Kanteletar

''Kanteletar'' is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic ''Kalevala''. The poems of ''Kanteletar'' are based on the trochaic tetrameter, generally referred to as "Kalevala metre".

The name consists of the base word '' kantele'' (a Finnish zither-like instrument) and the feminising morpheme ''-tar'' and can be roughly interpreted as "maiden of the kantele" or "zither-daughter", a kind of muse.

History

''Kanteletar'' was published in 1840 under the name ''Kanteletar taikka Suomen Kansan Wanhoja Lauluja ja Wirsiä'' (''"Kanteletar or Old Songs and Hymns of the Finnish People"''). Lönnrot got the foundation for the collection on his journeys in 1838 after he met rune singer Mateli Kuivalatar on the banks of the Koitere. The poems sung by Kuivalatar were recorded in Lönnrot's notes.

''Kanteletar'' consists of three books. The first book includes 238 lyrical poems which Lönnrot named ''Yhteisiä Lauluja'' or "Common Songs". These songs are divided into four sections: common themes, for a wedding crowd, shepherds, and children. The second book contains 354 lyrical poems which was called ''Erityisiä Lauluja'' or "Special Songs". These songs are divided as songs for girls, women, boys and men. There are 60 historic poems, romances, legends, ballads and lyrical epic poems in the third book, which is called ''Virsi-Lauluja'' or "Hymns". There are 24 new poems in the preface.

Lönnrot's third edition of ''Kanteletar'' in 1887 had the third book revised in full, as it contained 137 poems. Later editions adhered to the original printing with the exception of 10 poems which were taken from the third book as an appendix.

The lyrical poetry of ''Kanteletar'' comes, for the most part, from Finnish Karelia. In his forward, Lönnrot makes note of Lieksa, Ilomantsi, Kitee, Tohmajärvi, Sortavala, Jaakkima and Kurkijoki as places where he traveled. The poems of the third book have generally been collected from Russia and Karelia.

Reception

''Kanteletar'' and ''Kalevala'' has generally been used as a source of inspiration in the arts. They have been used as a source of lyrics for Finnish folk music in addition to archived Finnish folk poetry. The Kalevala-metred poems had originally been sung poetry.

Music

* Mari Kaasinen has explained that ''Kanteletar'' and ''Kalevala'' have been used as a source of inspiration for the music of Värttinä.

For example, the lyrics in the Värttinä song ''Niin mie mieltynen'' (The Beloved, Music: P. Lehti – Words: S. Reiman, trad.)

Onpa tietty tietyssäni,

mesimarja mielessäni.

Lempilintu liitossani,

soriainen suojassani.

are taken directly from the 31st poem of the second book. The name of the poem is ''Onpa tietty tietyssäni'' (I Am Thinking of a Particular One) and has been translated:

His image is fastened in my mind

My sweet one in my memory,

My little bird flies along with me

My dear one under my wing.

* Akseli Törnudd (1874–1923) had written about twenty songs based on ''Kanteletar'' poems, the most popular being perhaps the humorous story about a cat from Viipuri ''Tuomittu katti'' ("The Convicted Cat").
*The men's choir Viipurin Lauluveikot, conducted by Urpo Rauhala, put out the song for the album ''Yhä kohoaa tuttu torni'' and other songs were recorded for their collection ''Te luulette meidän unohtaneen'' in 2005.
*A cappella group Rajaton has recorded several songs with lyrics taken from ''Kanteletar''.
*''Kanteletar'' has been a source of inspiration for the lyrics of the choral works by Toivo Kuula, Veljo Tormis ("Kolme Karjalan neitoa"), Jean Sibelius and Selim Palmgren.
*In 1996, Finnish metal band Amorphis released their third album Elegy based around the stories and poems within the Kanteletar.

Visual art

*In addition to his paintings inspired by ''Kalevala'', Akseli Gallen-Kallela produced paintings based on ''Kanteletar'' in the late 19th century.

Online literature

*Project Gutenberg added ''Kanteletar'' to its e-book collection.

Sources

*

Kanteletar
on the Project Gutenberg database
Viipurin Lauluveikot "Yhä kohoaa tuttu torni". Fuga-9234. ISRCFIVLV0700001-12. Viipurin Lauluveikot 2007.
Viipurin Lauluveikot "Te luulette meidän unohtaneen". Fuga-1981.

References

Literature

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External links

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* ttp://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7078 ''Kanteletar''Project Gutenberg database

''Kanteletar'' sheet music

Viipurin Lauluveikot
homepage

''Kanteletar'' at thisisFINLAND

{{Authority control

Finnish mythology
Finnish literature
1840 books
Folk poetry