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Happy Kalevala Day
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Subject: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 28 Feb 01 - 01:11 PM Today is a National holiday in Finland; they celebrate their national epic, the Kalevala. As far as I know, this is the only national holiday in the world that celebrates storytelling of any kind. Enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: catspaw49 Date: 28 Feb 01 - 01:27 PM I feel like I should tell a story here or something 'Fox.........Neat idea for a holiday isn't it? Beats the daylights out of Valentine's Day. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 28 Feb 01 - 06:30 PM I have been studying the KALEVALA for 30 years ... it's amazing. It was written down, for the first time, in1830, by Dr. Lonnrot. Before, it was all sung and kept active in the oral tradition. Typically, two singers would link arms, face to face across a table, and sing to each other, challenging to see who knew the most verses. I have three different editions, starting with a 1903 edition, and I have to use five different dictionaries. My Fathers' bedtime stories were read from the Kalevala. CHEERS |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 28 Feb 01 - 06:50 PM How neat! Just found a really great site about it...just click here, please. Thanks, Hollowfox and Deckman, what a rich upbringing! kat |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: DonMeixner Date: 28 Feb 01 - 10:21 PM I assume they began the songs with the beginning of time as the legends tell, but did they know when they were Finnish? Don |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 28 Feb 01 - 10:40 PM Don, at the site I linked to, if you read Finnish Culture from the 1800's it seems to suggest that is when, leaving Swedish rule, they really came into their with preservation of their language. It says until then, the languages used were mostly Swedish and Latin. I wonder, too, though, there must've been real awareness long before that? |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: GUEST,granny Date: 28 Feb 01 - 10:43 PM I'm part Finnish and I've read the Kalevala, but I didn't know today was a Holiday! Wowwee. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 28 Feb 01 - 11:25 PM Hey Kat/katlaughing ... that's a GREAT web site. Thank you (kittos) so very much for posting it. CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 28 Feb 01 - 11:34 PM Thought you might like that, Bob. It was the first site that came up in a search on google! Pretty neat. Happy Kalevala Day, granny! |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: wysiwyg Date: 01 Mar 01 - 12:07 AM AH-OO-GAH! WARNING WARNING WARNING MARQUEE MESSAGE FOLLOWS
CLOSE EYES AND PAGE DOWN IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO BRIGHT LIGHT!
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 01 Mar 01 - 05:44 PM There is a VERY INTERESTING telling of one of the stories from the Kalevala titled, "The Kalevide" by Lou Goble, Bantam books. Long out of print but available at used book stories. This is the telling of the Estonian version and is very readable, which the Kalevala isn't. (The Kalevala is 38,000 dissjointed verses.) CHEERS, BOB |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: AKS Date: 02 Mar 01 - 06:26 AM Thanks for the cheers, folks! But I have to disappoint you a bit: Kalevala's Day - or The Day of Finnish Culture - is noted as a day of speeches, concerts, performances, first publishings etc, but not yet as a national holiday here. An epic like Kalevala is worth a national holiday, methinks, even though you have to keep in mind that Kalevala (~'stead of Kaleva', a legendary hero of the Finns) really is a compilation by Elias Lönnrot, of 'runo' material he himself collected. It covers several indipendent 'stories' about heroes (eg Lemminki, Kullervo) or events (eg creating of the world, the Sampo sequense) which in the oral tradition were only loosely or not at all connected together (as some of the informants have pointed out). But at the time - the era of Romanticism - an epic with the 'plot' was required, so Lönnrot made one. All Lönnrot's material and a huge amount by other collectors have been published under the title 'Suomen kansan vanhat runot' (The Old Poems of the Finnish Folk), consisting of 34 (at present) nearly bible thick volumes of transcribed oral tradition. Mind you, there still are some people living in Finland (and Russian Karelia) who have learned a lot of traditional poetry from the singing of their (grand)parents at the beginning of 20th century.
