Kalevala: Forge of a nation
Though Kalevala is set in pre-Christian times its affect in modern times was to forge a people of steel capable of recapturing their destiny even after some 600+ years of subjugation. Its practical affects are not far removed from us today. historically we are talking about a people recapturing their destiny at the turn of the 20th century. The story of the compilation of kalevala on finnish destiny provides an object lesson to Westernkind in general for recapturing our destiny. The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the 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. |
Kalevala: Forge of a Nation
The Kalevala is of interest to us today because though the epic takes place in some misty long ago time in pre-christian history.
As our topic interest is Great Westmen so we will discuss Elias Lönnrot, and the gathering of Finish folk tales into the Finish national epic. And the effect that the Kalevala had on the solidification of the people Finland into a nation state as opposed to discussing the details of the epic itself.
Finland had long been under Swedish domination. In Finland the local parish, the affairs of state, business, and education, were all conducted in the Swedish language, with the result that Finns seeking social or economic advancement had to abandon their native language and learn Swedish. In addition, Finns traveled to Sweden and Swedes traveled to Finland to fill administrative posts and in the process Finland became closely linked to the Swedish motherland. By the end of the 18th Century the unlettered common people and public functionaries could no longer understand each other. A Finnish peasant seeking justice in a court of law had to listen to his case argued in a language he did not understand.
Against this backdrop of the Swedification of Finnish culture and the suppression of native artistic forms, the first stirrings of a national consciousness began to appear. From the mid-1660s on, a small but growing group of academics began to demonstrate that Finns were not just Swedes living on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Bothnia but were a separate people with their own distinctive cultural traits. Their efforts culminated in the second half of the eighteenth century when scholars cast a scholarly light on the Finnish language, Finnish history, and on the once-hated folksongs. These scholars, however, were a distinct minority. In the country at large, the upper and lower classes were divided not only by wealth and position but by language and culture as well. The lower classes spoke the language and followed the traditions of their forebears; the upper classes spoke the language and subscribed to the customs of Sweden. As a result, almost two different nations lived in Finland, separated from each other, “in a way that today is difficult to comprehend today” Well, maybe we can comprehend it today as our native European homelands are being colonized by peoples whose bio-spirit is incompatible with our own native European bio-spirit.
When we Westmen are able to recapture our destiny and we realize that we are one people with many countries, then and only then will the Swedes be more Swedish, the Finns more Finish, the English more English and we can then put our brother’s wars behind us forever.
In 1808 Czar Alexander I struck an agreement with Napoleon and then ordered his troops across the Finnish border. A year later, in 1809, at the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s six hundred-year old ties with Sweden were forever severed and the country became a Russian grand duchy. Both sides of a divided Finland now faced a foreign master. In some ways, Finland’s new status put the country into a more favorable position. Whereas Finland had been primarily a Swedish province among other Swedish provinces, now, as an “autonomous” grand duchy, the country had been elevated, as the czar himself proclaimed, to “membership in the family of nations,” with its own constitution, carried over from the period of Swedish rule, and its own Diet empowered to act in all ways not reserved to the czar. But now with centuries of Swedish hegemony swept away what did it really mean to be a Finn?
Between 1828 and 1844 Elias Lönnrot undertook eleven extensive field trips for the collection of poetry in Eastern Finland and especially in Karelia.
The first version of Lönnrot's compilation was entitled ("The Kalevala, or old Karelian poems about ancient times of the Finnish people"), also known as the Old Kalevala. It was published in two volumes in 1835–1836. The Old Kalevala consisted of 12,078 verses making up a total of thirty-two poems.
Even after the publication of the Old Kalevala Lönnrot continued to collect new material for several years. He later integrated this additional material, with significantly edited existing material, into a second version, known simply as, the Kalevala. This New Kalevala, published in 1849, contains fifty poems, with a number of plot differences compared with the first version, and is the standard text of the Kalevala read and translated to this day.
