Part 15 (1/2)

Is such a declension not enough to strike terror to the stoutest heart?

But now to return to the _Kalevala_ itself, which is said to be one of the grandest epic poems in existence. The word _Kalevala_ means ”Land of heroes,” and it is undoubtedly a poem of nature-wors.h.i.+p. It points to a contest between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, and in this case the Light and Good are represented by the Finns, the Darkness and Evil by the Laps. Although it is a poem of nature-wors.h.i.+p, full of most wonderful descriptions--some of the lines in praise of the moon and sun, the sea and water-ways, the rivers and hills, and the wondrous pine forests of Finland, are full of marvellous charm--it also tells the story of love, and many touching scenes are represented in its verses.

”It is unlike other epics,” says Edward Clodd, ”in the absence of any apotheosis of clique or clan or dynasty, and in the theatre of action being in no ideal world where the G.o.ds sit lonely on Olympus, apart from men. Its songs have a common author, the whole Finnish people; the light of common day, more than that of the supernatural, illumines them.”

Before going further, it may be well to mention how the _Kalevala_ came into existence. Finland is thinly peopled, but every Finn is at heart musical and poetical; therefore, far removed from the civilised world, they made songs among themselves--fantastic descriptions of their own country. By word of mouth these poems were handed on from generation to generation, and generally sung to the accompaniment of the _kantele_ in a weird sort of chant. By such means the wonderful _Sagas_ of Iceland were preserved to us until the year 1270, when they first began to be written down on sheepskins, in Runic writing, for Iceland at that date shone as a glorious literary light when all was gloom around. By means of tales, and poems, and chanted songs, the Arabian Nights stories, so dearly loved by the Arabs, which as yet have not been collected as they should have been, are related even to-day by the professional story-tellers we have seen in the market-places of Morocco.

Professor _Elias Lonnrot_, as mentioned in the last chapter, realising the value to scholars and antiquaries of the wonderful poems of Finland, so descriptive of the manners and customs of the Finns, set to work in the middle of the nineteenth century to collect and bring them out in book form before they were totally forgotten. This was a tremendous undertaking; he travelled through the wildest parts of Finland; disguised as a peasant, he walked from village to village, from homestead to homestead, living the life of the people, and collecting, bit by bit, the poems of his country. As in all mythological or gipsy tales, he found many versions of the same subject, for naturally verses handed on orally change a little in different districts from generation to generation. But he was not to be beaten by this extra amount of work, and finally wove into a connected whole the substance of the wondrous tales he had heard from the peasantry. This whole he called _Kalevala_, the name of the district where the heroes of the poem once existed.

Gramophones will in future collect such treasures for posterity.

In 1835 the first edition appeared. It contained thirty-two runos or cantos of about twelve thousand lines, and the second, which was published in 1849, contained fifty runos or about twenty-two thousand eight hundred lines (seven thousand more than the _Iliad_).

There is no doubt about it, experts declare, that the poems or verses were written at different times, but it is nearly all of pre-Christian origin, for, with the exception of a few prayers in the last pages, there are few signs of Christian influence.

No one knows exactly how these poems originated. Indeed, the _Kalevala_ is unique among epics, although distinct traces of foreign influence may occasionally be found, the Christian influence being only noticeable in the last runos when the Virgin's Son, the Child Christ, appears, after which advent _Wainamoinen_ disappears for unknown lands. With this exception the entire poem is of much earlier date.

The last runo is truly remarkable.

”_Mariatta_, child of beauty,” becomes wedded to a berry--

Like a cranberry in feature, Like a strawberry in flavour.

Wedded to the mountain berry

Wedded only to his honour.

I shall bear a n.o.ble hero, I shall bear a son immortal, Who will rule among the mighty, Rule the ancient _Wainamoinen_.

In the stable is a manger, Fitting birth-place for the hero.

Thereupon the horse, in pity, Breathed the moisture of his nostrils, On the body of the Virgin, Wrapped her in a cloud of vapour, Gave her warmth and needed comforts, Gave his aid to the afflicted To the virgin _Mariatta_.

There the babe was born and cradled, Cradled in a woodland manger.

This shows Christian origin!

_Wainamoinen's_ place is gradually usurped by the ”Wonder-babe,” and the former departs in this stanza--

Thus the ancient _Wainamoinen_, In his copper-banded vessel Left his tribe in _Kalevala_, Sailing o'er the rolling billows, Sailing through the azure vapours, Sailing through the dusk of evening, Sailing to the fiery sunset, To the higher landed regions, To the lower verge of heaven; Quickly gained the far horizon, Gained the purple-coloured harbour, There his bark he firmly anch.o.r.ed, Rested in his boat of copper; But he left his harp of magic, Left his songs and wisdom sayings To the lasting joy of _Suomi_.

Thus old _Wainamoinen_ sails away into unfathomable depths.

The _Kalevala_ has, up to the present time, been a much-neglected poem, but there is now an excellent English translation by Martin Crawford, an American by birth, from which we have taken the liberty of quoting. Mr.

Andrew Lang has charmingly discoursed on the great national poem of the Finns, and Mr. Edward Clodd, who wrote a delightful series of articles in _Knowledge_ on the same subject, has kindly placed his notes in my hands.

There is no doubt about it that the fantastic mythology of the Finns has not received as much attention as it deserves. ”Although mythology and theology are one,” says Mr. Clodd, ”we find among the ancient Finns the wors.h.i.+p of natural objects, all living things being credited with life, and all their relations being regarded as the actions of the mighty powers.”