Author(s): Elias Lönnrot; Bogdan Meunier (Editor)

Classics

The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland, a poem compiled from Nordic folklore and credited for inspiring the emerging Finnish awakening movement that ultimately led to the country's independence from Russia. The central plot of the epic traces the journeys of the bardic hero-shaman Väinämöinen in his quest for the powerful magical mill called the Sampo, a talisman of happiness and prosperity.