s mother awakens him into life.

'''Cantos 16–18: The second Väinämöinen cycle''': Väinämöinen' travels to ''Tuonela'' and to meet Antero Vipunen in order to get spells for boat building and sails to ''Pohjola''; Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen compete for the hand of the Maid of the North.

'''Cantos 19–25: Ilmarinen's wedding''': Ilmarinen accomplishes the needed deeds with the help of the Maid: ploughing the viper-field, quelling of the wolves of ''Tuonela'' and catching the pike out of the River of Tuonela; the wedding of Ilmarinen and the Maid of the North. The story of the brewing of the ale.

'''Cantos 26–30: The second Lemminkäinen cycle''': Lemminkäinen is resentful for not having been invited to the wedding; he travels to Pohjola and wins the duel with the Master of Northland; an army is conjured to get back at Lemminkäinen; at his mother’s advice he flees to the Island of Refuge; returning home he sees that his house is burned down; he goes to Pohjola with his companion Tiera to get revenge but the Mistress of the North freezes the seas and Lemminkäinen has to return home.
]) by ] ]]]

'''Cantos 31–36: The Kullervo cycle''': Untamo kills his brother Kalervo’s people except for the wife who begets Kullervo; Untamo gives Kullervo several tasks but he sabotages them all; Kullervo is sold as a slave to Ilmarinen; after being tormented by Ilmarinen’s wife, he exacts revenge and the wife gets killed; Kullervo runs away and finds his family unharmed near ]; Kullervo seduces a maiden and later finds out she is his sister; Kullervo destroys ''Untamola'' (the realm of Untamo) and upon returning home finds everyone killed; Kullervo kills himself.

'''Cantos 37–38: The second Ilmarinen cycle''': Ilmarinen forges himself a wife out of gold and silver but finds her to be cold and discards her; Ilmarinen then robs the sister of the Maid of the North from ''Pohjola''; she insults him so he discards her; Ilmarinen tells Väinämöinen of the carefree life of ''Pohjola'' because of the ''Sampo''.

'''Cantos 39–44: The plunder of the Sampo (third Väinämöinen cycle)''': Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen sail to get the ''Sampo''; they kill a great pike out of whose jaw bone the first '']'' is made; Väinämöinen lulls everyone in the hall of ''Pohjola'' to sleep with his singing and the ''Sampo'' is stolen; the Mistress of the Northland conjures a great army, turns herself into an eagle and fights for the ''Sampo''; the ''Sampo'' falls into the sea.

'''Cantos 45–49: Louhi's revenge on Kalevala''': The Mistress of the North sends the people of ''Kaleva'' diseases and a bear to kill their cattle; she hides the sun and the moon and steals fire from Kaleva; Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen restore fire and Väinämöinen forces the Mistress to return the Sun and the Moon to the skies.

'''Canto 50: The Marjatta cycle''': Marjatta gets impregnated from a berry she ate and begets a son, an allusion to Mary and ]; Väinämöinen orders the killing of the boy; the boy starts to speak and reproaches Väinämöinen for ill judgement; he is then baptised king of Karelia; Väinämöinen sails away.

===Characters===

The main character of the Kalevala is ], a ]istic hero with the magical power of songs and music. He is born of the primeval ] and contributes to the creation of the world. Many of his travels resemble shamanistic journeys, most notably the one where he visits the belly of a ground-giant, ], to find the words of boat generation.
He plays the ], a Finnish stringed instrument that resembles and is played like a ]. One of his kanteles is made of the jawbone of a giant pike.
His search for a wife is a central element in many stories; he never finds one, though. For example one of the brides, Joukahainen's sister Aino, drowns herself instead of marrying him. He is also part of the group who steals the '']'', a magical mill, from the people of ].

], a heroic artificer-smith (comparable to the Germanic ] and perhaps the Greek ]) who crafted the ], the ''Sampo'' and more. Ilmarinen is also one of the group who steal the ''Sampo''.

