Finnish Bushcrafting Poetry

[Martti]

Apart from giving inspiration for Finnish artists for past two hundred years, Finnish epic poetry has also influenced a number of foreign artists. It is not the same as Kalevala, but the book is the same as epic poetry. Kalevala is an edited compilation of some of the poems and themes by Elias Lönnrot, while much of the poems and spells do not have a connection to the events described in Kalevala. Unfortunately for most of the people here, only Kalevala has been translated into English. Two of the translations are readily available online; Kirby's Kalevala: the land of heroes (1907) and Crawford's Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland (1888). You can compare these two versions to find the one you like the best. Alternatively you can buy a newer and maybe better translation by native Finn, Friberg's Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People.

Part of Kalevala, the story of Sampo, was filmed in 1959 by Soviet and Finnish film crews as film Sampo. The movie can be seen through YouTube in parts. I can try also to provide partial translations of some of the poems not available through Kalevala. Themes vary greatly from healing spells to showing respect to slain bear (as in my signature), carving a boat, how the world and animals were born, brewing beer etc.

As a sample of the poetry, I have copied here a chapter from Kirby's translation (Runo VI, verses 29-60). Here Jouhakainen is making a crossbow to kill his enemy Väinämöinen:

Then he wrought a mighty crossbow.
And a splendid bow he fashioned,
And he formed the bow of iron,
Overlaid the back with copper.
And with gold inlaid it also,
And with silver he adorned it.

Where did he obtain the bowstring?
Whence a cord to match the weapon?
Sinews from the elk of Hiisi,
And the hempen cord of Lempo.
Thus at length the bow was finished.
And the stock was quite completed,
And the bow was fair to gaze on,
And its value matched its beauty.
At its back a horse was standing,
On the stock a foal was running,
On the curve a sleeping woman,
At the catch a hare was couching.

Shafts of wood he likewise fashioned.
Every arrow triply feathered,
And the shafts were formed of oakwood,
And he made the heads of pinewood;
Thus the arrows were completed,
And he fixed the feathers on them,
From the swallows' plumage taken.
Likewise from the tails of sparrows.

After this, the points he sharpened.
And the arrow-points he poisoned.
In the black blood of the serpent,
In the blood of hissing adders.
Thus he made his arrows ready,
And his bow was fit for bending,

 

[Martti]

Perhaps two of the most famous Finnish artist who have drawn their inspiration from Kalevala, were Robert Wilhelm Ekman (1808-1873) and Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931). Just to give an visual idea of some of the key events on Kalevala, I have collected some of the most famous paintings from these two painters.

Ekman's Väinämöisen soitto ("Väinämöinen's Play", 1866).

Gallen-Kallela's Aino-taru ("Legend of Aino", 1891).

Gallen-Kallela's Sammon taonta ("The Forging of the Sampo", 1893).

Gallen-Kallela's Sammon puolustus ("The Defense of the Sampo", 1896).