AKS |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 02 Mar 01 - 09:02 AM Hyvaa Paiva, AKS. Mita Kulluu? Have you heard of "Grasshopper Day" that American Finns started in this country some years ago? As I recall, it was started as humerous answer to the Irish Saint Patricks day when supposably the snakes were driven from Ire. Needing any excuse for a party, Grasshopper day now celebrates the driving of Grasshoppers away. I strongly suspect it has more to do with vodka than history. CHEERS, Bob (Roope) Nelson, Everett, Washington, USA |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Lepus Rex Date: 02 Mar 01 - 10:45 AM St.Urho's day. ;) |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 02 Mar 01 - 10:53 AM Okay, ya got me going...sheesh! I learn so much around here, always looking up some obscure reference. Gotcha this time! Do they know about this at Lake Woebegone? I know most of them are Swedish, but...anyway, I give you St. Urdo, according to the 'Net: St. Urho was first celebrated in spring 1956, almost 40 years ago. This is just an estimate, but the years 1956-1957 seems to be about the time when St. Urho was born. The verbal chronicles state that St. Urho was born in Virginia, Minnesota. According to the legend, St. Urho was hailed into existence in St. Patrick's party in the 17th of March in 1956. St. Patrick an Irish legend, who've been claimed to expel the snakes from Ireland. Richard Mattson, a departmental manager at the Ketola department store in Virginia really knocked this story down. He told immense stories of a Finnish saint, who's spell drove the poisonous frogs out of Finland. While joking to his Irish friends, Mattson thought of several names to this magnificient saint. Saint Eero or Saint Jussi weren't quite what Mattson was trying to get at, but Saint Urho had that right, authoritative tone. Gene McCavic, who worked at the same store as Mattson did, wrote an ode to Urho. The ode was about a boy named Urho, who got enormous strength from fishsoup and sour whole milk. Dr. Sulo Havum„ki, a psychology teacher at Bemidji College, has also been named as one of the composers of the legend of Urho. His Urho chanted a huge swarm of grasshoppers into sea and saved the vintage of Finnish farmers. When Urho Kekkonen became the president of Finland in March 1956 many believed that St. Urho's name was taken from Kekkonen. The famous namesake might have accelerated the spread of St. Urho's Day. The cities Menahga , New York Mills and Wolf Lake in Minnesota atleast know St. Urho. Menahga even has a statue of St. Urho. The ceremonies and rituals vary and change from year to year. Sulo Havum„ki's ode to St. Urho has one description. It is said that the celebrants don't care about the story being totally made up. The winter of North Minnesota is long. The parties of St Urho's and St. Patrick's Days give a warm breeze and a good reason to party two days in a row. Translated and adapted from the article "Pyh„ Urho on suomalaisten pyhimys Minnesotasta" by Lauri Toiviainen |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Lepus Rex Date: 02 Mar 01 - 11:07 AM M-made...up? What? :O ---Lepus Rex |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 02 Mar 01 - 04:49 PM I have a friend in Seattle who knows the chant they chant as they dance in celebration. I'll call her and aske her to post it. CHEERS (I still think someone had WAY too much time on their hands when they came up with this one!) |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: GUEST,Sean O'C Date: 02 Mar 01 - 04:58 PM Of course - the vast population of Welsh Finns can keep the party going all the way to the 2nd of March - with St.David's Day. Except in leap years, of course |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 02 Mar 01 - 07:02 PM YEE GAWDS AND LITTLE FISHES ... Welsh Finns? Seriously (and I DO love and respect the Welsh and their very rich heritage) the Finnish people have withstood SO MUCH, and conquered SO MUCH, that this whole idea of St. Urhos day has always gone against my grain. At the serious risk of offending anyone, I'd really appreciate hearing from "AKS" in Finland, as to his take on this american event. On a personal note, AKS, do you by chance live in Rovaniemi? Also, to my Finnish friends in Minnesota, Michigan and Florida, please do not take offense at my asking this question. KITTOS. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 02 Mar 01 - 10:23 PM Come on everyone, inquiring minds want to know! **BG** Seriously, this is very interesting and fun to read about. I love learning on the Mudcat, it is so rich with diverse information! Sean O'C: did you mean they can stretch from St. David's day, on March 2nd, all the way to March 17th? Sorry just wasn't clear on that, except of course the leap year thing. *smile* Thanks to you all! kat |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Lepus Rex Date: 03 Mar 01 - 08:32 AM Heh, Welsh Finns? Well, they've both got bowed lyres... ;P ---Lepus Rex |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 03 Mar 01 - 02:17 PM Thanks, AKS. I found out about this from the Storyteller's Calendar that Ruth Stotter put out for a few years. (Stotter Press - a good source for storytelling stuff.) I never got any more information anywhere else, and just assumed it was official; it should be. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 03 Mar 01 - 04:48 PM Hey kat ... I just printed ALL the information on the web site you posted. WOW! that's almost more than I knew, and I've been reading/studying it for 30 years. Thanks again for your efforts. The more I hang out around mudcatters, the happier I am (sounds like a potential song title) CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 03 Mar 01 - 05:04 PM The science fiction movie-parody show Mystery Science Theater 3000 roasted a movie version of the Kalevala. A friend videotaped it, or I'd never have known. Everybody else was cracking up at the backchat overlay, and I was digging the original movie. I'm still looking for it on video to buy, either version. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 03 Mar 01 - 05:27 PM So, Hollowfox ... Are you of Finnish heritage? CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: GUEST,Lepus Rex Date: 04 Mar 01 - 12:58 AM Hollowfox, that MST3K episode was "The Day The Earth Froze." I liked it, but a Finnish-American friend almost quit watching MST3K over it. ;) A somewhat similar Russian/Finnish film also featured on MST3K, "Jack Frost," was based on Russian folk tales, and is even "better" than "TDTEF," in my opinion. ---Lepus Rex (Just checked... "TDTEF" is AKA "Sampo," and JF is AKA "Morozko.")
