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Kalevala summary. The motive of the creation of the world. Need help studying a topic?

The life of the Karelian people was difficult and joyless. The rocky, infertile land produced meager harvests. And for these harvests, the peasant had to fight the harsh nature all his life. For a long time, people have dreamed of a happy, joyful life, when there will be plenty of everything and people on earth will live in peace and friendship. The people expressed their dreams in songs called runes. Ordinary people sang runes during hours of rest after hard work. Such people were called rune singers.

These runes passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, and have survived to this day. In the mid-19th century, the runes were collected in one book called “Kalevala”. This is the happy country that the people dreamed of. There are no oppressors or oppressed, all people are equal, everyone loves work equally and works equally. The leader of the Kalevala people is the wise Väinämöinen. Väinämöinen is a great worker: he is a plowman, a hunter, a fisherman, he can build a boat and create a wonderful kantele. Väinämöinen knows a lot, that’s why he is called wise. But above all, Väinämöinen is an incomparable singer. When he sings, even the golden sun and the silver moon come out of their heavenly chambers to listen to his wonderful songs.

Ilmarinen is a famous blacksmith. He works all day in his forge, forging swords, spears, plows, scythes, and knives. But his best work is the magic self-milling mill Sampo. From morning to evening and from evening to morning, a wonderful mill spins and brings rich gifts to people, so that need and grief will disappear forever on earth. For centuries, Karelians glorified the blacksmith Ilmarinen in their runes for the creation of such a mill. Lemminkäinen is a cheerful, fearless hunter. He is an excellent skier and a daring fighter.

To the north of karjala lies a country of darkness and cold - Pohjola. Evil sorcerers and witches live in this country. Labor is not held in high esteem in this country. The evil and envious Louhi, the mistress of Pohjola, managed to take possession of the miracle mill by cunning. She hid it in a stone cave behind nine locks so that the mill would serve her alone.
The heroes of the epic consider this unfair. They want Sampo to serve the whole people, and not just one greedy old woman. To return the item, the heroes of the story go to Pohjola. Louhi called her warriors, but Väinämöinen, with her wondrous playing on the kantele, plunges the people of Pohjola into a deep sleep. The Kalevala residents take the mill out of the stone cave and take it on their ship to Kalevala. But Louhi, awakened from sleep, raises the warriors of Pohjola and rushes in pursuit of the Kalevals. A terrible battle breaks out, in the midst of which the flour grinder falls into the sea and breaks into pieces. Väinämöinen collects the fragments of the miracle mill and sows the ground with them. Kalevala residents are reaping a rich harvest.

Kalevala lives in work and peace. But the envious Louhi again disturbs her peace: she sends terrible diseases to people, steals the moon and the sun into the sky. In Kalevala, crops died, trees became frozen, and huge drifts of snow covered the ground. And again the heroes begin to fight for the happiness of their people. Neither arrows poisoned by snake venom nor spears with pike teeth helped Louhi. The people of Kalevala were victorious. The moon and sun returned to the sky again, again the people of Kalevala began to live a happy, joyful life.

“May the sun shine on the world forever,” said the wise Väinämöinen.
These legends have lived for centuries. Together with them, the dream of joyful work, of a happy, free life lived in people.

