The Great Bear: A Thematic Anthology of Oral Poetry in the Finno-Ugrian Languages [Hardcover]

Lauri Honko (Author), Senni Timonen (Author), Michael Branch (Author), Keith Bosley (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 1994

Over a period of fifteen years, the authors of this beautiful volume have collected and translated 450 orally transmitted poems, songs, charms, prayers, and laments from Finno-Ugrian languages such as Finnish, Estonian, and Lapp. Presented in both English and the original languages, these works offer unique insights into the worldview and lives of pre-literate peoples in various stages of cultural and social development. The poems reveal the beliefs, perceptions, and artistic genius of fifteen peoples scattered across Northern Europe from Scandinavia, deep into Russia and beyond the Urals, and of the Hungarians in Central Europe. Magnificently produced, with more than forty-five illustrations, the book begins with contexualizing essays on the Finno-Ugrian peoples, oral poetry, and the beliefs and ritual practices reflected in the poems. The poems themselves are arranged thematically, according to such topics as cosmology, hunting, agriculture, animal husbandry, love, marriage, healing, and death. They are followed by a poem-by-poem commentary which contextualizes and explicates the text.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English

About the Author

Lauri Honko et al, Editors --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 816 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195210921
• ISBN-13: 978-0195210927
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,544,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tribute to an ancient oral tradition, August 1, 2001

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Bear: A Thematic Anthology of Oral Poetry in the Finno-Ugrian Languages (Hardcover)

There are 450 poems, songs, charms, prayers, and laments in "The Great Bear," organized in thematic sections such as "The Cosmos," "Hunting," and "Healing." All of the entries are presented in both the original language and English, with a scholarly introduction to each thematic section. This collection from the Oxford University Press represents the oral tradition of fifteen peoples scattered across Northern Europe from Scandinavia, deep into Russia and beyond the Urals, and of the Hungarians in Central Europe.

There are extensive footnotes that illuminate the tradition and meaning of the entries, some of which are fragments of larger, lost works. It is interesting to read a poem such as "To the Coffin-Makers," and then turn to the commentary that explains Karelian burial traditions:

"...The need to use timber from trees in which birds had not rested or sung (cf. II. 9-10) reflects a belief in soul-birds. It was essential to avoid upsetting the deceased---should he or she return in the form of a bird---by felling trees in which the soul might one day wish to rest."

One of the more recondite marriage traditions among the Finnish, Karelian, and Estonian peoples involved teasing the prospective bride and bride-groom: "The theme of seeking the best bride and finding the worst is a central feature....of the bride-teasing poems [that] were customarily sung by the groom's relatives at his home." Here are a few lines from "Teasing the Bride:"

"Listen, precious brother's son/ if you could but have taken an apple from higher boughs/ from the top of other trees!/...Attendants, you maid's brothers:/ take this away when you go/ the one you brought when you came!/ Don't take her along the road--/ take her over the big swamp!/ If you take her by the road/ even horses will stampede/ horseflies will take to their heels..."

The oral tradition of our ancestors was often somber. It often attempted to explain our symbiosis with the natural and spiritual world. However, it could also be joyous. It could make people laugh.

I think we've neglected the humorous, celebratory side of song-making and poetry in our modern world. "The Great Bear" reminds us that poems and songs were meant to reflect all facets of our humanity, not just grief, longing, and pain.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Songs, charms, prayers, and laments, August 22, 2004

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Bear: A Thematic Anthology of Oral Poetry in the Finno-Ugrian Languages (Hardcover)

There are 450 poems, songs, charms, prayers, and laments in "The Great Bear," organized in thematic sections such as "The Cosmos," "Hunting," and "Healing." All of the entries are presented in both the original language and English, with a scholarly introduction to each thematic section. This collection from the Oxford University Press represents the oral tradition of fifteen peoples scattered across Northern Europe from Scandinavia, deep into Russia and beyond the Urals, and of the Hungarians in Central Europe.

There are extensive footnotes that illuminate the tradition and meaning of the entries, some of which are fragments of larger, lost works. It is interesting to read a poem such as "To the Coffin-Makers," and then turn to the commentary that explains Karelian burial traditions:

"...The need to use timber from trees in which birds had not rested or sung (cf. II. 9-10) reflects a belief in soul-birds. It was essential to avoid upsetting the deceased---should he or she return in the form of a bird---by felling trees in which the soul might one day wish to rest."

One of the more recondite marriage traditions among the Finnish, Karelian, and Estonian peoples involved teasing the prospective bride and bride-groom: "The theme of seeking the best bride and finding the worst is a central feature....of the bride-teasing poems [that] were customarily sung by the groom's relatives at his home." Here are a few lines from "Teasing the Bride:"

"Listen, precious brother's son/ if you could but have taken an apple from higher boughs/ from the top of other trees!/...Attendants, you maid's brothers:/ take this away when you go/ the one you brought when you came!/ Don't take her along the road--/ take her over the big swamp!/ If you take her by the road/ even horses will stampede/ horseflies will take to their heels..."

The oral tradition of our ancestors was often somber. It often attempted to explain our symbiosis with the natural and spiritual world. However, it could also be joyous. It could make people laugh.

I think we've neglected the humorous, celebratory side of song-making and poetry in our modern world. "The Great Bear" reminds us that poems and songs were meant to reflect all facets of our humanity, not just grief, longing, and pain.