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 04 Mar 01 - 01:37 AM Bob/Roope, thanks, glad you liked the site! I guess it must be pretty good, huh? Stick around...you grow on people, ya know that...it is a pleasure to have you here. kat |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 05 Mar 01 - 11:54 AM Thanks, Lepus; no wonder I couldn't find it in the video store. No, Deckman, I'm a USA-type mutt; mostly Scots-Irish with a tablespoon each of a half dozen other ingredients. I love storytelling, though, and have my own two-volume copy of the Kalevala that I read for pleasure. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 05 Mar 01 - 03:36 PM Hi Hollowfox ... I'm impressed that have a two volume copy of the Kalevale. Is it in English or Finnish? In Seattle, 35 miles South of my home, we have a wonderful museum, the Nordic Heritage Museum. As such, it has seperate rooms for all 5 Nordic countries. I love looking at their collection of Kalevalas. They are VERY large, and very ornate with gilded edges, with very nice calligraphy and illuminations and illistrations. If you ever get an chance to see a real Funnish Kalevala, go for it. Image an old Americam Bible of the large size, then double it and you'll appreciate what these are like. When I was a child growing up, and I was once, my dear Grandma "Lottie" promised me the family Bible, kantele, and the Kalevala. Sorry to say that these all burned with the family homestaed on 1956 ... but everyone escaped. Question, if there are any Finnlanders out there, can you tell me where I can get a VILLIA starter? Thanks, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 05 Mar 01 - 03:57 PM Actually, Bob, it sounds more impressive than it looks. It's one of those little Everyman editions that's about 5"x8" that I picked up at a library booksale. It's titled Kalevala, Land of Heroes, translated by W F Kirby, 1907. I'd love to see a traditional Finnish one. BTW, what is a villia? Maybe even we non-Finns can help, once we know whether to look for building specs or a recipe. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 05 Mar 01 - 07:55 PM The "Kirby" edition is very good. I'll explain about Villia when I have more time. CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 05 Mar 01 - 11:56 PM About "Villia." My memeory says there are something like 26 dialects of Finnish, all in a country the size of Western Washington and Western Oregon combined. This means that there are many different spellings to this wonderful food/drink. The next most common spelling is villi. I was raised on it. It's a 'clabbered' milk product, that requires a 'starter.' You add the milk, most any kind, to the starter, place it covered in a warm place for about three days. No, it's NOT yogurt. My Father's american nickname for it was 'string milk.' This was because of its ability to hold a three foot string of goo when lifted from the pot. I know it sounds awful, but believe me, it's "nector of the gods." It's very hard to find a good starter. My Grandmother's starter came with her from Finland, and I know it thrived for over 80 years. There are some serious communities of Finnlanders in America, like in Hancock, Minn. (Mich. ?) I suspect that villia starters are availble there, but I have no contacts ... I welcome the information. Years ago, I had the pleasure (honor) of meeting a Finnish immigrant when he was in his 80's. He's been a Northwest logger all his life, and NEVER spoke English. As I got to know him, I gave him some villia. He cried when he saw it, drank it down to the last drop, and asked for more. I reminded him that he needed to save some in order to replenish the pot. As he cried, he told me that he hadn't tasted it since he'd left home at age 15. That's VILLIA! CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: katlaughing Date: 06 Mar 01 - 12:38 AM Well, Bob/Deckman, I went looking on google for Villia starters to no avail, BUT I did find a recipe for making a variation of it without starter. (The starter bit reminds me of a few years ago when we were all making kombucha tea, it was actually a mushroom-type fungus which we grew as a think layer of skin on top of black tea and honey in a jar, then drank as an elixer. Now you can buy it bottled in the healthfood stores. I'd give anything to find a friend with a good kombucha starter 'shroom, again!) Anyway, for what it is worth, here ya go: Finnish Yog urt (sic)br>
by John K. Bispala Viili is a yogurt-like sour milk product, though milder, somewhat nutty, and creamier. It's best made with a viili starter, but can also be made with buttermilk. 1 teaspoon buttermilk or starter 1-1/2 cups milk, regular or nonfat I like using whole milk best. Viili would taste even better made from 4% milk, if that were available. You can mix regular vitamin D milk, which is 3%, with half-and-half, which is 10% butterfat, to increase its richness Put starter or buttermilk at bottom of a very clean dessert bowl. Heat milk to lukewarm, pour over buttermilk. Stir a little. Let stand at room temperature in dark and draftless place one day. The bacteria will thicken it. Do not shake while it is forming or it will become watery. When viili has thickened, chill it. Take a few spoonfuls of the last bowl of viili you eat and use it as starter. Try to include some of the white mold from the top of the villi bowl, since this is the most delicious part and will give your viili more vitamin B. Keep in cold place few days, but not too long. Serve cold with sugar and cinnamon or ginger sprinkled on top, or with berries and sugar, or just sugar, or plain. My dad used to eat viili with my uncle, John Isaacson, who claimed the viili was no good unless you could stretch it from here to Iron Junction.
