forum.varttina.com

[tommi]

This is a question for "foreigners" meaning you are not a Finn <P>Do you know Finnish national epic Kalevala? Have you browsed or read it or Kanteletar in Finnish or the translations? And how do you like them?<P>One person who was very impressed by Kalevala was J.R.R. Tolkien. And who the hell is he

[Marianne]

Hello Tommi, I love the themes and images of the Kalevala and the Kanteletar and think they are wonderful tales and poems. I live in the UK, but my father is originally from Finland. <P>I recently read the Lord of the Rings, and was surprised at how similar the two tales are. Apparently, Tolkien loved the phonetics of the Finnish language so much, he created the language of the elves based on it. <P>There are similarities between the evil Lempo in the Kalevala and Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, and the forging of the Sampo is like the forging of the ring. <P>Anyway, keep listening to Varttina and have a happy new year!!

[Sandor]

I learned about Kalevala in the school , but that was long time ago .Hungary was one of the first countries where it was translated and released.(already the old Kalevala.)<BR>Since I know Värttinä a read it more times , in different translations.(there are five Hungarian translation). Later I tried to compare with an original Finnish edition.<BR>What can I say? –I was impressed. This is very interesting as a literary work but you can not see just that. Maybe more important the origin of this. I mean that this was not written by one author, but the runos were talked and preserved by people during the centuries. Fantastic that a nation has a so strong tradition after a history what Finland had.<P>Kanteletar was in my hand but that was too much for my Finnish <BR>The film “Rauta-aika” was in Hungarian TV in the eighties and I want to see it again now with more knowledge about the base. What about this film from Finnish viewpoint?<P>Hey Dyani , maybe you want to write something here as you know so well the Kalevala.<BR>Tolkien was also really impressed . Maybe one do not know why Tommi mentioned him. Just shortly : He was learning Finnish just to read Kalevala in original and was inspired to write “Lord of rings” and other works. He made the fairy language “quenya” based on Finnish. So, be prepared for the film Oops , I see Marianne write it meanwhile :)but I do not delete.

[tommi]

This is a topic I could talk for days and days..<P>You know, soon after having heard Värttinä I became more interested in related things. And what did I discovered? A gold mine full of true treasures And I'm so happy to shear it..<P>Well then. Ok, Kalevala & Kanteletar aren't written by one author but both are compiled by one person: Elias Lönnrot. The way he did it, doesn't please everyone. You can say especially Kalevala is his "version". <P>They say that he made up verses so that the runos would form a continiuous story and he put the runos in order he liked. <P>He had assistants and some of them critizised strongly the methods of Lönnrot. And it's not a secret that he took away stuff he didn't like. That is why there aren't "bad and naughty" runos in Kanteletar. <P>But still, there's no doubt about Lönnrot's greatness.<P>Marianne, Akseli Gallen-Kallela's painting are truly great work (little lame description but..) It's nice to hear that he wakes up the little Finn in you <P>Sorry for the long post but I can't keep my big mouth shut

[dyanunicorn]

Ah, the Kalevala. Lovely stories! I read most of the English translation except for the last chapter or so. I lost the book a while ago.

[Thaur]

Greetings!<P><BR>Well, I like Kalevala - after all, I like almost all similar epic poem, from Beowulf to Sundiaja, Son of the Lion. And, like Sandor, I've read Kalevala in some translations(two and a half, because just now I reading one ). And I've read Kanteletar, too (Sandor, it has a Hungarian translation). <P>Well, I like them, very much, the are full of poetical strength and beauty. <P>But I must confess I like the Estonish epic, Kalevipoeg much more, then Kalevala, and I prefer above all the Obi-Ugrian epic poems. Stone me to death...<P>Well, I have not read Kalevala because Varttina, but I've begin to listen Varttina because my interesting and passionate love for all the Finno-Ugrian folk-poetry.

[Stu]

I got a copy of a fairly recent English translation of Kalevala for Christmas. Partly due to references in Andrew Cronshaw's music, partly due to Värttinä's. My dad had come across it through Sibelius and a good friend of mine who works Welsh and Celtic studies has encountered it through researching epic poetry and mythology. So I thought it was about time I read it! It's obviously harder to understand the full context of the work being English and really not hearing a great deal about Finland over here, but perhaps it's a good place to start...and so far I'm getting quite into it!

[jallan]

An English translation of the _Kalevala_ can be found on the web at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/index.htm. This is the first English translation made in 1888 by John Martin Crawford, so doubtless there are errors here and there. But I think the spirit comes across well.

[jhammons]

Tommi,<BR>I haven't read the Kalevala, but it's on my list... higher on my list after reading all these strong recommendations. I'm vaguely familiar with it via Sibelius. So, Värttinä draws from it too? I really need to learn some Finnish!

[sisu]

yes! i have a copy of the Kalevala! it is so cool...the Kalevala is just too neat...the first poem really is just...dude...awesome. as far as literature goes, i'm workin on The Unknown Soldier, but the Kalevala is what i'll finish first. later - -

[Jussi]

Hi everybody, i am finn, but i start to read Kanteletar first time at last week! I borrowed Kalevala too, but it was little bit hard and i took Kanteletar first under the work. Nice book. I got new spark for Värttinä when i lost to the official website 4 months ago. Then i read the book. I have listen them over 10 years, but i had little break since 1997, when i heard Kokko and was in Kihaus last time. I`m ashamed now! I bought 3 last CD`s and they are great, especially Ilmatar, any bad song don`t find.

[Lazarus Short]

All the posts about the Kalevala (did I spell that right?) and the mythology reminds me of the mention of it in the book "Hamlet's Mill", which is about how very ancient myths came down to us. It indicates that the Finnish myths are very, very old...

[Ksiusia]

I just read the English translation of the Kalevala by Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr.--it's amazing, but I feel kind of traumatized now! <P>The style and point of view change so drastically throughout the book. The introduction said that some of the poems were told by old men and some by young women--I'm really interested in knowing which ones were told by which! Does anyone know?<P>I was also interested (although not all that surprised) to see not only the elements of Varttina songs but also the elements of some of the Slavic songs I know. When Aino is about to drown herself, she says,<P>"May my father never, never, never at all<BR>pull fish of the water out of this great sea!<BR>May my mother never, never, never at all<BR>put water in her dough from the big bay near home!<BR>May my brother never, never, never at all<BR>water his horse by the shore of the sea.<BR>May my sister never, never, never at all<BR>wash her face on the pier on our bay.<BR>As the waters of the sea, so my blood;<BR>as the fish of the sea, so my flesh;<BR>what dead branches are on the shore, those are the ribs of wretched me;<BR>what shore grass there is has been rubbed from my hair."<P>The narrator of the song "Savo Voda" says, "Tell my love not to cut the grass by the Savo, for he will be cutting my long hair. Tell him not to drink from the waters of the Savo, for he will be drinking my blue eyes."<P>One thing that I really liked about the Kalevala was that whenever someone tries to do a spell or make a special item, they usually fail the first few times. It makes it more human and natural, somehow. <P>I also think it's funny that Lemminkainen, who is such a macho misogynist, needs his mother to save him whenever he gets into trouble.

[innuli]

hellou. here's a great page for you kalevala fans: a europe of tales www.europeoftales.net <P>hope you find it. the stuff about kalevala is beautiful, the others are not so interesting. <BR> <BR>enjoy!

[McKaren]

Moi!!<BR>I really love Lemminkäinen!! Who think same that me, please, contact me! <BR> :p <BR>If someone wants a complete version of Kalevala in english or suomi, I can give it<BR>Näkemiin!(bye)