Kalevala Essay

This Study Guide consists of approximately 96 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Kalevala.

Kalevala Essay

This Study Guide consists of approximately 96 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Kalevala.
This section contains 141 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy the Kalevala Study Guide

In the following essay, Miller discusses the importance of the Finn's national epic to a sense of national pride and as an historical artifact.

It is said that "the Finnish people through the Kalevala actually sang themselves into existence" (Eino Friberg, in The Kalevala, Epic of the Finnish People, 1988). What made this epic such a powerful unifying force during a period of national awaken-mg? For the Finns, the Kalevala was more than simply a collection of fifty poems compiled by a country doctor in his spare time. It was "a portrayal of Finnish mythology," "the mythological dream of the Finnish people," and "a statement of the worldview of the Finnish people" (Juha Pentikainen, "The Ancient Religion of the Finns"). Through Kalevala poetry, the Finns developed a language and a system of symbols for describing and envisioning their world.

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This section contains 141 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy the Kalevala Study Guide
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