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 06 Mar 01 - 07:57 AM Thanks Kat. The recipe sounds likely. I obviously have a problem with spelling Finnish words correctly, but heck ... who doesn't! Years ago when my Father and I were taking language lessons from a recent Finnish transplant, the teacher and Father got into arguments about proper spelling and usage. It turned out that Father's language was the 'old Finn' that came with his Mother into America in 1896. Back to viili. My daughter loved it when she was a kritter, but she often ate it all without replenishing the pot. She liked it with strawberry jam. Yum yum! ... Bob |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: AKS Date: 07 Mar 01 - 09:27 AM Päivää päivää, Roope, kiitos ihan hyvää! I'm living in Joensuu, it's a town (pop. ~50 000) in North Karelia, in the east of Finland. Sorry folks for being slow, took a couple of days holiday 'round last weekend (+ the ordinary excuses, busy with this and that)... My favourite 'flavour' with viili is blackcurrant jelly (not too thick), but nearly any additive is ok, as far as I've seen used. Also, kermaviili (viili made of cream) makes a marvellous salad dressing, pure or seasoned with eg herbs of Provence etc. I saw 'Sampo/tdtef' a couple af years ago again (first time being back in the 60s at school) and isn't that - just as I remembered - a true achievement of the socialistic realism if any!! The film makes me see John Wayne in a completely new light, as far as acting is concerned. I heard that some of the Finns involved with it are still ashamed. The relief is that the Soviet paid the bill. Re St. Urho's (~Brave) Day: it is not very commonly known here in the 'old country' and certainly has no roots in any older Finnish mythology. What stated about it and its origins above is true, I'm quite convinced. I myself learned about it some 20 y's ago but cannot remember whether it (then) was the grasshoppers or the poisonous frogs he should've banished from Finland. Interesting that we still have grasshoppers, toads and frogs, but NO poisonous frogs;-) Nevertheless I've come across a couple of times on St. Patrick's Day (keep in mind that there are 'Irish pubs' also here) a health being raised also to "St. Urho". terveisin (~with regards) AKS |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Lepus Rex Date: 09 Mar 01 - 02:02 AM Here's some info from www.sturho.com... ;) "One of the lesser known, but extraordinary, legends is that of St. Urho - patron saint of the Finnish vineyard workers. The legend states that before the last glacial period wild grapes grew with abundance in the area now known as Finland. Archeologists have uncovered evidence of this scratched on the thigh bones of the giant bears that once roamed northern Europe. The wild grapes were threatened by a plague of grasshoppers until St. Urho banished the lot of them with a few well selected Finnish words. In the memory of this impressive demonstration of the Finnish language, Finnish people celebrate on March 16, the day before St. Patricks Day. It tends to serve as a reminder that St. Pat's day is just around the corner and is thus celebrated by squares. At sunrise on March 16. Finnish women and children dressed in Royal Purple and Nile Green gather around the shores of the many lakes in Finland and chant what St. Urho chanted many years ago: "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen" (Translated: "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away!") Adult males, (people, not grasshoppers) dressed in green costumes gather on the hills overlooking the lakes, listen to the chant and then kicking out like grasshoppers, they slowly disappear to change costumes from green to purple. The celebration ends with singing and dancing polkas and schottisches and drinking grape juice. Though these activities may occur in varying sequences. Colors for the day are Royal Purple and Nile Green. - Sulo Havumaki Inscription on plaque below statue of St. Urho in Menahaga, MN" ---Lepus Rex |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Hollowfox Date: 12 Mar 01 - 12:06 PM Hey Deckman, I haven't had any luck with a starter recipe for viili yet, but I did find a recipe for sima, identified as a Finnish citrus wine. Since Finland isn't famous for it's citrus industry, I'd be a bit skeptical, but I know the author of the pamphlet, and she does her academic homework before she publishes anything. So, from a pamphlet entitled Beverages fro the Current Middle Ages: Techniques and Recipes for the manufacture of Medieval Drinks, by Jane Sibley: 2 large lemons (or one lemon and one orange), 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, five quarts boiling water, 1/8 teaspoon yeast, five teaspoons sugar, fifteen raisins.
