Kalevala Day

Being a man of a certain bardic persuasion, I should mention that February 28th is celebrated in Finland as “Kalevala Day,” in honor of the great Finnish national epic poem, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology, and first published in 1835. J.R.R. Tolkien, among others, drew deep from the wells of the Kalevala and other Finnish lore. A small gesture of my own appreciation for all things folk and Finnish, I include here a short musical piece, titled “Kalevala Sävelmä,” an ancient Finnish rune melody. The accompanying image is taken from a portrait of Ilmatar, the Finnish creation goddess and mother of Väinämöinen, the central figure and “eternal bard” of the Kalevala. The portrait was painted between 1913 and 1916 by Finnish painter Joseph Alanen (1885-1920). The instrument played is the kantele, a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked stringed instrument of the Baltic zither family.