The Kalevala is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the epic mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as important national symbols and affirm a set of national values. A myth is a mixture of reality and fiction, and operates in a specific social and historical setting. Social myths structure national imaginaries. A national myth may take the form of a national epic, or it may be incorporated into a civil religion. A group of related myths about a nation may be referred to as the national mythos, from μῦθος, Greek for "myth".
Finnish mythology commonly refers of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many shared features with Estonian and other Finnic mythologies, but also with neighbouring Baltic, Slavic and, to a lesser extent, Norse mythologies.
Finnish poetry is the poetry from Finland. It is usually written in the Finnish language or Swedish language, but can also include poetry written in Northern Sámi or other Sámi languages. It has its roots in the early folk music of the area, and still has a thriving presence today.
Henrik Gabriel Porthan was a professor and rector at the Royal Academy of Turku, Finland. He was a scholar sometimes known as The Father of Finnish History.
Finnish literature refers to literature written in Finland. During the European early Middle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-century Birch bark letter no. 292 from Novgorod. The text was written in Cyrillic and represented a dialect of Finnic language spoken in Russian Olonets region. The earliest texts in Finland were written in Swedish or Latin during the Finnish Middle Age. Finnish-language literature was slowly developing from the 16th century onwards, after written Finnish was established by the Bishop and Finnish Lutheran reformer Mikael Agricola (1510–1557). He translated the New Testament into Finnish in 1548.
Keith Anthony Bosley was a British poet and translator.
Kaarle Krohn was a Finnish folklorist, professor and developer of the geographic-historic method of folklore research. He was born into the influential Krohn family of Helsinki. Krohn is best known outside of Finland for his contributions to international folktale research. He devoted most of his life to the study of the epic poetry that forms the basis for the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.
Umayya Abu-Hanna is a Palestinian-Finnish writer, journalist, and former member of the Helsinki City Council born in Haifa, Israel into a Palestinian family. She moved to Finland in 1981. In 2011, she moved to Amsterdam where she resides with her South African daughter.
In Finnish folklore, Kalma is an abstraction or a personification of death or the grave. The word kalma means 'a grave, the smell of a corpse, a corpse'. It has cognates in other Uralic languages. In Samoyed languages kolmu or halmer means 'corpse' or 'the spirit of a dead person'. In Mordvinic languages, kalma or kalmo means 'grave'.
Juha Pentikäinen is a professor emeritus of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Helsinki and a professor of northern ethnography at the University of Lapland and the Institute for Northern Culture in Helsinki. With a field-work oriented approach to the study of religious traditions he is especially interested in the oral history of languages, religions and cultures.
Estophilia refers to the ideas and activities of people not of Estonian descent who are sympathetic to, or interested in, Estonian language, Estonian literature or Estonian culture, the history of Estonia, and Estonia in general. Such people are known as Estophiles.
FILI – Finnish Literature Exchange is the organisation dedicated to promoting Finnish literature abroad. Its core activity is bringing literature from Finland to the world. FILI was established in 1977 as a subdivision of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS). FILI is also part of the TAIVE network of Finnish arts information organisations, taking an active role in promoting Finnish literature abroad and participating in international projects. FILI has been involved in setting up two international literature networks: we are currently part of the NordLit network alongside our fellow organisations in the Nordic countries, and isa member of the Literature Across Frontiers network as well.
The Estonian Literary Museum, is a national research institute of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia. Its mission is to improve the cultural heritage of Estonia, to collect, preserve, research and publish the results. The current Head of the Estonian Literary Museum is Piret Voolaid.
The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland is a scholarly society for the collection, archiving and dissemination of knowledge about Finland-Swedish culture. SLS publishes scholarly literature, maintains archives and libraries, funds research and awards literary and scholarly prizes and scholarships. SLS's activity is made possible by private donations. SLS is one of the largest managers of private charitable funds in Finland.
Kalevala Day, known as Finnish Culture Day by its other official name, is celebrated each 28 February in honor of the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. The day is one of the official flag flying days in Finland.
Suomen kansan vanhat runot, or SKVR, is an edition of traditional Finnic-language verse containing around 100,000 different songs, and including the majority of the songs that were the sources of the Finnish epic Kalevala and related poetry. The collection is available, free, online.
Elizabeth Solopova is a Russian-British philologist and medievalist undertaking research at New College, Oxford. She is known outside academic circles for her work on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings.
William Albert "Bert" Wilson was a scholar of Mormon folklore. The "father of Mormon folklore" helped found and organize folklore archives at both Utah State University (USU) and Brigham Young University (BYU). He directed the folklore archive at USU from 1978 to 1985, and chaired the English department at BYU from 1985 to 1991. He and his students collected jokes, legends, stories, songs, and other information to add to the Mormon folklore archives.
Maria Cecilia Margit af Forselles is the Director of the National Library of Finland.