Rune FIRST

1. Introduction.
I got one wish,
I have one thought in mind
Be ready to sing
And start quickly with a word,
To sing the song of my ancestors to me,
Our kind of tunes.
The words are already melting on my lips,
They burst into speeches,
They strive for the tongue,
My teeth are revealed.
My golden friend and brother,
Dear childhood comrade!
We will sing with you together,
You and I will say a word.
Finally we met
The two sides have now come together!
We are rarely together
We rarely visit each other
In this poor space,
In the poor region of the north.
So give me your hands
Let's put our fingers together,
We will sing glorious songs,
Starting with the best;
Let friends hear singing
Let them listen kindly
Between growing youth
In the growing people.
I collected all these speeches
These songs that kept
And on the loins of Väinämöinen,
And in the crucible Ilmarinen,
On the ax of Kaukomyeli,
And on the arrows of Youkahainen,
In the far northern glades,
In the vastness of Kalevala.
My father sang them before,
Cutting the ax handle;
My mother taught me them
Sitting at his spinning wheel;
On the floor then as a child
I spun around their knees;
I was a baby and I ate
More milk, little one,
They sang to me about Sampo
And about the charms of the cunning Louha,
And Sampo grew old in songs,
And Loukhi died from the spell,
Vipunen died singing
Lemminkäinen died in the battle.
I keep a lot of other words
And knowledge known to me:
I picked them on the path
I broke them on the heather,
I broke them off from the bushes,
I picked them up on the branches,
I collected them for myself in the herbs,
I picked them up on the road,
Walking along the paths like a shepherd,
And in the pastures as a boy,
Where the meadows are rich in honey,
Where are the golden glades,
Following Murikki the cow
And Kimmo follows the motley one.
The frost told me songs,
And it rained songs on me,
The wind inspired me with songs,
Brought by the sea waves,
The birds composed words for me,
The trees gave me speeches.
I rolled them into one ball,
I tied them into one bundle,
I put the ball on the sled,
I put a bundle on the sleigh
And he brought it to the hut on a sled,
Brought on a sleigh to the barn
And in the barn under the rafters
He hid them in a copper casket.
Long songs in the cold,
They lay hidden for a long time.
Should I remove them from the frost?
Shouldn't we take some songs out of the cold?
Should I bring the casket into my home?
Place the chest on the bench,
Under the beautiful rafters,
Under this good roof;
Should I open the box of songs?
A chest full of words,
Should I take the ball by the end?
Shouldn't I unravel the skein?
I will sing a glorious song,
It will sound nice
If they bring me beer
And they will give you rye bread.
If I don't have beer,
They won't offer you a young man,
I’ll start singing dry
Or I’ll sing with just water,
To make the evening fun,
So that our day is brightened
And so that morning fun
Tomorrow our day begins.

2. The daughter of air descends into the sea...
I used to hear speeches
I heard how the songs were composed.
One by one the nights come to us,
The days go by one by one
Väinämöinen was alone,
Eternal Chanter
Born beautiful by a virgin,
He was born from Ilmatar.
Daughter of the airspace,
Slender child of creation,
I remained a virgin for a long time,
For a long time she lived as a maiden
In the middle of the air,
In the sprawling plains.
I lived like that and got bored
Life has become so strange:
Living alone all the time
And remain a girl
In that big airy country,
In the middle of desert space.
And the girl went downstairs,
She bowed down into the waves of water,
On the ridge of the transparent sea,
On the plains of open waters;
A fierce wind began to blow,
A storm arose from the east,
The sea is clouded with foam,
The waves rose high.
The wind shook the maiden,
The waves hit the girl,
Rocked in the blue sea
On waves with a white top.
The wind blew the girl's fruit,
The sea gave her fullness.
And she bore heavy fruit,
Your fullness with sorrow
Seven hundred years old, a girl in herself,
Nine Lives of a Man
And the birth did not occur,
Not conceived - not born.
Mother of water, she rushed about
Now to the east, now to the west,
Now to the south, now to the north
And to all the heavenly countries,
Severely tormented by pain,
Fullness in a heavy belly
But labor did not occur.
Not conceived - not born.
The maiden began to cry quietly,
Say words like this:
"Woe to me, persecuted by fate,
Me, the wanderer, the poor thing!
Have you achieved much?
That I came out of thin air
That the storm is chasing me,
That the wave is shaking me
On the vast sea water,
On the plains of open waters.
It would be better in the sky in the open
Remained a daughter of the air,
Than in these alien spaces
I became the mother of water:
Here there is only cold and torment,
It's hard for me to stay
To live, languishing, in cold waters,
Wander through the waves continuously.
O you, Ukko, supreme god!
You, the bearer of the sky!
You go down to the waves of the sea,
Hurry to help!
Save the girl from pain
And a wife from belly pangs!
Hurry up, don't hesitate any longer,
I call on you in need!"

