Kalevala: The Epic of the Finnish People (Penguin Classics)

I will assume that you are already familiar with what The Kalevala is. If not, you should really google it before purchasing this book.This version of The Kalevala was translated from Lönnrot's original Finnish by Eino Friberg, published in 1989. This is the first translation done by a native Finnish speaker. It is apparent from the poetry that Friberg is a master, who appreciates the nuances of both Finnish and English. Perhaps this stems from his lifelong blindness, granting him a higher level of appreciation for the sound and feeling of the words.Poetically, this version remains very close to the original text. It uses the same trochaic tetrameter as the original (DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da), which is a very impressive feat, considering that the English poetic tradition is largely iambic. I found it slightly awkward at first, however, once I got used to the meter, it became very readable. I enjoyed reading some sections aloud, as Friberg's poetry really captures the feeling of an ancient mythological chant.There are a few other translations of The Kalevala available for free online, most commonly Kirby (1907) and Crawford (1888). In comparison, both of those are extremely clunky, awkward, and difficult to read. They sacrifice the poetry for the sake of the narrative. Friberg avoids these pitfalls, and has created a work that preserves both the original text's aspects of poetic beauty and epic story.It is definitely worth $20 to read this translation of The Kalevala, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it. This printing is the same high quality level as other Penguin Classics products, so I can't think of any negatives. If you are interested in Finnish Culture, or just world mythology in general, this is the best version of the Kalevala hands down.

This edition is the best English translation available of the excellent Finnish epic poem.

The stanzas? are numbered but there is no index to accompany them. Now I am looking for a guide to maybe stand in as an index. I have barely started reading but the quality of the historical sense, which is mentioned in the introduction, is fine but I am going to need a study guide for this one.

My book arrived today and as soon as I opened it I noticed there was some kind of gross crust on the book, like someone spilt sticky food on it or something. You can’t really wipe it off because it’s a soft cover book, and scratching will only damage the soft cover. Disappointed and grossed out.

The introductory pages weren’t properly attached and fell out when I opened the book.

Interesting book . Finland’s epic poem.