Literature

Finnish. The Kalevala is the great monument of Finnish literature. The poem is a national epic or folk epic. Elias Lounrot in the nineteenth century wandered through the country and took down from the lips of peasants the old popular songs, arranging and systematizing them into a single complete poem. The story is of the heroes of Kalevala, the land of happiness, and their contest with other heroes from the cold north and the land of death. The poem consists in its final edition of 22,793 lines in fifty cantos. The meter is trochaic tetrameter, the same we find in Longfellow's Hiawatha. The Kalevala has been translated into English by J. M. Crawford. During the nineteenth century the Finnish people have displayed considerable literary activity. Works on history and geography have been produced, as well as religious and moral treatises. A number of poets have written popular verses. Translations have also been made from Swedish literature. See Kalevala