Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland

The Kalevala is the national epic of Karelia and Finland and one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. Today's modern version was compiled in the 19th century by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The epic tells the story about the Creation of Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.

Auteur

Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, from short ballads and lyric poems gathered from the Finnish oral tradition during several expeditions in Finland, Russian Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and Baltic countries.