1. Kalevala’s origins and myths Vesa Matteo Piludu, Kalevala Suite Lecture 5 10.10.2011 Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Arts Musicology University of Helsinki

2. Mikael Agricola 1510-1557 Translated the Bible into Finnish In his introduction to the Psalm, he included a list of 12 Finnish and Pagan deities Purpose: eradicate superstition

3. Daniel Juslenius 1676-1752 Compared Finnish Folk poetry with the pastoral poetry of Antiquity

4. Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739-1804) De poesi Fennica (1776-78) He understood the relevance of folk poetry for the development of Finnish literature and culture He saw the harsh reality of life and hard work that underlay folk poems Study of the structure of the poetry Attention to the musical features of folk poetry He believed that various separate folk epic song might yield a coherent narrative

5. Karl Axel Gottlund (1796-1875) Pedagogical nature and common sense wisdom in Folk poetry Odd romantic theory Finns: had been a civilized people before the degeneration in medieval barbarism Finns should have a noble prehistory, a “golden age” of heroes It would be possible to built up a great epic narrative on basis of the “ancient” folk poems Gottlund failed completely in writing his own epic poem

6. Elias Lönnrot Gifted son of a tailor of Sammatti Mother tongue: Finnish Enrolled at the University of Turku in 1822 Collegues and friends: Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) and Johan Vilhelm Snelman (1806-1881) Teacher Reinold von Becker (1788-1859), who had gone on expedition to collect Finnish folk poetry and wrote an article on Väinämöinen According to him Väinämöinen was a great warrior and a multi-skilled hero Lönnrot wrote the dissertation De Wäinämöine, priscorum fennorum numine

7. The wanderer 1828 First expedition. Lönnrot wasn’t able to reach White Sea Karelia, but met the singer Juhana Kainulainen in Kesälahti: Long song of Lemminkäinen, the singing battle of Väinämöinen and Joukahainen, a fragment of the stealing of the Sampo, several spells and charms 1932 Third expedition to White Sea Karelia 1933 Lönnrot moved to Kajaani and worked as a district physician White Sea Karelia: In Vuonninen Ontrei Malinen (1781-1856) sang nine long poems about Väinämöinen Vaassila Kieväläinen remebered the order of the poems In Latvajärvi Arhippa Perttunen sang complete poems in a coherent order: over 4000 lines

8. 1828 – 1837 7 expeditions in Finland, Karelia and Lapland

9. Elias Lönnrot travelling Elias Lönnrot in Finlandia is considered a true hero

10. Singer of Suistamo with kantele. Photo by Inha

11. Lönnrot and Kalevala Lönnrot was convinced that the characters of the epic folk poems were historical heroes Sacred prehistory of the Finns Lönnrot tried to cut (mostly) all Christian elements from the songs and created an ideal pagan civilization