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The Kalevala or Poems of the Kaleva District

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Note: This is the hardcover edition of the Magoun translation; it is now in print in trade paperback, as "The Kalevala: Or Poems of the Kaleva District," and I have included a shorter version of this review under that edition. I have also given a briefer notice to the same translator's version of the "Old Kalevala" (a translation of the shorter first edition of the Finnish original).

"Kalevala," variously translated as "Kaleva District" or "Land of Heroes," is a nineteenth-century compilation, revision, and expansion of narratives, spells and charms, and proverbial wisdom collected from the Finnish-speaking peasants and fisherman of areas of modern Finland and Russia. It is made up largely, but not entirely, of "runos," narrative songs which even then survived in isolated, "fringe" areas; ballads with clear connections with other cultures also make an appearance. The material is, for the most part, clearly pagan in origin, with hints of roots in the Viking Age, if not earlier, but processed through centuries of Christianity, Catholic and Lutheran in Finland proper, Russian Orthodox in the Karelia district. Fortunately, Elias Lonnrot, the main collector, and the man responsible for this literary version, was also engaged in laying the foundations of the scientific study of folk traditions, and the collections he made or sponsored formed the basis of a major archive, the publication of which was only recently completed. In the meantime, his popularization had become a part of the world's culture, as well as that of Finland.

The contents are various, but the main themes are the military and romantic adventures and misadventures of a handful of warrior-magicians, quite as quick with an incantation as with a sword. Vainamoinen, "the Eternal Sage," and a kind of demiurge who sings the Finnish homeland into being, is born old, and his attempts to find a wife lead to the creation of the mysterious and wonderful "Sampo" by the smith Ilmarinen, as a kind of bride-price. These two great heroes share the stage with the irresponsible Lemminkainen, a kind of combined Don Juan and Achilles, and the hapless Kullervo. His story, presented as a cantata by Sibelius, is one of the underpinnings of Tolkien's "Silmarillion." (When the latter first appeared, it seemed obvious that the Quest for the Sampo, and its ultimate fate, was a major inspiration for Tolkien; publication of his early versions show that most of the resemblances emerged over time, in the course of endless reworkings.)

The tireless Lonnrot's literary version went through two major versions, the "Old Kalevala," which has been translated into English once, by Francis P. Magoun, Jr., in 1969, and the "New" Kalevala. Not counting abridged versions and retellings, this was first translated into English, by way of an 1852 German translation, in 1888. The epic was translated directly from Finnish, into imitative verse, in 1907, by W.F. Kirby, a version reprinted for decades in Everyman's Library, in which form it profoundly moved the young J.R.R. Tolkien; there have been several recent reprint editions. In the meantime, Longfellow, already acquainted with European versions, used it as a model for his "Hiawatha," importing a version of the Finnish meter for the purpose. Hence, in an historical paradox, Kirby's translation is often described as being in the "Hiawatha meter." Unfortunately, it seems to work better in Finnish than English.

Neither of these versions was satisfactory for serious study, however, and "Kalevala" is important as, variously, an example of: nineteenth-century romanticism; European nationalist literature; ethnography; folklore; oral epic literature; and, not least, a really good story. To fill at least some of these lacks, Magoun, a leading authority on early Germanic and other medieval literature, prepared a prose translation, published in 1963. It is set out in lines corresponding to the Finnish verses, together with a selection of the early secondary literature (introductions and essays), and a useful apparatus of glossaries, lists of charms, etc. He summarizes modern views, meaning the scholarship of the 1950s. Later printings contain several pages of Corrigenda (corrections and improvements) which originally appeared in his 1969 translation of the "Old Kalevala." (Note: the verses are set out as long lines, with a caesura, not as the couplets, used in most, but not all, Finnish editions; the result looks more like "Beowulf" than Longfellow.)

Although Magoun's translations are quite readable, neither volume is notable for its charm. Sober utility of presentation is the main note, with the main concession being translations of many of the opaque-looking, but meaningful names (Finnish originals in the apparatus, of course). Kirby, despite many failings, was often pleasant to read. (Tolkien, who had been inspired by it to study Finnish, thought that Kirby's version of the rollicking "Creation of Beer" episode was funnier than the original.) There have been two later translations of the "New Kalevala" into English verse, by Eino Friberg (1988) and Keith Bosley (1989), which many will find more appealing. Bosley has also translated a selection of the "Kanteletar," Lonnrot's collection of songs, ballads, and spells, (portions of which also appear in "Kalevala"), and was one of the translators of a volume of the actual songs as collected. But for those who want both the story and all of the details, and either don't care about, or don't care for, such things as meter and rhyme, Magoun's translation remains a first choice. For those who know the epic through other translations, it is still worth consulting. I hold it in high regard.