a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. Regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature.
Questions tagged [kalevala]
3 questions
19
votes
1 answer
Do the seemingly random timespans in the Kalevala creation story have any significance?
The first chapter of the Kalevala always gives a specific number of years (sometimes multiple numbers) when describing time skips. The three examples I saw are quoted below. Is there any known significance to these numbers or time periods?
After…
Ixrec
- 1,357
- 9
- 23
14
votes
5 answers
Why is there confusion about what the Sampo from the Kalevala is?
Reading the Wikipedia article on the Sampo, a mythical object central to the Finnish Kalevala saga, I was struck by an apparent contradiction. The translation of the object's description seemed, to me, to be very clear:
On one side the flour is…
Bob Tway
- 335
- 1
- 8
9
votes
1 answer
Which Kalevala translations are closer to the original source?
I know that with the Bible, there are countless translations. Things always seem to get lost in translation.
Seeing as how I can't read the native language that the Kalevala was originally written in, which translation is considered by scholars to…
The_Foxx
- 101
- 8