Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot

First published: 1835 (English translation, 1888)

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Saga

Time of plot: Mythological times

Locale: Finland and Lapland

Principal characters

• Väinämöinen, the Son of the Wind and the Virgin of the Air, the singer-hero
• Ilmarinen, the smith-hero
• Lemminkäinen, the warrior-hero
• Louhi, ruler of Pohjola, the North Country
• Aino, a young Lapp maiden
• Joukahäinen, a Laplander, Aino’s brother
• Kullervo, an evil, sullen, and very powerful slave
• The Daughter of Louhi, Ilmarinen’s wife
• Marjatta, a holy woman

The Poem:

After his mother created the land, the sun, and the moon out of sea duck eggs, Väinämöinen is born, and with the help of Sampsa Pellervoinen he makes the barren land fruitful, sowing seeds and planting trees. By the time Väinämöinen is an old man, he gained great fame as a singer and charmer. When a brash young man named Joukahäinen challenges him to a duel of magic songs, Väinämöinen wins easily and forces the young man to give him his sister Aino for a wife. Aino is greatly saddened, however, at having to marry an old man, and so she drowns herself, to Väinämöinen’s sorrow. He looks all over the sea for her and finds her at last in the form of a salmon, but in that form she escapes him forever.

In time he hears of the beautiful daughters of Louhi in the far North Country, and he decides to seek them out. On the way to Pohjola, the land of Louhi, his horse is killed by the bold young man whom he defeated in the duel of songs, and Väinämöinen is forced to swim to Pohjola. Louhi, the witch, finds him on the beach, restores his health, tells him that he will have to forge a magic Sampo (a mill that grinds out riches) in order to win a daughter, and then sends him on his way.

Väinämöinen finds one of Louhi’s daughters seated on a rainbow and asks her to become his wife. She gives him three tasks to do. After completing two, he is wounded in the knee while trying to complete the third. The wound, which bleeds profusely, is healed by a magic ointment prepared under the directions of an old man skilled in leechcraft. Väinämöinen goes home and raises a great wind to carry Ilmarinen, the mighty smith who forged the sky, into the North Country to make the Sampo for Louhi. Ilmarinen forges the Sampo, but still Louhi’s daughter refuses to marry and leave her homeland. Ilmarinen, who is also in love with the maiden, goes sadly home.

A gallant youth, Lemminkäinen, is famous for winning the love of women. Having heard of Kyllikki, the flower of Saari, he determines to win her for his wife. When he arrives in Esthonia she refuses him, and he abducts her. They live happily together until one day she disobeys him. In retaliation he goes north to seek one of Louhi’s daughters as his wife. In Pohjola, Lemminkäinen charms everyone except an evil herdsman whom he scorns. Like Väinämöinen, he is given three tasks and performs the first two without much difficulty; but while trying to complete the third he is slain by the evil herdsman. Alarmed by his long absence, his mother goes searching for him, finds him in pieces at the bottom of a river, and restores him finally to his original shape.

Meanwhile, Väinämöinen is busy building a ship by means of magic, his third task for Louhi’s daughter; suddenly he forgets the three magic words needed to complete the work. He searches everywhere for them and is almost trapped in Tuonela, the kingdom of death. Then he hears that the giant Vipunen might know them. When they meet, Vipunen swallows him, but Väinämöinen causes the giant so much pain that the creature is forced to release him and reveal the magic charm. With the charm Väinämöinen completes his ship and again sets sail for Pohjola.

Ilmarinen, learning of Väinämöinen’s departure, starts after him on horseback. When they meet they agree to abide by the maiden’s choice. On their arrival at Pohjola, Louhi gives Ilmarinen three tasks to perform: to plow a field of snakes, to capture a bear and a wolf, and to catch a great pike. Ilmarinen performs these tasks. Since Väinämöinen is old, Louhi’s daughter chooses Ilmarinen for her husband. There is great rejoicing at the marriage. Väinämöinen sings for the bridal couple. A gigantic ox is slain and mead is brewed, and the bride and groom are both instructed in the duties of marriage. At last Ilmarinen takes his new bride to his home in the south.

Lemminkäinen is not invited to the festivities because of his quarrelsome nature, and he is therefore angry. Although his mother warns him of the dangers he will have to face on the journey and of Louhi’s treachery, he insists on going to Pohjola. With his magic charms he is able to overcome all dangers along the way. In Pohjola, Louhi tries to kill him with snake-poisoned ale, but Lemminkäinen sees through the trick. Then he and Louhi’s husband engage in a duel of magic that ends in a tie. Finally they fight with swords and Lemminkäinen slays Louhi’s husband. Lemminkäinen then turns into an eagle and flies home. In fear of retribution he takes his mother’s advice and goes to live for several years on an obscure island where the only inhabitants are women whose warrior husbands are away from home.

Forced to flee when the time comes for the husbands to return, Lemminkäinen sets out for his own land in a boat. The craft turns over and he is forced to swim to shore. Upon arriving home, he finds the country desolate and his mother missing. At last he discovers her hiding in the forest. Swearing to avenge himself on the warriors of Pohjola who desolated the land, he sets sail with Tiera, a warrior companion, but Louhi sends the frost to destroy him. Although Lemminkäinen manages to charm the frost, he and his companion are shipwrecked and forced to retreat.