] the Hag of the North, is a shamanistic matriarch of a people rivalling those of Kalevala who at one stage pulls the sun and the moon from the sky and steals the fire away from the people of Kalevala. She rules Pohjola alone after Lemminkäinen has killed her husband, Master of Pohjola. She promises her daughter to Ilmarinen in exchange for him building a ''Sampo''.

Väinämöinen's young rival, ], who promises his sister Aino to Väinämöinen when he loses a singing contest. Joukahainen attempts to gain his revenge on Väinämöinen by killing him with a crossbow, he fails but his actions lead to Väinämöinen promising to build a ''Sampo'' in return for Louhi rescuing him.

Vengeful, self-destructive ] who is born as a slave, sold to Ilmarinen and given work by Ilmarinen's wife whom he later kills. Kullervo is a misguided and troubled youth often at odds with himself and his situation. He often goes into ] rage and in the end commits suicide.

Handsome but arrogant ], whose mother has to rescue his corpse from the river of Death which runs through ], and bring him to life, echoing the myth of ]. Lemminkäinen is the third member of the group which steals the ''Sampo'' from Pohjola.

Some of the chapters describe ancient creation myths, a long wedding ceremony, and the right words for magical spells of healing and craftsmanship.

The last chapter, Son of ], is an allegory of ] of Finland. Maid Marjatta becomes pregnant after eating a ] (allusion of ''Maria'' to ''marja'' (Finnish for ]) and gives birth to a son. Since the son has been born out of wedlock, Väinämöinen sentences him to be killed. The infant boy then begins to speak and demands ] as his judge. After the infant has witnessed sad details of Väinämöinen's own past and of Väinämöinen's own culpability, Ukko declares the young infant boy as the King of ]. In the end Väinämöinen exits the material world, but leaves his ] (symbol for poetry and literary arts) as heirloom for Finns.

====List of characters====

{| class="toccolours" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0.5em auto; clear:both;"
|-
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" colspan="2" | People and things in the Kalevala
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | ]
| style="text-align:left;"|] (]) | ] | ] | ] | ] ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ]
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | ]es
| style="text-align:left;"|] | ] | ] | ] | ] |
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | ]s
| style="text-align:left;"|] | ] | ] | ] |
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | Others
| style="text-align:left;"|] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] |
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | ]
| style="text-align:left;"|Kalevala (Väinölä, Suvantola) | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] |
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="background: #DEDDE2;" | ]
| style="text-align:left;"|] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] | ] |
|}

===Contents===
# Birth of Väinämöinen.
# Väinämöinen's Sowing.
# Väinämöinen and Joukahainen.
# The Fate of Aino.
# Väinämöinen's Fishing.
# Joukahainen's Crossbow.
# Väinämöinen Meets Louhi.
# Väinämöinen's Wound.
# Origin of Iron.
# Ilmarinen Forges the Sampo.
# Lemminkäinen and Kyllikki.
# Kyllikki's Broken Vow.
# The Elk of Hiisi.
# Lemminkäinen's trials and death.
# Lemminkäinen's Restoration.
# Väinämöinen's Boat-building.
# Väinämöinen and Antero Vipunen.
# Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, Rival Suitors.
# Ilmarinen's trials and betrothal.
# The Brewing of Beer.
# Ilmarinen's Wedding-feast.
# The Tormenting of the Bride.
# Osmotar Advises the Bride.
# The departure of the bride and bridegroom.
# The homecoming of the bride and bridegroom.
# Lemminkäinen's journey to Pohjola.
# The duel at Pohjola.
# Lemminkäinen's mother.
# The Isle of Refuge.
# Lemminkäinen and Tiera.
# Untamo and Kullervo.
# Kullervo As A Shepherd.
# The Death of Ilmarinen's Wife.
# Kullervo finds his family.
# Kullervo finds his sister.
# Kullervo's Victory and Death.
# Ilmarinen's Bride of Gold.
# Ilmarinen's Fruitless Wooing.
# The Expedition Against Pohjola.
# The Pike and The Kantele.
# Väinämöinen's Music.
# The Recovery of the Sampo.
# The Sampo Lost In the Sea.
# The Birth of the Second Harp.
# Louhi's Pestilence on Kalevala.
# Otso, the Bear.
# The Robbery of the Sun, Moon and Fire.
# Capture of the Fire-fish.
# Restoration of the Sun and Moon.
# Marjatta.

