Is the Kalevala Finnish, Karelian or European?

The Kalevala has played a central role in the development of Finnish national identity. Elias Lönnrot wrote it based on Karelian, Finnish, and Ingrian folk poems, drawing on other European epics as models for his work. The Kalevala is the national epic of both Finland and Karelia. It is part of the global epic heritage and the best-known work of Finnish literature.

It was written by the Finnish-speaking Elias Lönnrot, who was born and raised in Sammatti in Southern Finland. Some of the oral poems on which the Kalevala is based were collected in Finland. The Kalevala has played a significant role in shaping Finnish national identity and has greatly influenced the development of the Finnish language.

When the Kalevala was published, some readers believed that it depicted real ancient Finnish people. However, when the Kalevala is studied as oral-literary tradition, it becomes clear that this is not the case. The Kalevala has given the Finnish people an imagined past, but it should not be regarded as a source of historical information. The epic as a whole was created by Lönnrot: he expanded the transcribed poems and combined and modified them in order to form a coherent narrative.

The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland, and the Kalevala Day, celebrated on February 28, is the Day of Finnish Culture.

The most important poems shaping the storyline of the Kalevala, such as those concerning the theft of the Sampo, are based on folk poetry from White Sea Karelia (Viena Karelia). The renowned poetic singer Arhippa Perttunen, who had a major influence on Lönnrot, also came from White Sea Karelia. While listening to Perttunen, Lönnrot wrote down long epic poems, including those about competing suitors and the theft of and battle over the Sampo.

The Kalevala is not only the national epic of Finland but also of Karelia. However, the Karelian features of the Kalevala have often gone largely unnoticed in Finnish culture, and the work has frequently been presented solely as a Finnish epic representing Finnish culture.

When Lönnrot wrote the Kalevala, he drew inspiration from epics of Greek antiquity, such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. The creation of the Kalevala was also influenced by trends in both science and art in the 19th century. Lönnrot sought to create a literary work that would confirm the long history of the Finnish language and culture. When the Kalevala was published, it influenced the creation of, among others, the Estonian epic, the Kalevipoeg.

The Kalevala is the most widely translated work of Finnish literature. The Kalevala, or parts of it, has been translated into more than 60 languages, including Swahili, Japanese, and Farsi. It has inspired authors around the world, a particularly famous example being J. R. R. Tolkien. He was influenced by the Kalevala when creating the mythology and languages of his own fantasy world. Tolkien studied the Kalevala as a student and wrote his own Kullervo poem based on it; this poem is considered an early draft of The Silmarillion.

The Kalevala is a so-called oral-literary epic: it originates in oral folk poetry but was created and written by a single author, Elias Lönnrot. Within the world epic tradition, there are also oral, vernacular epics, such as the Peko epic of the Setos in Estonia and numerous epics in India. In addition, there are written epics that can be regarded as fictional literary works, such as Virgil’s Aeneid.