The name Kalevala rarely appears in the original folk poetry of the time; it was coined by Lönnrot for the official name of his project sometime at the end of 1834.[33][56] The first appearance of "Kalevala" in collected poetry was recorded in April 1836.[57] The choice of "Kalevala" as the name for his work was not a random choice. The name "Kalev" appears in Finnic and Baltic folklore in many locations and the Sons of Kalev are known throughout Finnish and Estonian folklore.[25]
When On 28 February 1835 Elias Lönnrot signed the preface to the first edition of the Kalevala it was widely acclaimed even though only a small number of Finns had sufficient command of Karelian Finnish to read and understand the work. In 1849 Elias Lönnrot published an expanded second edition which became known to the world as the Finish National Epic.
As for Elias Lönnrot he was given credit with recovering from oblivion the ancient literary tradition of a unique people known as the Soumi, to the rest of the world known as the Finns. With Kalevala Elias Lönnrot elevated the Finish language to one of National stature and provided the Finish people an epic chronicling their birth as people. The compilation of Kalevala was a unique embodiment of a set of 18th Century ideas most closely associated with the German philosopher J.G. Herder. Herder argued that a nation can only exist if it possessed a distinctive cultural identity founded upon the language and tradition of the ordinary people.
Quoting Herder: The voice of your fathers has faded and lies silent in the dust. A Nation of heroic customs, of noble virtues and language, have you no impressions of your people from out from the past? . . . Lend a hand then, my brothers, and show what our nation is and is not, how it thought and felt, how it thinks and feels.
To young educated Finns at the beginning of the 19th century the arch-typical Finns were the Karelians of Archangel province just across the border in Russia. The stories collected by Elias Lönnrot recorded myths about the origin of the World, about forces and objects central to man’s existence, light and darkness, fertility, fire, metals, plants, animals, and the dead along with the workers of magic summoning help from the netherworld.
The appearance of the Kalevala had an almost magical effect on the Finns. That their downtrodden little nation on the fringes of the civilized world could produce a work comparable to the world’s greatest epics became an enduring cause for great pride. “With one stroke,” the Kalevala swept away much of the suspicion with which Finnish had been regarded The epic provided Finnish nationalists all the evidence they needed to resume the course charted by the Turku Romantics before them. In March 1836 J. G. Linsén, chair of the Finnish Literature Society, declared that on the basis of the Kalevala the Finnish nation could now say: “I too have a history”. “One people! One land! One tongue! One song and wisdom! From lake to lake, from breast to breast fly the words of Kalevala. The poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose patriotic poetry would match Lönnrot’s efforts in raising the national consciousness, declared the Kalevala to be nearly the match of the Greek epics. And When the famous German philologist and folktale scholar Jacob Grimm lectured on and praised the Kalevala, the Finns found further justification for their rising nationalism.
Now Enter the Finish composer Sibelius.
Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, and the final movement of the Second Symphony. Music for a people, for nation state. To the people his works stir patriotic feelings. In the titles and the music listeners find a direct connection between the compositions, epic Finland, and themselves as a people. For many the titles say it all. At least as important as the contribution of national sentiment to Sibelius’s work was the contribution of his work to the development of that sentiment. The references in the titles to events and characters from the Kalevala would have caused Finns to perceive the compositions as purely Finnish in character, and that perception raised their national consciousness. As for Sibelius, it is generally recognized that he more than anyone else has made Finland’s name known abroad, this making Sibelius and his music a Finnish national symbol arguably as important as the national epic itself.
Now with Kalevala Elias Lönnrot and the nascent Finish nationalist movement had solidified a high position for the Finish Language among the languages of Europe. The Epic of a people’s origin. Provided the inspiration for national works of music and art.
And Forged a national consciousness of an independent and unique people
A Language Decree issued in 1863 by Czar Alexander II marked the beginning of the process through which Finnish became an official administrative language. Although only one-seventh of the Finnish population spoke Swedish as its first language, Swedish would never the less retain its dominant position until the beginning of the 20th century.
The Finnish Diet was convened in 1863 after a break of little more than half a century. From then on, the Diet met regularly, and active legislative work in Finland began. The Conscription Act of 1878 gave Finland an army of its own. Finland was vectored to becoming its own nation state. But this had some issues when it came to the Russians. The obliteration of “Finnish separatism,” a policy also known as Russification, started during what is known as the “first era of oppression” (1899–1905) and continued during the second era (1909–1917).