==Influence of the Kalevala==
As a major part of Finnish culture and history the influence of the Kalevala is widespread in Finland from music to fine arts. The Kalevala's influence has also been felt in other cultures around the world although to a lesser degree.

] has been a source of inspiration for several authors.]]

===Celebration===
The Kalevala Day is celebrated in Finland on the ], which is how Elias Lönnrot dated his first version of the Kalevala in 1835.

Several of the names in Kalevala are also celebrated as Finnish ]s, although this has no direct relationship with the Kalevala itself.

===Artwork===
Several artists have been influenced by the Kalevala, most notably ] who has painted many pieces relating to the Kalevala.

One of the earliest artists to depict a scene from the Kalevala is ]. One drawing from ] depicts Väinämöinen playing his ''kantele''.

] was a Finnish artist who illustrated the beautiful ''Kuva Kalevala'' (Published by ] in ]). He unfortunately died before completing it. ] finished it using original sketches as a guide.

In 1989 the fourth full translation of Kalevala into English was published, richly illustrated by ].

===Literature===
The Kalevala has not only been translated into over 45 languages but it has also been retold in many languages and adapted to different situations.

The most famous example of the Kalevala's influence upon another author is most likely with ]. He claimed the Kalevala as one of his sources for the writings which became the '']''. For example, the story of Kullervo has been extensively used in the ''Silmarillion'' (including the sword that speaks when the ] uses it for a suicide) as the basis of ] in '']''. Echoes of the Kalevala's characters, Väinämöinen in particular, can also be found in the wizards of '']''.

The German-language translation of the ] was an inspiration for ]'s ] poem, ], which is written in the same metre (]), and also inspired the British ] writer ] to write the ''Books of Mana'' duology: ''Lucky's Harvest'' and ''The Fallen Moon''.

It is often claimed that the ]n national epic '']'' (compiled and written by ], first published ]) was somewhat inspired by the Kalevala. Mainly because both Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen are mentioned in the poem and that the overall story of the Kalevipoeg (Kalev's son) bears some major similarities with the Kullervo story.

Another famous book is the children's book ''Koirien Kalevala'' (''The Canine Kalevala'') written and illustrated by ]. (Translated into English by ]). This book inspired the American (US) cartoonist ] to draw a ] (both of whom enjoy a widespread popularity in Finland) story based on the Kalevala, called '']''.

The ] winning poet and playwright ] who is regarded as one of Finland's finest writers, is also known to have taken a lot of influence from the Kalevala.

] (1915 - 2000) - an American ] and fantasy author of Finnish descent - is best known for his series inspired by the Kalevala. In each of the books which comprise the "Otava Series" - ''Saga of Lost Earth's'' (Ace Books, 1966), ''Star Mill'' (Ace Books, 1966), ''The Stolen Sun'' (Ace Books, 1967), and ''Tramontane'' (Ace Books, 1967), an Earth descendant of one of the four main heroes of the Kalevala is reborn into an avatar's role in order to re-enact adventures on Otava, the planet of origin of the Kalevala pantheon. Petaja's Otava series brought him readers from around the world<ref>Steinberg, David. "Sci-fi writer's fame reached to Siberia." ''San Francisco Examiner'', December 20, 1997.</ref>, while his mythological approach to science fiction was discussed in scholarly papers.<ref>Kailo, Kaarina. "Spanning the Iron and Space Ages: Emil Petaja's Kalevala-based fantasy tales". ''Kanadan Suomalainen'', Toronto, Canada: Spring, 1985.</ref> A fifth book in the cycle, ''Return to Otava'' (1970), is unpublished. Another Petaja novel unconnected with the series but related to the Kalevala is ''The Time Twister'' (Dell, 1968).

