Chill out in the North with Kalevala, the Finnish National Epic Poetry

Today is the Day of the Finnish National Epic Poetry "Kaleva". I'll point out, really heavy storytelling Check it out! Here for you Live Lemminkäinen , some storytelling and a images in a video. And here the Kalevala-jewellery, Kalevala-koru. They have character indeed...

By the way, I found in the web a Russian folk metal band called Kalevala. Listen to their tune Son-Reka. Super! I found also "Sampo en España", relatos de Kalevala for kids. Hmmm...Of course there are also other versions in Spanish. Read here about Kalevala in Spanish and about the Kalevala-versions you can find in Spanish. And here the same info in Russian. Or check here "Kalevala in the World": http://kalevalamaailmalla.kalevalaseura.fi/ (choose "Kielet", that is languages).

As in wiki, The Kalevala or The Kalewala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish folklore mythology. It is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala played an instrumental role in the development of the Finnish national identity, the intensification of Finland's language strife and the growing sense of nationality that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917.The first version of The Kalevala (called The Old Kalevala) was published in 1835.

Here for you some examples of Kalevala-books in different languages. You can find Kalevala also as comic book from Kristian Huitula. Or in the Stories of Tolkien, the Tolkien Gateway to Kalevala.

To finalize. Singing a Kalevala Runo in Finnish by Ensiferum (translation in English there). Do you know that in the tune above was used the national instirument of Finland which is called "Kantele". Here you can read more about kantele, which can be found nowadays also as an electric version. The other very interesting Finnish instrument is "Jouhikko". Listen to Pekko Käppi, the Finnish Maestro of Jouhikko!