3. A duck makes a nest...
Little time passes
Barely a moment passed
Here's a beautiful duck flying,
The air flutters with wings,
Looking for a place to nest,
Looking for places to live.
Rushing to the west, to the east,
Rushing south and north,
But can't find a place
Not the slightest place
Where could I build a nest?
And prepare a home.
I flew around, looked around,
She thought about it and said:
"If an owl's nest is in the wind,
I’ll build housing on the wave,
The wind will scatter my nest,
The waves will carry away your home."
The mother of water hears that word,
Ilmatar, creation maiden,
I raised my knee from the waves,
Raised her shoulder from the sea,
So that the duck makes a nest,
Prepared the house.
Duck, that beautiful bird,
I flew around, looked around,
I saw it in the blue waves
Mother's water knee.
Took him for a bump
And she thought it was green turf.
I flew around, looked around,
Got down on my knee
And prepares a nest for himself,
Golden lays eggs:
Six golden eggs
And the seventh is made of iron.
Here the duck sat down as a hen,
The round knee warms.
One day sits, another day sits,
It's the third day now
Ilmatar, creation maiden,
Mother of water suddenly felt
Intense heat in your knee:
His skin got so hot,
Like a knee in flames
And all the veins melted.

4. The eggs roll out of the nest...
Moved my knee too much
Members shake violently
The eggs rolled into the water
They fell into the waves of water,
Broke into pieces at sea
And they disintegrated into fragments.
The eggs did not die in the mud
And pieces in the moisture of the sea,
But they changed wonderfully
And they underwent a transformation:
From the egg, from the bottom,
The mother came out - the ground was damp;
From the egg, from the top,
The high vault of heaven rose,
From the yolk, from the top,
The bright sun appeared;
From the protein, from the top,
A clear month has appeared;
From the egg, from the motley part,
The stars appeared in the sky;
From the egg, from the dark part,
Clouds appeared in the air.
And time goes by
Year after year goes by,
When the young sun shines,
In the brilliance of the new moon.
The mother of water floats on the sea,
Mother of water, maiden of creation,
Across waters full of slumber,
Through the misty waters of the sea;
And the waters stretched beneath her,
And the sky shines above her.

5. The Mother of Water creates capes, bays, shores...
Finally, in the ninth year,
For the tenth summer already,
Raised her head from the sea
And the brow from the vast waters,
Started to create creations
Began to create creatures
On the ridge of the transparent sea,
On the plains of open waters.
I just extended my hand
Cape after cape rose;
Where did you put your foot?
I dug holes for the fish;
Where my foot touched the bottom
They went deeper into the depths.
Where it touched the ground sideways
A smooth shore appeared;
Where your foot touched the ground
There the salmon began to sink;
And where was my head leaning?
Small bays appeared.
Said further from land,
Stopped on the waves
Created rocks in the sea
And underwater cliffs,
Where the ships, having stumbled, land,
The sailors will find their destruction.
The cliffs have already been created,
The rocks in the sea were founded,
The columns of winds have already risen,
Earthly countries were created,
The stones were brightly colored,
The cliffs stood in the cracks,
Only the prophetic singer
Väinämöinen was not born.
Old, faithful Väinämöinen
Wanders in the womb of the mother,
He spends thirty years there,
Zim spends exactly the same amount of time
On waters full of slumber,
On the foggy waves of the sea.

