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n Todaynis also known as Finnish Culture Day.
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nOnnthis date in 1835, a collection of 12,078 verses was published in Finland under the title Kalevala.nThese verses told the oral folklore and mythology of the Finns, andnthey had an enormous impact on the people, helping them to form annational identity.
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Howndid these oral traditions find their way onto paper? We have to thankna doctor and botanist (plant scientist) named Elias Lonnrot. He wasnthe district health officer of all of Kainuu region of Finland, butnin his spare time, he made field trips to collect the folklore of hisnpeople—songs that were sure to die out, he feared, as younger Finnsnread poems and stories from other European nations. The traditionalnsongs had already all but disappeared from Western Finland!
Howndid these oral traditions find their way onto paper? We have to thankna doctor and botanist (plant scientist) named Elias Lonnrot. He wasnthe district health officer of all of Kainuu region of Finland, butnin his spare time, he made field trips to collect the folklore of hisnpeople—songs that were sure to die out, he feared, as younger Finnsnread poems and stories from other European nations. The traditionalnsongs had already all but disappeared from Western Finland!n
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nAfterneleven collecting trips, Lonnrot published his first collection ofnsongs woven into one long epic tale; he called the epic Kalevala,nor “the land of Kaleva.” Lonnrot kept on collecting more verses,nhowever, and later published another version of ThenKalevala,nthis one 22,795 verses long.
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ThisnFinnish epic not only gave Finns pride but also influenced authorsnsuch as J.R.R. Tolkienn(author of ThenHobbitnand ThenLord of the Rings),nC.S. Lewis (author of the Narnia books), poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,nand Finnish author Paavo Haavikko. Cartoonists and children’s authorsnhave published illustrated versions of the stories told in the epicnpoems—including Disney cartoonist Don Rosa, who drew a Donald Ducknstory called ThenQuest for Kalevala.nThenKalevalanalso influenced painters, musicians, and filmmakers.
ThisnFinnish epic not only gave Finns pride but also influenced authorsnsuch as J.R.R. Tolkienn(author of ThenHobbitnand ThenLord of the Rings),nC.S. Lewis (author of the Narnia books), poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,nand Finnish author Paavo Haavikko. Cartoonists and children’s authorsnhave published illustrated versions of the stories told in the epicnpoems—including Disney cartoonist Don Rosa, who drew a Donald Ducknstory called ThenQuest for Kalevala.nThenKalevalanalso influenced painters, musicians, and filmmakers.n
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nInnFinland, company and brand names and even place names have beenninspired bynThe Kalevala.
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nHow’snthis for impact? I already mentioned that ThenKalevalangave Finns a sense of pride and national identity; the epic isncredited with helping the Finnish independence movement form andnsucceed in breaking away from Russia in 1917!
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n(Bynthe way, a few other folklorists collected some of the Finnish songs,nboth earlier than and contemporary with Lonnrot. But it is Lonnrot’sncontinuous epic story told in verse that made the enormous impact Inhave described here.)
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nAlsonon this date:
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nNational Tooth Fairy Day
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AndalusianDay in Spain
AndalusianDay in Spainn
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nFrenchnScientist Day
