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Joseph_Alanen_-_Lemminkäinen_and_the_Great_Snake

50th Annual Kalevala Lecture

Date

Admission

Contact

2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.5707

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Joseph Alanen, "Lemminkäinen and the Great Snake". Tampere Art Musuem.

Join us as we kick off the 50th Annual Kalevala Festival!

On Kalevala Day, also known as Finnish Culture Day, we celebrate Finnish folk arts, culture, and traditions by learning about Finland's national epic poem, the Kalevala.

Marita Toivonen will introduce the epic's mythical stories, characters, and history. Live rune singing will be integrated into the lecture. This program will be followed by a reception of drinks and light refreshments.

This program is in partnership with the Finnish Choral Society of Seattle of Seattle.

Ekman,_Lemminkäinen_tulisella_järvellä_(sketch)

What is the Kalevala?

The Kalevala is Finland's national epic. It's a collection of poems that contains stories based on oral poetry traditions from eastern and southeastern Finland.

By the 19th century, the tradition of rune singing was already fading under more modern singing cultures, but students from the University of Helsinki began traveling through Karelian villages. They asked people who remembered old poems to sing everything they recalled, and they wrote down the words. Elias Lönnrot compiled the first Kalevala in 1835 based on his own and the students’ notes.

Robert Wilhelm Ekman, "Lemminkäinen on the Fiery Lake". Finnish National Gallery.

The Kalevala contains mythical stories about the creation of the world, wars, heroes, maidens, and courtships.

One of the central characters in the Kalevala is Väinämöinen. He is an old and wise man, a seer, and a singer of spells. In this lecture, we'll go into detail about the origin of the Kalevala, its characters, and stories.

Speaker

  • Marita Toivonen (1)

    Marita Toivonen

    Master of Theology and Master of Arts majoring in Musicology, University of Helsinki

In Partnership With

  • Finnish Choral Society