6. Väinämöinen is born from the mother of water...
He thought and pondered:
How to be and what to do
In this dark space,
In an uncomfortable, dark place,
Where the light of the sun doesn't shine,
The shine of the month is not visible.
He said these words
And he said these words:
"Moon, golden sun
And the Bear in the sky!
Give me a way out quickly
From a door unknown to me,
From unusual gates
A very cramped home!
Give your husband freedom
Give free rein to your child,
To see the month is bright,
To admire the sun,
Marvel at the Ursa,
Look at the stars in the sky!"
But the month did not give me freedom,
And the sun did not come out.
It became difficult for him to live there,
Life became hateful to him:
Touched the fortress gates,
He moved his ring finger,
He opened the bone castle
Small toe of the left leg;
In my arms he crawls from the threshold,
On my knees through the entryway.
He fell into the blue sea,
He grabbed the waves with his hands.
The husband is at the mercy of the sea,
The hero remained among the waves.
He lay at sea for five years,
I rocked in it for five and six years,
And another seven years and eight.
Finally floats to land,
To an unknown shallows,
He swam out onto the treeless shore.
Got up on my knees
Supports himself with his hands.
I got up to see the bright moon,
To admire the sun,
Marvel at the Ursa,
Look at the stars of the sky.
Thus Väinämöinen was born,
Tribe of daring singers
Famous ancestor
Born of the virgin Ilmatar.

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The poem is based on Karelian-Finnish folk epic songs (runes), which in the 18th century. collected and edited by Elias Lönnrot.

Ilmatar, daughter of the air, lived in the airy spaces. But soon she became bored in the skies, and she went down to the sea. The waves swept up Ilmatar, and from the waters of the sea the daughter of the air became pregnant.

Ilmatar carried the fetus for 700 years, but childbirth did not occur. She prayed to the supreme deity of the sky, the thunderer Ukko, to help her get rid of the burden. After some time, a duck flew past, looking for a place for a nest. Ilmatar came to the duck’s aid: she offered her her big knee. The duck made a nest on the knee of the daughter of the air and laid seven eggs: six gold, the seventh iron. Ilmatar, moving her knee, dropped the eggs into the sea. The eggs broke, but did not disappear, but underwent transformation:

The mother came out - the ground was damp;
From the egg, from the top,
The high vault of heaven rose,
From the yolk, from the top,
The bright sun appeared;
From the protein, from the top,
A clear month has appeared;
From the egg, from the motley part,
The stars appeared in the sky;
From the egg, from the dark part,
Clouds appeared in the air.

And time goes by,
Year runs forward after year,
When the young sun shines,
In the brilliance of the new moon.

Ilmatar, the mother of the waters, the maiden of creation, sailed the sea for another nine years. In the tenth summer she began to change the earth: with the movement of her hand she erected capes; where she touched the bottom with her foot, there were depths, where she lay down sideways, a flat shore appeared, where she bowed her head, bays were formed. And the earth took its present appearance.

But the fruit of Ilmatar - the prophetic singer Väinämöinen - was not born. For thirty years he wandered in his mother's womb. Finally, he prayed to the sun, moon and stars to give him a way out of the womb. But the sun, month and stars did not help him. Then Väinämöinen himself began to make his way to the light:

Touched the fortress gates,
He moved his ring finger,
He opened the bone castle
Small toe of the left leg;
Crawling from the threshold in my arms,
On my knees through the entryway.
He fell into the blue sea,
He grabbed the waves with his hands.

Väinö was born as an adult and spent another eight years at sea until he finally made it to land.

Väinämöinen lived for many years on bare, treeless land. Then he decided to develop the region. Väinämöinen called Sampsa Pellervoinen, the sowing boy. Sampsa sowed the land with grass, bushes and trees. The earth was dressed with flowers and greenery, but only one oak tree could not sprout.

Then four maidens came ashore from the sea. They cut the grass and collected it in a large stack. Then the monster-hero Tursas (Iku-Turso) rose from the sea and set fire to the hay. Väinämöinen placed the acorn in the resulting ash and from the acorn grew a huge oak tree, blocking the sky and the sun with its crown.