] is one the major influences on British ] author ]'s ] ], ].

===Music===
Music is probably the area which has the richest influence from the Kalevala, which is fitting because of the nature that the original folk singers would perform the poems. Because of the folk music history of the Kalevala there have been a few ] records and anthologies based upon or claiming inspiration from the Kalevala.

The most famous music inspired by the Kalevala is probably that of the classical composer ]. Twelve of Sibelius' best known works are based upon and influenced by the Kalevala, including his '']'', a symphony for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra that he composed in 1892. There are also three contemporary operas based on the Kalevala (''Sammon ryöstö'', ''Marjatta'' and ''Thomas'') composed by ].

Classical music is however not the only area of influence. There was a Finnish ] band called ''Kalevala'' in the seventies. They made three albums, which are not currently available as CDs, however an anthology set was published in 2004.

The Finnish metal band '']'' have based several concept albums on the Kalevala using the original translation as lyrics. The band are well known for their use of the Kalevala as a source for their lyrics. Their albums specifically inspired by the Kalevala are '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''. Also, Finnish ] band '']'' have based several songs such as "Old Man" and "Little Dreamer" on the Kalevala as well. On Ensiferum's 2006 EP, ], the third track, entitled "Kalevala Melody" is an instrumental version of "Vaka vanha Väinämöinen".

In 2003, the Finnish ] quarterly Colossus and French ] convinced 30 progressive rock groups from all over the world to compose musical pieces based on assigned parts of the Kalevala. The result was a three-disc, multilingual, four hour epic of the same name, and can be regarded as one of the most ambitious musical projects ever. See: ]

===Film===
In 1959 a joint Finnish/Soviet production entitled '']'' (aka ''The Day the Earth Froze'') was released, inspired by the story of the ''Sampo'' from the ''Kalevala''.

The martial arts film '']'' (aka ''Jade Warrior''), released in Finland on ], ], is based upon the ''Kalevala'' and set in Finland and China.

==Historic interpretations of Kalevala==
{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}}
Several interpretations for the themes in ''Kalevala'' have been put forward. Some parts of the epic have been perceived as ancient conflicts between ]s and ]. In this context, the country of ''Kalevala'' could be understood as Southern Finland and '']'' as ]. However, the place names in Kalevala seem to transfer the ''Kalevala'' further south, which has been interpreted as reflecting the Finnic settlement expansion from the South that came to push the Samis further to the north. Some scholars locate the lands of ''Kalevala'' to ], where most of the ''Kalevala'' stories were written down. In 1961 a small town of ''Uhtua'' in the ] ] was renamed "Kalevala," perhaps to promote that theory.

Proponents of a Southern ''Kalevala'' argue that the name ''Kaleva'' probably was first recorded in an atlas of ] in the year ], where a town of ''qlwny'' (or ''tlwny'') is recorded. This is probably present-day ], the capital of ], known in old East Slavic sources as ''Kolyvan''. The Finnish word ''Kalevan'' ("of Kaleva") has almost the same meaning as ''Kalevala.'' The ''Saari'' (literally "the Island") might be the island of ] in Estonia, while the people of ''Väinölä'' might have some resemblance with the ] tribe of ''Veinalensis'' in present-day ], mentioned in the ] chronicle connected to ]. Ancient ], ] and ] spoke similar ] dialects and are thought to share common ancestry.

However, Matti Kuusi and Pertti Anttonen state in their book "Kalevala Lipas" (], ]) that such terms as "the people of Kalevala" or "the tribe of Kalevala" are made up out of whole cloth by Elias Lönnrot. Moreover, they contend that the word "Kalevala" is very rare in traditional poetry and that by emphasizing dualism (Kalevala vs. Pohjola) Elias Lönnrot created the required tension that made the Kalevala dramatically successful and thus fit for a national epic.

