Kalevala
The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884) from ancient oral poetry. The material, old Finnish ballads and lyrical songs depicting "the sons of Kalevala", were published in two editions, first in 1835 with 35 cantos, and the enlarged edition with 50 cantos in 1849. Lönnrot's aim was to arrange the mythological and other poems into a single volume, comparable to the Icelandic Edda, and tell about the past heroes like Homer did in Iliad and Odyssey. The Kalevala itself is based principally on poems collected from the Finnish-Karelian border zone. Between 1831 and 1835 Lönnrot undertook three collection journeys to Archangel Karelia and arranged his materials into an epic whole. The revised Kalevala was elaborated with the new material that Lönnrot and other collectors had amassed since 1835.
Finnish Kalevala Mythology
The Kalevala: The Finnish National Epic
Kalevala : Land of Heroes
Kalevala - The Finnish National Epic
Kalevala Pictures by Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Lord of the Rings Inspired by an Ancient Epic
The Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot
Translated by John Martin Crawford [1888]
The World of the Kalevala