Väinö thought about who could cut down this giant tree, but there was no such hero. The singer begged his mother to send him someone to fell the oak tree. And then a dwarf came out of the water, grew into a giant, and with the third swing he cut down a wonderful oak tree. Whoever picked up its branch found happiness forever, whoever lifted its tip became a sorcerer, whoever cut its leaves became cheerful and joyful. One of the wonderful oak chips floated into Pohjola. The maiden of Pohjola took it for herself so that the sorcerer could make enchanted arrows out of it.

The earth was blooming, birds were fluttering in the forest, but the barley did not sprout and the bread did not ripen. Väinämöinen approached the blue sea and found six grains at the edge of the water. He picked up the grains and sowed them near the Kalevala River. The titmouse told the singer that the grains would not sprout because the land for arable land had not been cleared. Väinämöinen cleared the land, cut down the forest, but left a birch tree in the middle of the field so that the birds could rest on it. The eagle praised Väinämöinen for his concern and, as a reward, delivered fire to the cleared area. Väinö sowed the field, offering a prayer to the earth, Ukko (as the lord of the rain), so that they would take care of the ears of corn and the harvest. Shoots appeared on the field and the barley ripened.

Kalevala begins with a rune that tells about the birth of the earth, about how the daughter of air brought into the world Väinämöinen, the main character of the Karelian epic. He conquers the beautiful maiden of the North and she becomes his betrothed, but on the condition that the groom builds a boat from the remains of a spindle. Using spells, the hero calls the blacksmith Ilmarinen, and he forges the magic mill Sampo for the mistress of the North.

In the following runes, a new character appears - Lemminkäinen. And our main character ends up in different stories, but emerges victorious. When Väinämöinen is ready to make a boat, his bride chooses to marry a blacksmith.

The runes about the three Karelian heroes tell how they obtained the treasures of Sampo and Pohjela, how they were overtaken by the sorceress of the North, and Väinämöinen fights monsters and returns the sun and moon to the sky.

The final rune describes the birth of a magical baby who is destined to become a hero instead of Väinämöinen. He reluctantly agrees, admitting that the child is worthy of becoming the ruler of Karelia.

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Summary of Kalevala Lennrot

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The epic work “Kalevala”, the main characters of which are the subject of our interest in this article, is of Karelian-Finnish origin. The basis of the epic is songs called runes. The epic exists in oral form, passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. In written form, the epic “Kalevala” is known in the processing of Elias Lönnrot, a Finnish linguist and physician. Lönnrot collected songs, combined runes compositionally, publishing folklore material under the general name “Kalevala”. In total, Lönnrot published two editions of the collection of Karelian-Finnish epic songs: the first time in 1835, and the second in 1849, respectively.

“Kalevala” has literary and artistic significance, as well as cultural, because the work is a source of information about the pagan religious ideas of the Karelian and Finnish peoples.

"Kalevala" includes 50 songs. Lönnrot placed the runes so that the collected material would form a coherent plot. As a result, the researcher came up with a poem based on Karelian-Finnish folklore. Lönnrot used material collected before him by peasants living in Karelia. The runes are epic, lyrical and magical in nature, characteristic of the pre-Christian heritage of the region.

Specifics of the epic and the plot basis of “Kalevala”

Lönnrot carried out large-scale work on systematizing individual, unrelated Karelian-Finnish songs. As a result, the literary heritage was replenished with a work that went down in history under the name “Kalevala”. The text consists of runes - songs, legends, myths, tales that exist in Karelian-Finnish culture.

The plot of the epic poem “Kalevala” begins with a theogony that is classic for this kind of literary work. This term is usually associated among readers with the work of the ancient Greek writer Hesiod, who also owns the text of the same name. This means that “Kalevala” begins with a story about the origin of the Universe, nature, the appearance of land and water, and, finally, the first man - the ancestor of people. The first runes of Kalevala are dedicated to this topic.

