Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume One

E-text prepared by R. Cedron, V. L. Simpson, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS
ROMANCE
KALEVALA TRANSLATED FROM THE FINNISH BY W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S., F.E.S. IN 2 VOLS. VOL. 1
THE LAND OF THE HEROES
VOLUME ONE
LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. INC.
All rights reserved Made in Great Britain at The Temple Press Letchworth and decorated by Eric Ravilious for J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. Aldine House Bedford St. London First Published in this Edition 1907 Reprinted 1914, 1923, 1936
The Kalevala , or the Land of Heroes, as the word may be freely rendered, is the national epic of Finland, and as that country and its literature are still comparatively little known to English readers, some preliminary explanations are here necessary.
On reference to a map of Europe, it will be seen that the north-western portion of the Russian Empire forms almost a peninsula, surrounded, except on the Norwegian and Swedish frontiers, by two great arms of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland; the two great lakes, Ladoga and Onega; the White Sea, and the Arctic Ocean. In the north of this peninsula is Lapland, and in the south, Finland.
The modern history of Finland begins with the year 1157, when the country was conquered from the original inhabitants by the Swedes, and Christianity was introduced. Later on, the Finns became Lutherans, and are a pious, industrious, and law-abiding people, the upper classes being highly educated.
During the wars between Sweden and Russia, under Peter the Great and his successors, much Finnish territory was wrested from Sweden, and St. Petersburg itself stands on what was formerly Finnish territory. When what was left of Finland was finally absorbed by Russia in 1809, special privileges were granted by Alexander I. to the Finns, which his successors confirmed, and which are highly valued by the people.