Carefully peel the fruit. Carefully remove the white membrane and discard it. Slice the fruit very thinly and place in a 6 to 8 quart enamel or stainless steel bowl, along with the fruit skins and the sugar (1/2 cup each brown and white, that is). Pour the boiling water into the bowl, stir, and let cool until lukewarm. Then add the yeast and allow to ferment, uncovered, at room temperature for about twelve hours. To bottle, use 5 one-quart bottles (I use champagne bottles). Place one teaspoon sugar and three raisins in each bottle, then strain the sima into the bottle through a sieve. Cap the bottles tightly, and let stand at room temperature for one or two days, or until the raisins rise to the surface. Chill the sealed bottles until ready to serve. |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 13 Mar 01 - 03:26 AM Thanks Hollowfox ... this reminds me of a concotion I made when I was in High school. I let it ferment for three weeks, then one night it expoded. What a mess! That ended my career as a bootlegger!. CHEERS, deckman |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: AKS Date: 13 Mar 01 - 06:02 AM Gee, I like that stuff about St. Urho! It should not be taken too seriously though, it's fictional, in the end. But isn't it as good as any reason for a booze-up; I think the Irish have it that way, don't they ;-) The Finns have known how to brew for ages: Oluen synty 'beer's birth/creating' is an important part of our mythology. Sima in its present form, I think, has come from Sweden; at least they have a similar drink there called mjöd. Originally the Finns made it of honey. Today it is very strongly seasonal and connected with the 1st of May. Marvellous drink if 'brewed' correctly and it should NOT be made very strong, no more than 2-3 % of alcohol imo! Kippis! (~cheers) AKS |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 13 Mar 01 - 08:25 AM Hello AKS ... I've been meaning to get back to you, but life gets busy, doesn't it. My Grandmother Lottie emigrated from the Southern area of Karelia twice: first in 1894, then again in 1896. She first came to New York when she was 14, got homesick and returned. She came back to New York at 16 and worked as a maid in a State Senator's home. She met her husband, named "Roope" who also emigrated from Finland in 1896, when he was a "contract" miner in Butte, Montana. By now she was a Pentocostal preacher and saved his soul on the streets of Butte! Grandmother came from the area around Lake lodago that was taken by the Russians. I think it was during the Winters War in 1939. Am I right? She always described it as very beautiful. I miss her very much. I so remember her wonderful meals of Russeleippa (sp?) and viili. KIPPIS back to you, deckman |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: AKS Date: 16 Mar 01 - 04:33 AM Deckman, I guess you mean 'ruisleipä' (rye bread). The Finns have been eating it for centuries and still do for the most, 'white bread' is rather recent invention here. Yes you are right, the Russians gained most of (Finnish) Karelia by the Moscow peace treaty of 1940 after the Winter War (Talvisota). The Finnish 'took' it back in 1941, but lost it again by the Moscow truce of 1944 (we call that period Jatkosota, 'continued war') that was confirmed by the Paris peace treaty of 1947.
But to music: Hiski Salomaa (born Hiskias Möttö 1891 - 1957, if memory serves) is propably the most wellknown Finnish emigrant singer-songwriter of the first half of 20th century. He made several recordings (some trad. stuff, mostly his own) in the US during the 20-30's, a selection of them was published (Love Records LRLP 017) in the 70's and later reissued as a CD. I have the sheet & complete lyrics of it and a couple of others by him, I could scan and send them as PM if needed. AKS (who's off for a week's skiing holiday now) |
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Subject: RE: Happy Kalevala Day From: Deckman Date: 16 Mar 01 - 09:25 AM Thanks a lot for that posting AKS. Enjoy your holiday. I look forward to your return. KIPPIS, Roope deckman |
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