The Kalevala and and The Kalevala Plates 

We have a copy of

The Kalevala

written by Elias Lönnrot in 1849.

The Kalevala is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the intensification of Finland's language strife that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917.

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The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The first version of the Kalevala, called the Old Kalevala, was published in 1835. The version most commonly known today was first published in 1849 and consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty folk stories.

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The following essay explains why the Kalevala was so important to the Finnish people.

We have a set of twenty-five

Arabia plates with designs from the Kalevala

Each plate shows a view of life on the land and the Kalevala text it depicts--an example of the Finnish language used in an oral tradition to preserve knowledge, history and skills.

Following the presentation is a translation and commentary on selections from the text.