Kalevala Day - 28 February
Finland is celebrating Kalevala Day annually on 28 February. But what does Kalevala Day mean?
Did you know that Finland has one of the richest stories of folk poetry in the world?
Kalevala is the Finnish National epic and there is a special Kalevala Day on the 28th of February. The day also celebrates Finnish Culture day.
Kalevala is a book that contains poems and stories collected by the travelling writer Elias Lönnrot. The book is considered to be a part of the World Language Heritage and it has been translated to over 60 languages. The book Kalevala contains folk poems that Lönnrot collected in Finland, and in former Karelia, where many finno-ugric language groups lived and still live. He started his work with Kalevala in 1828 and it continued throughout 1835.
Elias who?
Elias Lönnrot was one of the most learned Finns of his time. He was an explorer, but also a doctor and scientist, developer and reformer of the Finnish language. He spent 20 years of his life as a doctor in Kajaani, while performing his poem-collecting trips. After his years as a doctor, he accepted a tenure as a Finnish language professor in the University of Helsinki and left his mark on history as one of the developers of the Finnish language.
Kalevala describes for example disputes between the peoples of Kalevala and Pohjola (the North) and the various main characters, revenge trips and courtship trips, and the construction of Sampo and its theft. Kaleva poetry tells about the whole spectrum of life, everyday life, celebrations, historical events. It also includes spells and prayers, greetings and condolences.
Kalevala poetry is based on the Kalevala poetic meter, the Kalevala meter. Before poems were recorded, they were passed down from generation to generation as an oral tradition, usually by singing. Often the song was accompanied by a kantele. (This is a Finnish instrument and there will be a blog post about it later).
Kanteletar, sister book for Kalevala
In this context is it often appropriate to mention Kanteletar, the sister epic of Kalevala. Kanteletar was published in Helsinki in 1840-41. This collection of Kanteletar consists of more than 660 lyrics and ballads that Lönnrot collected during his poetry travels.
The very first Kalevala day was celebrated in 1860. In the 1970’s the day was celebrated as the Kalevala Day and a day of Finnish culture.
So what can one do on Kalevala Day? On Kalevala Day you can of course read the book!
-> Link to Kalevala in GUTENBERG