Misty morning with Kalevala songs
The Kalevala is a book and epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore in the nineteenth century. It is held to be the national epic of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. Karelian citizens and other Balto-Finnic speakers also value the work. The Kalevala is credited with some of the inspiration for the national awakening that ultimately led to Finnish government’s independence from that of Russia in 1917.
The name can be interpreted as the “lands of Kaleva” (by the Finnish suffix -la/lä for place). The epic consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty cantos, rhymes or “chapters” (Finnish: runo). Below is one excerption of the songs with attached image taken early misty autumn morning, in the middle of Finland, 3.10.2009.
“O my Otso, O my darling,
Fair one with the paws of honey,
Do thou rest in hilly country,
And among the rocks so lovely,
Where the pines above are waving,
And the firs below are rustling.
Turn thyself around, O Otso,
Turn thee round, O honey-pawed one,
As upon her nest the woodgrouse,
Or as turns the goose when brooding.”
Then the aged Vainamoinen
Heard his dog was barking loudly,
And the dog was fiercely baying
Just beside the Small-eye’s dwelling,
In the pathway of the Broad-nose ;
And he spoke the words which follow :
” First I thought it was a cuckoo,
Thought I heard a love-bird singing,
But no cuckoo there is calling,
And no love-bird there is singing, 90
But it is my dog that’s baying,
Here my faithful hound awaits me,
At the door of Otso’s dwelling,
At the handsome hero’s homestead.”
Then the aged Vainamoinen
Struck the bear where he was lying,
Overturned his bed of satin,
Overthrew his lair so golden,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him : too
” Praise, O Jumala, unto thee,
Praise to thee alone, Creator,
Unto me the bear who gavest,
And the forest gold hast granted.”
Gazed he on the golden booty,
And he spoke the words which follow :
” O my Otso, O my darling,
Fair one with the paws of honey,
Be not filled with causeless anger,
I myself have not o’erthrown thee, no
Thou thyself hast left the forest,
Wandered from thy pine-tree covert,
Thou hast torn away thy clothing,
Ripped thy grey cloak in the thicket.
Slippery is this autumn weather,
Cloudy are the days and misty.
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nice. finnish fresh