But then the unpredictable events of the Bolshevik Revolution gave the Finns an opportunity to recapture their destiny as a people. They were ready, and On December 6, 1917, Parliament approved a declaration of Finish independence.
The Kalevala is of interest to us today because though the epic takes place in some misty long ago time in pre-christian history.
As our topic interest is Great Westmen so we will discuss Elias Lönnrot, and the gathering of Finish folk tales into the Finish national epic. And the effect that the Kalevala had on the solidification of the people Finland into a nation state as opposed to discussing the details of the epic itself.
Finland had long been under Swedish domination. In Finland the local parish, the affairs of state, business, and education, were all conducted in the Swedish language, with the result that Finns seeking social or economic advancement had to abandon their native language and learn Swedish. In addition, Finns traveled to Sweden and Swedes traveled to Finland to fill administrative posts and in the process Finland became closely linked to the Swedish motherland. By the end of the 18th Century the unlettered common people and public functionaries could no longer understand each other. A Finnish peasant seeking justice in a court of law had to listen to his case argued in a language he did not understand.
Against this backdrop of the Swedification of Finnish culture and the suppression of native artistic forms, the first stirrings of a national consciousness began to appear. From the mid-1660s on, a small but growing group of academics began to demonstrate that Finns were not just Swedes living on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Bothnia but were a separate people with their own distinctive cultural traits. Their efforts culminated in the second half of the eighteenth century when scholars cast a scholarly light on the Finnish language, Finnish history, and on the once-hated folksongs. These scholars, however, were a distinct minority. In the country at large, the upper and lower classes were divided not only by wealth and position but by language and culture as well. The lower classes spoke the language and followed the traditions of their forebears; the upper classes spoke the language and subscribed to the customs of Sweden. As a result, almost two different nations lived in Finland, separated from each other, “in a way that today is difficult to comprehend today” Well, maybe we can comprehend it today as our native European homelands are being colonized by peoples whose bio-spirit is incompatible with our own native European bio-spirit.
When we Westmen are able to recapture our destiny and we realize that we are one people with many countries, then and only then will the Swedes be more Swedish, the Finns more Finish, the English more English and we can then put our brother’s wars behind us forever.
In 1808 Czar Alexander I struck an agreement with Napoleon and then ordered his troops across the Finnish border. A year later, in 1809, at the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s six hundred-year old ties with Sweden were forever severed and the country became a Russian grand duchy. Both sides of a divided Finland now faced a foreign master. In some ways, Finland’s new status put the country into a more favorable position. Whereas Finland had been primarily a Swedish province among other Swedish provinces, now, as an “autonomous” grand duchy, the country had been elevated, as the czar himself proclaimed, to “membership in the family of nations,” with its own constitution, carried over from the period of Swedish rule, and its own Diet empowered to act in all ways not reserved to the czar. But now with centuries of Swedish hegemony swept away what did it really mean to be a Finn?
Between 1828 and 1844 Elias Lönnrot undertook eleven extensive field trips for the collection of poetry in Eastern Finland and especially in Karelia.
The first version of Lönnrot's compilation was entitled ("The Kalevala, or old Karelian poems about ancient times of the Finnish people"), also known as the Old Kalevala. It was published in two volumes in 1835–1836. The Old Kalevala consisted of 12,078 verses making up a total of thirty-two poems.
Even after the publication of the Old Kalevala Lönnrot continued to collect new material for several years. He later integrated this additional material, with significantly edited existing material, into a second version, known simply as, the Kalevala. This New Kalevala, published in 1849, contains fifty poems, with a number of plot differences compared with the first version, and is the standard text of the Kalevala read and translated to this day.
The name Kalevala rarely appears in the original folk poetry of the time; it was coined by Lönnrot for the official name of his project sometime at the end of 1834.[33][56] The first appearance of "Kalevala" in collected poetry was recorded in April 1836.[57] The choice of "Kalevala" as the name for his work was not a random choice. The name "Kalev" appears in Finnic and Baltic folklore in many locations and the Sons of Kalev are known throughout Finnish and Estonian folklore.[25]
When On 28 February 1835 Elias Lönnrot signed the preface to the first edition of the Kalevala it was widely acclaimed even though only a small number of Finns had sufficient command of Karelian Finnish to read and understand the work. In 1849 Elias Lönnrot published an expanded second edition which became known to the world as the Finish National Epic.
