Kalevala Day is celebrated in Finland on the 28th of February, in honour of the day on which the Old Kalevala’s foreword was dated by Elias Lönnrot (February 28, 1835). Kalevala Day is an official flag-raising day in Finland, and simultaneously the Day of Finnish culture.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Kalevala art
Aino-Mynth, 1891, triptych
Left -hand panel: Väinämöinen courting Aino
Left -hand panel: Väinämöinen courting Aino
Väinämöinen is the central character of The Kalevala, a shamanistic hero with a magical power of song and music.Väinämöinen created and plays the kantele, a Finnish stringed instrument that resembles and is played like a zither. One of his potential brides, Joukahainen's sister Aino, drowns herself instead of marrying him.
The Forging of the Sampo, 1893
Sampo or Sammas was a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by Ilmarinen that brought riches and good fortune to its holder.
Joukahainen's Revenge 1897
Joukahainen is the rival of the main character, Väinämöinen. After losing a singing contest, he pledges his sister Aino to Väinämöinen, but she drowns herself rather than marry him. Joukahainen, still envious of Väinämöinen, then shoots the stag of his rival from under him.
Lemminkäinen's Mother, 1897
Lemminkäinen, a handsome, arrogant and reckless ladies-man.
He shares a very close relationship with his mother, who revives him after he has been drowned in the river of Tuonela while pursuing the object of his romantic desires.
The Kalevala is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity, the intensification of Finland's language strife and the growing sense of nationality.
