LibGuides: Finnish folklore: information sources in English: Kalevala and Kanteletar

The Kalevala, compiled and edited by Elias Lönnrot, is the national epic of the Finns.

SKS supported the folklore collecting journeys of Lönnrot in Finland and Karelia, and published the works that were based on the results of those field trips: the Kalevala (1835, 1849) and the Kanteletar (1840). The Kalevala is based on epic folk poems, whereas the main sources of Kanteletar are lyrical folk poems.

There are several English translations available of both works. The Kalevala is the most translated book in Finnish: it has been translated into approx. 60 languages.

The Kalevala collection at SKS Library

The Finnish Literature Society's Kalevala collection is one of the world's most complete. The collection contains

the Finnish editions of the Kalevala
Finnish abridgements and adaptations
translations and abridged and adapted translations into sixty languages

You can find references to Kalevala's Finnish editions and translations into other languages in the SKS Finna Search Service. Use the Narrow Search menu on the right to filter your search results by different criterias, for example by language.

The books in the Kalevala collection are not available for check out, but the Cultural Research Collection (call number D-H) contains a selection of Kalevala editions that can be borrowed.

Kalevala information pack

SKS's Kalevala information pack contains information on the epic and it's background, origin and impact. The online material is available in Finnish, English and several other languages (the full text of the Kalevala is available only in Finnish).

Elias Lönnrot (1802 - 1884)

Biography of Elias Lönnrot (National Biography of Finland)
"After the 16th-century bishop Mikael Agricola, Elias Lönnrot was the second father of written Finnish. He created the national epic, the Kalevala, and edited dictionaries and periodicals. An expert in many fields, he became a strengthener of national self-esteem; his authority united national culture across the boundaries of language and politics."
Raija Majamaa. Translated by Fletcher Roderick.

The Kalevala Society and Kalevala Guide

You can find information about the Kalevala, it's translations and Elias Lönnrot on The Kalevala Society's webpages.

A selection of articles from the Kalevala Guide is available online:

The printed book is available at the SKS Library:

Kalevala guide
Irma-Riitta Järvinen, English-language editing by Leila Virtanen.
Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2010.
This book is a English-language guide to the Finnish national epic. The Guide explains Kalevala's contents, characters, places and themes. It also explores myths of origin and the significance of the epic.

Juminkeko - The Information Center for the Kalevala and Karelian Culture

You can find information about the creator of the Kalevala, Elias Lönnrot, and the birth site of the poems, the Viena Karelian villages, on Juminkeko website:

English translations of the Kalevala available online

The Kalevala : the epic poem of Finland
Into English by John Martin Crawford.
New York: John B. Alden 1888.
Project Gutenberg eBook.
Selections from the Kalevala
John Addison Porter.
New York: Leypoldt & Holt 1868.
Google Books.
Kalevala: The Land of Heroes
Translated from the original Finnish by W. F. Kirby.
London : New York : J. M. Dent ; E. P. Dutton & Co, [1907].
Project Gutenberg eBook.
Kalevala: The Land of Heroes. Volume two.
Translated from the original Finnish by W. F. Kirby
London : J. M. Dent & Sons [1915].
Project Gutenberg eBook.

Translations of the Kalevala

Kalevala collections at SKS Library

The Kalevala in English (Print)

Kalevala
Translated from the Finnish by John Martin Crawford ; with an introduction by Horatio Clare.
London : Vintage, 2017.
Kalevala
A prose translation from the Finnish by Aili Kolehmainen Johnson ; illustrated by Elizabeth Halvary and L. W. Leskinen.
Hancock (MI) : Book Concern, 1950.
Kalevala: the Land of the Heroes
Translated by W. F. Kirby : introduced by M. A. Branch.
[Helsinki] : London : [WSOY] ; Athlone 1985.
Originally published 1907.
Kalevala : the Land of the Heroes. Volume 2
Translated from the Finnish by W. F. Kirby.
London : J. M. Dent & Sons 1936. Repr.
Originally published 1915.
The Kalevala, or, Poems of the Kaleva district
A prose translation with foreword and appendices by Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr.
Cambridge (MA) : Harvard University Press 1970. 2nd pr.
The Kalevala : an epic poem after oral tradition
Translated from the Finnish with an introduction and notes by Keith Bosley.
Oxford : Oxford University Press 1989.
The Kalevala : epic of the Finnish people
Translated by Eino Friberg ; editing and introduction by George C. Schoolfield ; illustrated by Björn Landström.
Helsinki : Otava 1988.
2nd ed. 1990. - 3rd ed. 1992. - 4th ed. 1998. - 5th ed. 2004.
The Kalevala : the epic poem of Finland
Into English by John Martin Crawford.
New York : John B. Alden 1888.

Browse the English translations, selections and adaptations of the Kalevala in the SKS Finna.

The Kanteletar in English (Print)

I will sing of what I know : fifty lyrics, ritual songs and ballads from the Kanteletar
Translation and notes by Keith Bosley ; with an essay by Senni Timonen.
Helsinki : Finnish Literature Society, 1990.
I will sing of what I know is a selection of fifty lyrics and ballads from the Kanteletar, sung by generations of men and women living ordinary lives.
The Kanteletar : lyrics and ballads after oral tradition
by Elias Lönnrot ; selected and translated from the Finnish with introduction and notes by Keith Bosley.
Oxford : Oxford University Press 1992.
Kanteletar: 64 lyric poems
Translated by Vernon and Anja Sell.
Madison (WI) : ICI, Ltd 1999.