Sibelius and the Kalevala

The vital importance of the epos Kalevala for the building of a Finnish language and the emerging nation has been stressed repeatedly in the preceding chapters. The pioneering Elias Lönnrot visited the remote areas of White Sea Karelia over fifteen years, collecting, editing and expanding different singers’ runo verses. His first fragmentary attempt, the Proto-Kalevala, appeared in 1834, the first “complete” version in 1835, and the “final,” the New Kalevala, in 1849. There are significant differences between these editions. The primary plot of the epos is the theft of the Sampo, the undefined symbol of prosperity – the Finnish version of the Norse “Ring” – which the heroes Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen sailed to fetch from the Pohjola region. The adventures of the third hero, the warrior Lemminkäinen (a Don Juan and a shaman), were added and expanded by Lönnrot. The only female among the main figures, Aino, was a creation of Lönnrot’s, too, compiled from several sources (see also chapter 8).

With the threat of Russia to Finland’s new and fragile autonomy, the second half of the nineteenth century was a propitious time to develop contemporary cultural expressions, inspired by the ancient runos, that is, the traditional Finnish poetic form. As William Wilson puts it:

Lönnrot’s compilation and Sibelius’s patriotic music served the same purpose: the creation of a national tradition.