Forwarded from Wäinölä 🇫🇮 (Wäinämöinen • Eternal Sage)
Akseli Gallén-Kallela 🇫🇮 — Kullervo's Curse (1899)
Depicted is a scene from the Kalevala in which Kullervo curses a herd of cows, turning them into bears to attack a woman who's been tormenting him.
Depicted is a scene from the Kalevala in which Kullervo curses a herd of cows, turning them into bears to attack a woman who's been tormenting him.
Forwarded from Wäinölä 🇫🇮 (Wäinämöinen • Eternal Sage)
The significance of the Kalevala
The first edition of the #Kalevala came out in 1835. Elias Lönnrot compiled it from folk poetry recorded into notebooks during his collection trips among poetry singers in 1828–1834. At the time of publication of the Kalevala, Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of Russia, and before that, until 1809, Finland was part of the Swedish Kingdom.
Especially for Finnish intellectuals, the Kalevala became a symbol of the Finnish past, Finnishness, the Finnish language and Finnish culture, a foundation on which they started to build the fragile Finnish identity. It also aroused much interest abroad, and brought a small, unknown people to the awareness of other Europeans.
The effect of the Kalevala on Finnish culture, arts and sciences has been significant. It has left its mark on the fine arts, literature, theatre, dance and music. It lives on in popular culture, films, comics, games and commercials. During different historical periods, the Kalevala has been given a number of various, sometimes strong, interpretations. However, there is no one way to interpret the Kalevala.
The first edition of the #Kalevala came out in 1835. Elias Lönnrot compiled it from folk poetry recorded into notebooks during his collection trips among poetry singers in 1828–1834. At the time of publication of the Kalevala, Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of Russia, and before that, until 1809, Finland was part of the Swedish Kingdom.
Especially for Finnish intellectuals, the Kalevala became a symbol of the Finnish past, Finnishness, the Finnish language and Finnish culture, a foundation on which they started to build the fragile Finnish identity. It also aroused much interest abroad, and brought a small, unknown people to the awareness of other Europeans.
The effect of the Kalevala on Finnish culture, arts and sciences has been significant. It has left its mark on the fine arts, literature, theatre, dance and music. It lives on in popular culture, films, comics, games and commercials. During different historical periods, the Kalevala has been given a number of various, sometimes strong, interpretations. However, there is no one way to interpret the Kalevala.
The Birch, tree of creativity & discipline, was sacred to the Celtic bards, story tellers & poets who learnt & orally passed on the lore of their people. Trained bards always carried a silver branch, probably a birch, to help with clarity. #FolkloreThursday Img: Cicely Barker
Description and image from Maude Frome:
Description and image from Maude Frome:
There has been much emphasis on group think and conforming in much of Heathenry in past few years. Yes our ancestors lived in tribal groups and clans, but they never promoted "hive mind". Below is an excert from the book-From We Are Our Deeds: The Elder Heathenry, Its Ethic, and Thew by Eric Wódening Why the Germanic tribes placed such a importance on the individual cannot be said with any degree of certainty. It would appear, however, that they realized early in their development that in order for a society to thrive, its individuals must be allowed the freedom to be themselves. In a society which emphasizes conformity, the tendency would be for the individual to try to blend into the herd; hence, a warrior would avoid excelling in his craft, for fear that he would stand out from the crowd. Obviously then, conformity would keep individuals from performing to the best of their abilities. In a time and place where one’s tribe might be attacked by mad Celts at any moment, this was hardly desirable the community would want its warriors fighting to their full potential in hope of surviving the raging hordes of Gauls. Naturally, this extends to other occupations as well, so that an emphasis on individuality would also produce better scops, better smiths, and even better farmers.
Similarly, conformity could possibly have an adverse effect on the happiness of individuals. An unhappy individual is much less likely to contribute to society and much less likely to fight for that society when it is threatened by outsiders than one who is happy with his lot in life. For that reason, perhaps, the ancient Germanic tribes accorded the individual a large number of rights, such as the right to keep his own property and the right to some say in government. The survival of the community would then appear to be somewhat dependent upon the happiness of its individuals, and the odds of individuals being happy would be increased if they were simply allowed to be themselves.
Similarly, conformity could possibly have an adverse effect on the happiness of individuals. An unhappy individual is much less likely to contribute to society and much less likely to fight for that society when it is threatened by outsiders than one who is happy with his lot in life. For that reason, perhaps, the ancient Germanic tribes accorded the individual a large number of rights, such as the right to keep his own property and the right to some say in government. The survival of the community would then appear to be somewhat dependent upon the happiness of its individuals, and the odds of individuals being happy would be increased if they were simply allowed to be themselves.