The wife of Kalervo is carried off by her brother-in-law, Untamoinen, who then lays waste to Kalervo’s land. In the cradle, Kullervo, born to Kalervo’s wife, swears to be avenged on his uncle. Kullervo grows up strong, but so stupid and clumsy that he breaks or ruins everything he touches. He tries to kill his uncle and his uncle tries to kill him. Finally, the uncle gives him to Ilmarinen. Ilmarinen’s wife immediately dislikes the boy and gives him a loaf of bread with a stone in it. In return, while Ilmarinen is away from home, Kullervo has her killed by wild beasts. He then flees into the forest, where he finds his parents and lives with them for a long time. He performs all his chores badly. After a time he sets out on a journey. Two women having refused him, he rapes a third, only to learn that she is his sister. In anguish, she kills herself, and Kullervo returns home in sorrow. When his family rejects him, he sets off to attack Untamöinen. After killing his uncle he returns to find his family dead and the countryside desolate. He wanders off into the forest and kills himself by falling on his sword.

Ilmarinen, after weeping for his dead wife, makes up his mind to make another in his forge. He fashions a woman out of gold and silver, but she remains cold and lifeless; so Ilmarinen goes north again to Pohjola. When Louhi refuses to give him a wife, he abducts one of her daughters. This wife soon proves unfaithful, and in anger he turns her into a seagull.

Väinämöinen is thinking about the Sampo, that magic mill. Determined to steal it from Louhi, he builds a ship and Ilmarinen forges a sword for him, and the two heroes start for Pohjola. On the way Lemminkäinen calls to them from the shore and asks to accompany them. They take him along. During the voyage the boat strikes a giant pike. Väinämöinen kills the great fish and from its bones fashions a harp with which he sings everyone in Pohjola to sleep. With the help of an ox the three heroes take the Sampo and sail for home. When Louhi awakens, she sends fog and wind after the heroes. During the storm Väinämöinen’s harp falls overboard.

Louhi and her men follow in a war boat. The two boats meet in a great battle. Although Väinämöinen is victorious, Louhi drags the Sampo from his boat into the lake. There it breaks into pieces, most of which sink to the bottom. Only a few smaller pieces float to shore. After making violent threats against Kalevala, Louhi returns home with only a small and useless fragment of the Sampo. Väinämöinen collects the pieces on the shore and plants them for good luck; the land becomes more fruitful. Having searched in vain for his lost harp, Väinämöinen makes another of birchwood, and his songs to its music give joy to everyone.

Vexed because her land is barren after the loss of the Sampo, Louhi sends a terrible pestilence to Kalevala, but Väinämöinen heals the people by magic and salves. Next Louhi sends a great bear to ravish the herds, but Väinämöinen kills the savage beast. Then Louhi steals the moon and the sun, which came down to earth to hear Väinämöinen play and sing. She also steals the fire from all the hearths of Kalevala. When Ukko, the supreme god, kindles a new fire for the sun and the moon, some of it falls to earth and is swallowed by a fish in a large lake. Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen finally find the fish, and Ilmarinen is badly burned. The fire escapes and burns a great area of country until it is at last captured and returned to the hearths of Kalevala. Ilmarinen, recovered from his burns, prepares great chains for Louhi and frightens her into restoring the sun and the moon to the heavens.

Marjatta, a holy woman and a virgin, swallows a cranberry, whereupon a son is born to her in a stable. The child is baptized as the king of Carelia, despite Väinämöinen’s claim that such an ill-omened child should be put to death. Angered because the child proves wiser than he, Väinämöinen sails away to a land between the earth and the sky, leaving behind him, for the pleasure of his people, his harp and his songs.

Bibliography

Ahokas, Jaakko. A History of Finnish Literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973. Demonstrates the importance of Lönnrot’s compilation of traditional Finnish folktales in providing the impetus for the formation of a Finnish literary tradition.

Branch, Michael. “Finnish Oral Poetry, Kalevala, and Kanteletar.” In A History of Finland’s Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press in cooperation with the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1998. Offers information about the epic and Lönnrot.

Ervast, Pekka. The Key to the “Kalevala.” Edited by John Major, translated by Tapio Joensuu. Nevada City, Calif.: Blue Dolphin, 1999. Originally published in Finland in 1916, Ervast’s book explains the “mysterious knowledge” and esoteric meaning of the Kalevala.

Honko, Lauri. Religion, Myth, and Folklore in the World’s Epics: “The Kalevala” and Its Predecessors. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1990. Collection of scholarly essays that takes a comparative and analytical focus. Occasionally difficult, but worthwhile for its illumination of how much intellectual reflection and debate the Kalevala is capable of inspiring among scholars.

Jones, Michael Owen. The World of the “Kalevala”: Essays in Celebration of the 150 Year Jubilee of the Finnish National Epic. Los Angeles: University of California, Folklore and Myth Publications, 1987. By far one of the best general books on the Kalevala. Provides a clear and cogent description of the story of the epic as well as of its significance in Finnish literary history and cultural life.

Kailo, Kaarina. “Gender and Ethnic Overlap in the Finnish Kalevala.” In Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism, edited by Himani Bannerji, Shahrzad Mojab, and Judith Whitehead. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 2001. Kailo examines the depiction of women and the indigenous Sami/Lapps in the Kalevala. She maintains that the epic laid an ideological foundation for the representation of gender, class, and ethnicity in subsequent Finnish literature.

Pentikäinen, Juha Y.“Kalevala” Mythology. Edited and translated by Ritva Poom. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. Detailed analysis of the Kalevala, including discussions of its genesis, worldview, and place in Finnish history and mythology. Chapter 4 focuses on Lönnrot as both “the individual and the national myth,” and there are many other references to him throughout the book.

Sawin, Patricia G. “Lönnrot’s Brainchildren: The Representation of Women in Finland’s Kalevala.” Journal of Folklore Research 25, no. 3 (1988): 187-217. A feminist examination of the epic. Examines such characters in the story as Aino, the daughter of Louhi, and Marjatta, and discusses the way they express and epitomize gender roles. Despite the overall domination of the epic by a patriarchal vision, Sawin isolates many occasions in which women are able to assert themselves.