The word “Kalevala” comes from the name of the place where the ancestor of humanity lived, namely: the ancestor of the heroes - the main characters of “Kalevala”. The name of this ancestor is Kalev. In Karelian-Finnish mythology, the idea of the kinship between Kalev and the central characters of Lönnrot’s work - Väinemöinen, Ilmarinen, and also Lemminkäinen - was established. There is an opinion that Kalev was even the father of the above-mentioned heroes.

In addition to such global themes, “Kalevala” is full of stories and myths about the emergence of things that are sacramental for Karelian-Finnish culture. For example, one of the Kalevala runes tells about the emergence of the favorite drink of the Karelians and Finns - beer. The poet is distinguished by detail; the reader is interested in getting acquainted with the details that Lönnrot included in the final version of the epic. In the rune about beer, for example, the drinking traditions of the Karelians and Finns are described. Other runes touch on the theme of music: the reader learns how certain musical instruments and sounds appeared, who was the first musician and singer.

The leitmotif that permeates all runes without exception is the presence of magic in nature, the ability of a person to influence the surrounding reality with the help of magic.

People experience magical reincarnations, spirits and magicians alternately help and harm the main characters of Kalevala. The characters in the poem are traditionally divided into positive and negative. For example, the figures of Kullervo and Väinemäinen are clearly distinguished by their positive character, but Lemminkäinen, an evil sorcerer who plots intrigues for the heroes, is without a doubt a negative character.

The epic is full of dynamic events, many of which are tragic. The plot of “Kalevala” is full of adventures: the main characters fight enemies, overcome obstacles, acquiring new qualities, magical knowledge and improving spiritually. The ending of “Kalevala” can be called open: the heroes leave in the hope of finding the source of benefits, endless abundance - Sampo. This is nothing more than a treasure, a source of eternal happiness, placed by the heroes of Kalevala in the heart of a magic mill.

Analysis of the Kalevala runes in the context of the characteristics of the characters

Characterizing the main characters of “Kalevala” is not an easy task, since the plot outline of the poem consists of separate fragments. Lennrot seems to have glued the narrative together from pieces, so it is difficult for the inexperienced reader of “Kalevala”: perception constantly emphasizes this patchwork plot, the lack of natural integrity.

Kalev

The mythological ancestor of the heroes - the main characters of Kalevala. The name “Kalevala” literally translates as “the place of Kalev’s dwelling.” Lennrot's character also has a real-life prototype: this can be concluded by analyzing the similarity of the names of the heroes of other epic works and historical chronicles.

It seems that some of the runes of the poem are not related to each other at all. Therefore, it is logical to analyze not so much the plot as the individual motives underlying the structure of Kalevala.

Motive of the creation of the world

The theogonic theme is the subject of the narrative of the first runes of the Kalevala. The song that opens the poem tells that there once was a time when the heavenly bodies, animals, birds, and plants did not exist. At this time, water and night reign. The lonely virgin goddess Ilmatar, grieving and suffering from melancholy, gives birth to a son from the water. The child is named Väinemöinen.

The world is created from parts of an egg that was laid by a duck on Ilmatar's lap. From this egg the earth and the sky, the sun and the stars appeared. The relief of the earth is the work of Ilmatar.

Väinemöinen

The central character of Lennrot's poem. Väinämöinen is considered the first person who, however, was born as an old man. The hero is a musician, inventor of the kantele musical instrument. The character is assigned the role of a rune singer, soothsayer, sower, and sage. Väinemöinen has the features of an archaic epic hero: the hero is a shaman, a sorcerer, skilled in magic and spells. The character uses magic more often than melee weapons.

Väinemöinen, as befits a traditional epic hero, is the result of a “miraculous birth,” and the poem constantly emphasizes the motif of the hero’s heavenly origin—from a fatherless maiden. Ilmatar, Väinemöinen’s mother, was pregnant for a very long time, and therefore the virgin’s son was born as an adult—at the time of his birth, the hero was 30 years old.

