> Several folk have kindly posted notes on the availability of Finnish books
> based on the Kalevala. Its probably worth mentioning that there are
several
> translations of the Kalevala *itself* available in English, from the
earnest
> but dull (Keith Bosley, OUP) to the less accurate but scintillating (W.F
> Kirby, Everyman & several others).
>
For those not familiar with the riches of Kalevala, Sacred Texts have just
made available a complete English language e-text at
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/index.htm
Its a suitably obscure Victorian translation (now out of copyright), but not without its rewards. At the very least, it can whet your appetite for a more contemporary rendering. The site has other poetic and mythic riches as well.
Now we sing the wondrous legends,
Songs of wedding-feasts and dances,
Sing the melodies of wedlock,
Sing the songs of old tradition;
Sing of Ilmarinen's marriage
To the Maiden of the Rainbow,
Fairest daughter of the Northland,
Sing the drinking-songs of Pohya.
THE KALEVALA: THE EPIC POEM OF FINLAND INTO ENGLISH
BY
JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD
[1888]
John
Fast-friends, forest-companions, we made one bed and slept one sleep in foreign lands after the fray.
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