As for Elias Lönnrot he was given credit with recovering from oblivion the ancient literary tradition of a unique people known as the Soumi, to the rest of the world known as the Finns. With Kalevala Elias Lönnrot elevated the Finish language to one of National stature and provided the Finish people an epic chronicling their birth as people. The compilation of Kalevala was a unique embodiment of a set of 18th Century ideas most closely associated with the German philosopher J.G. Herder. Herder argued that a nation can only exist if it possessed a distinctive cultural identity founded upon the language and tradition of the ordinary people.
Quoting Herder: The voice of your fathers has faded and lies silent in the dust. A Nation of heroic customs, of noble virtues and language, have you no impressions of your people from out from the past? . . . Lend a hand then, my brothers, and show what our nation is and is not, how it thought and felt, how it thinks and feels.
To young educated Finns at the beginning of the 19th century the arch-typical Finns were the Karelians of Archangel province just across the border in Russia. The stories collected by Elias Lönnrot recorded myths about the origin of the World, about forces and objects central to man’s existence, light and darkness, fertility, fire, metals, plants, animals, and the dead along with the workers of magic summoning help from the netherworld.
The appearance of the Kalevala had an almost magical effect on the Finns. That their downtrodden little nation on the fringes of the civilized world could produce a work comparable to the world’s greatest epics became an enduring cause for great pride. “With one stroke,” the Kalevala swept away much of the suspicion with which Finnish had been regarded The epic provided Finnish nationalists all the evidence they needed to resume the course charted by the Turku Romantics before them. In March 1836 J. G. Linsén, chair of the Finnish Literature Society, declared that on the basis of the Kalevala the Finnish nation could now say: “I too have a history”. “One people! One land! One tongue! One song and wisdom! From lake to lake, from breast to breast fly the words of Kalevala. The poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose patriotic poetry would match Lönnrot’s efforts in raising the national consciousness, declared the Kalevala to be nearly the match of the Greek epics. And When the famous German philologist and folktale scholar Jacob Grimm lectured on and praised the Kalevala, the Finns found further justification for their rising nationalism.
Now Enter the Finish composer Sibelius.
Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, and the final movement of the Second Symphony. Music for a people, for nation state. To the people his works stir patriotic feelings. In the titles and the music listeners find a direct connection between the compositions, epic Finland, and themselves as a people. For many the titles say it all. At least as important as the contribution of national sentiment to Sibelius’s work was the contribution of his work to the development of that sentiment. The references in the titles to events and characters from the Kalevala would have caused Finns to perceive the compositions as purely Finnish in character, and that perception raised their national consciousness. As for Sibelius, it is generally recognized that he more than anyone else has made Finland’s name known abroad, this making Sibelius and his music a Finnish national symbol arguably as important as the national epic itself.
Now with Kalevala Elias Lönnrot and the nascent Finish nationalist movement had solidified a high position for the Finish Language among the languages of Europe. The Epic of a people’s origin. Provided the inspiration for national works of music and art.
And Forged a national consciousness of an independent and unique people
A Language Decree issued in 1863 by Czar Alexander II marked the beginning of the process through which Finnish became an official administrative language. Although only one-seventh of the Finnish population spoke Swedish as its first language, Swedish would never the less retain its dominant position until the beginning of the 20th century.
The Finnish Diet was convened in 1863 after a break of little more than half a century. From then on, the Diet met regularly, and active legislative work in Finland began. The Conscription Act of 1878 gave Finland an army of its own. Finland was vectored to becoming its own nation state. But this had some issues when it came to the Russians. The obliteration of “Finnish separatism,” a policy also known as Russification, started during what is known as the “first era of oppression” (1899–1905) and continued during the second era (1909–1917).
But then the unpredictable events of the Bolshevik Revolution gave the Finns an opportunity to recapture their destiny as a people. They were ready, and On December 6, 1917, Parliament approved a declaration of Finish independence.