The hero overcomes many obstacles on the path of spiritual improvement. Väinemöinen fights another hero named Joukahainen. He remains alive, but Väinemöinen marries the sister of his Lapland rival, Aino. The girl does not want to marry someone she doesn’t love and commits suicide. Väinemöinen's mother gives her son advice to go to the northern shadow kingdom of Pohjelu.

Joukahainen prevents Väinämöinen from getting to Pohjela, but the hero still ends up in the North. The mistress of the seventh region, Louhi, a treacherous old woman, refuses to help Väinemöinen until the hero brings Sampo. However, only a skilled blacksmith named Ilmarinen can make Sampo.

Väinemöinen improves his skills in witchcraft. The hero even resurrects the powerful sorcerer Vipunen so that he can teach the hero magical wisdom. The sorcerer swallows the hero, but Väinemöinen manages to learn new spells.

Väinämöinen uses cunning methods to lure Ilmarinen to Pohjela so that the blacksmith can forge a Sampo for Louhi. However, later three heroes - Väinemöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen - kidnap Sampo from the Northern Kingdom. With the help of kantele playing and songs, Väinämöinen lulls the inhabitants of the North to sleep. Having awakened, Louhi gives chase to the kidnappers, as a result of which Sampo is defeated and Väinämöinen loses his kantele.

It is curious that the hero made the first kantele from the bones of a magic fish - pike. Väinämöinen makes the second instrument from a birch base, and the strings are the hair of the hero’s beloved.

Väinämöinen is also credited with being the first farmer. The hero grows the first plants, trees, and agricultural crops on earth. Thus, Väinemöinen is the ancestor of people, as well as a participant in the process of creation and design of the world.

Motif of love

The motive of love is associated with several characters in Kalevala: Aino and Kullervo. The latter, in particular, unknowingly enters into an incestuous relationship with his own sister. This is the motif of incestuous love in Kalevala. Kullervo is the most unfortunate hero of the poem, a hero with a tragic fate. The young man’s uncle, Untamo, is responsible for the death of the hero’s parent, Kalervo. Kullervo grows up as an orphan, dreaming of one day avenging his father's death. The mother, who miraculously survived the extermination of the Kalervo family, tells her son the story of his father’s death.

Untamo wants to destroy the last surviving member of the Kalervo family. However, Kullervo remains alive, but his uncle cannot force the young man to serve him. Then Untamo sends his nephew to Ilmarinen so that he can teach the boy blacksmithing.

Since childhood, Kullervo has been endowed with extraordinary strength. While in Ilmarinen's service, Kullervo meets the blacksmith's wife. She was trusted by the mistress of the North of Loukha. An insidious sorceress wants to destroy Kullervo and sends the young man to graze the cows. On the way, the beautiful wife gives the guy bread, inside of which the girl baked a stone. Trying to cut the bread, Kullervo broke a knife - his father's inheritance. Angry at Ilmarinen’s wife, Kullervo drowns the cows in the swamp, and instead of them brings home a herd of wild animals - disguised as cows. Loukha's daughter is killed by animals when she tries to milk them.

The young man runs away from the blacksmith's house, however, upon arriving at his homeland, he realizes that all his relatives are alive. But we don’t like Kullervo at home. Only a mother feels love for her son. Kullervo meets a girl. However, it later turns out that the girl is the hero’s sister. From the realization of perfect incest, the sister commits suicide. Kullervo, in a war with his uncle, exterminates his entire family. Returning home - this time - the hero realizes that his relatives are dead. Out of grief, Kullervo commits suicide by throwing himself on his sword.

Aino

The legend about the girl Aino, who did not want to become the wife of the elder Väinämöinen, entered art as a separate plot. Defeated in battle, Joukahainen promised the singer to give his sister as his wife. However, the beauty rejected the hero, throwing herself into the sea in despair. Väinemöinen managed to catch the fish that Aino had turned into from the water. But the sage could not keep the catch.

