Kaleva's stories
May 17, 2016 5:27 AM   Subscribe

Kullervo: Tolkien's fascination with Finland JRR Tolkien first discovered the tale [Kullervo's Tale] as a schoolboy in Birmingham. His father had died when he was a young child, and his mother passed away when he was 12, so he had been an orphan himself for some years when he came across the Finnish epic Kalevala - and within it the tale of Kullervo - during his final year at school. It had a huge impact.
The Finnish Epic Kalevala previously and previously.
posted by infini (8 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
It seems a bit of a stretch to call Kullervo the source of Hamlet, especially when the Saxo Grammatucus version of Amleth is a better fit and was circulating during Shakespeare's day.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:08 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Thanks for posting this. Just the kick in the pants I need to finally read the Kalevala (the Finnish half of me has been intending to read it for ages). Just ordered Kullervo as well.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:20 AM on May 17, 2016


The English Wikipedia article on Kullervo skips what I think for most Finns is the best known part of Kullervo's story: how as a slave he's given a bread to take with him while herding cattle in the woods, only to find out that Ilmarinen's wife has baked a stone inside it. His knife is the only thing he has left of his father, and when the stone breaks it, that's the final straw. He cries, curses them all to hell, drives the cattle into a bog to die, summons wolves and bears and herds them from the woods to the house.

I've always been sort of intrigued by that moment. I mean if he had the power to raise such hell, why didn't he use it earlier, when he was sold to slavery and abused by his new owners? His age is never really mentioned, but herding cattle was usually done by kids who were too small to be useful in other ways, so I think he may have been quite young (although in the beginning of the verse he complains about getting such a boring task, so maybe a teenager?). Perhaps that was the very moment he discovered he even had the powers. Anyway, chilling.

The painting Kullervo's Curse by Akseli Gallén-Kallela depicts the precise moment when he's had enough. (The painter, by the way, is one of the grand old names of Finnish art history, especially well known and revered for his many paintings depicting scenes from Kalevala, arguably the most famous being The Defense of the Sampo. Which is another great story, worth reading.)
posted by sively at 1:38 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]




If you are curious about dipping into the Kalevala universe without getting too bogged down, I could recommend the Ursula Synge 1977 English prose translation. It has a sorta young adult interpretation, making it highly recommended for smart teens and those who love Tolkien. I can't comment on the accuracy, but I can say that the style is engaging.
posted by ovvl at 6:11 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


The Kalevala saturates Finnish life. Its deep, resonant evocation of the natural environment, the rich dark green or snow-white land of forests and lakes and pastures where herdsmen, hunters, and fishers go about their timeless ways; its strong matriarchal bias; its ironic acceptance of the tragic nature of life; its dry humor; its praise of intelligence and hospitality as prime virtues — all these elements go to sustain the unique Finnish character to this very day, and that amongst the most advanced sections of the intelligentsia as well as amongst the common people.

From Roxroth's essay. This holds true. Just had lunch with a finnish friend and we are talking about how the names permeate corporate culture - Sampo Bank, Ilmarinen, Pohjola, and the names of the people, and there's the national Kalevala day every year on 28th February.
posted by infini at 3:07 AM on May 18, 2016






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