==See also==
{{Commons|Kalevala}}

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* ]

==References==
===Sample===
{{listen|filename=Vaka vanha Vainamoinen.ogg|title="Vaka vanha Väinämöinen"|description=Finnish poetry from the ''Kalevala'' from the Library of Congress' ''California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collection''; performed by John Soininen on November 5, 1939 in ]. The excerpt is from runo 40, describing the construction of the kantele and the attempts by old and young alike to play.|format=]}}

{{cquote|Vaka vanha Väinämöinen itse tuon sanoiksi virkki:

"Näistäpä toki tulisi kalanluinen kanteloinen,

kun oisi osoajata; soiton luisen laatijata."

Kun ei toista tullutkana, ei ollut osoajata,

soiton luisen laatijata, vaka vanha Väinämöinen

itse loihe laatijaksi, tekijäksi teentelihe.

Laati soiton hauinluisen, suoritti ilon ikuisen.

Kust' on koppa kanteletta? Hauin suuren leukaluusta.

Kust' on naulat kanteletta? Ne on hauin hampahista.

Kusta kielet kanteletta? Hivuksista Hiien ruunan.

Jo oli soitto suorittuna, valmihina kanteloinen,

soitto suuri hauinluinen, kantelo kalaneväinen.

Tuli tuohon nuoret miehet, tuli nainehet urohot,

tuli pojat puol'-ikäiset sekä pienet piikalapset,

tytöt nuoret, vaimot vanhat, naiset keskikertaisetki,

kanteletta katsomahan, soittoa tähyämähän.

Vaka vanha Väinämöinen käski nuoren, käski vanhan,

käski keskinkertaisenki soittamahan sormillansa

tuota rautaista romua, kalanluista kanteletta.

Soitti nuoret, soitti vanhat, soitti keskikertaisetki.

Nuoret soitti, sormet notkui, vanhat väänti, pää vapisi:

ei ilo ilolle nousnut, soitto soitolle ylennyt.
}}

=== Articles and Papers ===

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===Books===
====Translations====
* The Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland, translations by ], ISBN 0-7661-8938-4
* The Kalevala: Or the Land of Heroes, translations by ], ISBN 1-85810-198-0
* The Kalevala: Or Poems of the Kaleva District, translations by ], ISBN 0-674-50010-5
* The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People, translations by ], ], ], ISBN 951-1-10137-4
* The Kalevala: Or the Land of Heroes, translations by ], foreword by ] (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), ISBN 0-19-283570-X

====Retellings====
* The Old Kalevala and Certain Antecedents, ], A translation of the original ''Old Kalevala'' by ], ISBN 0-674-63235-4

* The Kalevala Graphic Novel, a complete comic book version of the 50 chapters of the Kalevala by Finnish artist ], translation by ], ISBN 952-99022-1-2

* The Magic Storysinger: A Tale from the Finnish Epic Kalevala, ], a retelling in a style friendly to children, ISBN 0-88045-128-9
* The Canine Kalevala, ] (Translator), ], ISBN 951-1-12442-0

* ], Uncle Scrooge #334, by ], A story in tribute to the Kalevala featuring Scrooge McDuck and some characters from Kalevala, ISBN 0-911903-55-0

====Analysis====
* The Key to the Kalevala, by ], ], ], ISBN 1-57733-021-8

===Movies===
* '']'' (1959). (Finnish title ''Sampo'').
* (1982), a mini series produced by ].
* '']'' (2006). (Finnish title ''Jadesoturi''.)

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
=== Online versions of the Kalevala ===
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=== Online versions of the Kalevala in other languages ===
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{{Link FA|de}}
{{Link FA|nl}}

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Revision as of 10:21, 10 April 2008

Kalevala is derived from the Finnish soccer player Sami Hyypia.

Kalevala: Difference between revisions Add topic