The motif of unhappy love is also associated with the figure of Ilmarinen. Having lost his beloved wife, a beauty from the kingdom of Pohjela, Ilmarinen creates a second wife - from gold. However, the golden beauty is soulless and insensitive. It is known that brides should be taken from Pohjela. Therefore, heroes regularly visit the Northern Territory in the hope of finding a wife. The hero Lemminkäinen is no exception.

Lönnrot mentions the nickname of this hero - “careless”. This corresponds to the character of the Kalevala character. Lemminkäinen is characterized by self-confidence, carelessness, and fun. The hero killed the swan, for which he himself was killed. Lemminkäinen's mother saved and revived her son with the help of witchcraft, collecting all the parts of the murdered man. The character is depicted as a master of sorcery and a seducer of women.

The hero also took a wife from Pohjela. The hero’s first wife disappointed him, so Lemminkäinen turned to Louhi to woo the old woman’s second wife.

Louhi gives the hero tests. However, as a result, Louhi married her daughter to Ilmarinen. Angry at the old woman, Lemminkäinen arrived at the wedding and killed Louhi’s husband. The hero fled from the old woman's revenge and punishment for the crime, taking refuge on one of the islands.

The motive of evil and confrontation

In Kalevala, positive forces are balanced by negative forces. This feature is characteristic of the epic. The bearer of negative traits is the already mentioned Joukahainen. This hero is characterized by pride and self-confidence. Joukahainen is self-taught. The character learned witchcraft by challenging Väinemöinen himself to a duel. The hero wanted to defeat the sorcerer in order to take over his craft.

However, Väinämöinen won the battle. Then Joukahainen promised the winner Aino, a sister who was to become the wife of the old man, the founder of the world of Kalevala. This is the price for life. Joukahainen is considered a demonic character in the Kalevala. The hero comes from Lapland. When Aino committed suicide, the girl’s brother shot an arrow at Väinemöinen, wounding the old man in the leg.

Louhi is also recognized as a negative character in Kalevala. The old woman is the evil mistress of the Northern Kingdom of Pohjela. Louhi is the source of evil, misfortune, and disease. The sorceress dreams of getting a magical source of happiness and prosperity - Sampo. Pokhjela is a mirror image of Kalevala, a land opposed to the land of Kalev. Louhi is the thief of the heavenly bodies, the cause of the Kalevala’s misfortunes.

Motif of craft and craftsmanship

In Kalevala, it is important not only to be able to hold a sword, but also to know spells and wield magic. Besides this, a blacksmith, an artisan, appears as a participant in the key events of the poem’s plot. We are talking about Ilmarinen.

Only Ilmarinen can forge a magical object - Sampo. The blacksmith also marries Louhi's daughter, and in return provides the old woman with Sampo.

In the runes of Kalevala, Ilmarinen is called the brother of Väinemöinen, together with whom they create heavenly fire. The hero is a pioneer in blacksmithing, because Ilmarinen was the first to forge iron products.

The blacksmith's first wife is Louhi's daughter. After the death of his wife, Ilmarinen returns to Pohjela. However, the new chosen one, kidnapped from the Northern Territory, quarrels with the groom, and he turns the bride into a bird.

When Louhi steals the Sun, Ilmarinen comes to the rescue and tries to forge a new luminary, getting burned in the process.

A significant place in the Kalevala is occupied by the legend of Sampo - a miraculous object that gives eternal grace and happiness. Väinemöinen uses the fragments of Sampo for the benefit of his native country – Kalevala. The ending of the poem is symbolic. The last song of the Kalevala contains a prediction about the “miraculous birth” of a child by a certain virgin named Maryatta. Väinämöinen is hostile to the birth of a child, because, according to prophecy, the baby will destroy Väinämöinen. We are talking about Christianity, which will overthrow the power of paganism.

Karelian-Finnish epic “Kalevala”: main characters

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