Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A Finnish epical compilation, in a meter reproduced in Longfellow's “Hiawatha.” Orally preserved from antiquity, it was first partially published in 1835, and completed in 1849 in 22,793 verses, gathered from the recitations of many persons, and collected and arranged by Elias Lönnrot.
Wiktionary
- n. The Finnish national epic.
- n. The mythical location where the heroes of Kalevala live.
Etymologies
- From Finnish Kalevala. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Kalevala is the Finnish "national epic" but it is really a very late creation, a collection of existing folk tales in the oral tradition, put together by Elias Lonnrot in the first half of the nineteenth century.”
“I would never think trochaic tetrameters would be so fresh, but the main quality of the Kalevala is how simple it seems, how fresh and uncomplicated, how like the dawn of the world.”
“The lines are metrical, as in fact they commonly are in the older parts of the Avesta, and the rhythm somewhat recalls the Kalevala verse of Longfellow's”
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 3
“The Kalevala is a very important part of traditional music; it is a recitation of Finnish legends, and is considered an integral part of the Finnish folk identity.”
“The Song of Hiawatha," his most ambitious poem, took its content and themes from the legends of Michigan's Ojibwe Indians as collected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft and its meter from the Finnish epic "Kalevala" as recorded by Elias L ö nnrot.”
The Wall Street Journal: Spotty History, Maybe, but Great Literature
“The original Sampo is destroyed at the end of the "Kalevala," though its pieces do wash ashore to guarantee prosperity for Finland.”
“According to Sirkka-Liisa Mettomaki of the Finnish Literature Society, the "Kalevala" embodies "a knowledge-based mythology.”
“And the "Kalevala" speaks volumes about how the Finns see themselves.”
“First published in 1835, the "Kalevala" was compiled by scholar Elias Lonnrot from Finnish folk tales and ballads.”
“Among other things, the "Kalevala" is the story of the Sampo -- a wealth-generating virtual machine conceived many hundreds of years before the birth of Bill Gates.”
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