The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing dates back to

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

' ''

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

'' (c. 1179). Saxo spoke of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for a battle.

Henry of Livonia Henry of Latvia (; ; ; ; 1187 – ), also known as Henry of Livonia, was a priest, missionary and historian. He wrote the '' Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' which describes the evangelization of the regions which are now part of Estonia and Latvi ...

at the beginning of the 13th century described Estonian sacrificial customs, gods and spirits. In 1578 Balthasar Russow described the celebration of

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

(''jaanipäev''), the St. John's Day by Estonians. In 1644 Johann Gutslaff spoke of the veneration of holy springs and J.W. Boecler described Estonian superstitious beliefs in 1685. Estonian folklore and beliefs including samples of folk songs appear in ''Topographische Nachrichten von Liv- und Estland'' by August W. Hupel in 1774–82. J.G von Herder published seven Estonian folk songs, translated into German in his ''Volkslieder'' in 1778 and republished as ''Stimmen der Völker in Liedern'' in 1807. At the beginning of the 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840), increased interest in Estonian folklore occurred among

Baltic Germans Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettlement in 1945 after the end of World War II, Baltic Germans have drastically decli ...

. J.H. Rosenplänter founded ''Beiträge zur genauern Kenntniß der ehstnischen Sprache'', a journal for studies on Estonian language, literature, and folklore. In ''Beiträge'' the German translation of ''Mythologia Fennica'' by

Kristjan Jaak Peterson Kristjan Jaak Peterson (, Riga – , Riga), also known as Christian Jacob Petersohn, was an Estonian poet, commonly regarded as a herald of Estonian national literature and the founder of modern Estonian poetry. His birthday on March 14 is ce ...

was published in 1822. In 1839 The Learned Estonian Society was founded as the central organization for collecting and studying Estonian folklore. A leading figure in the society, Friedrich Robert Faehlmann published a number of Estonian legends and myths in German based on genuine Estonian folklore and on Ganander's Finnish mythology " The Dawn and Dusk" (''Koit ja Hämarik''Inspired by Faehlmann, the philologist Nikolai Anderson authored a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

based on this myth: ), being considered one of the most beautiful Estonian myths having popular origin. In 1842 the Society of the Estonian Literati was founded in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald ( – ) was an Estonians, Estonian writer and the author of the national epic ''Kalevipoeg''. Life Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's parents were born at the Jõepere, Jömper estate, Governorate of Estonia, Russia ...

started collecting Estonian folklore in 1843 but ended up changing the tales considerably. The materials collected primarily from Virumaa were reworked and published as The Old Tales of the Estonian People in 1866. Alexander H. Neus' anthology ''Ehstnische Volkslieder'' (3 vols; 1850–52) is considered the first scholarly publication on Estonian folksongs. In total 1,300 songs are given in

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

and in German translation. The president of The Society of the Estonian Literati, Pastor Dr. Jakob Hurt, considered the "king of Estonian folklore" began collecting Estonian folklore in the 1870s. The total amount collected is approximately 12,400 pages. In The Old Harp (''Vana Kannel''), 2 volumes of folksongs were published from 1875 to 1876. Two more volumes were added in 1938 and 1941. The Setus Songs (''Setukeste laulud'') in 3 volumes were published from 1904 to 1907. Inspired by Hurt's work, Matthias J. Eisen started a folklore collection in the 1880s resulting a collection of 90,000 pages. Oskar Kallas, Ph.D. (1868–1946) studied at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

and was the first folklore scholar of Estonian descent. After the establishment of the

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, Walter Anderson was appointed to the newly founded chair of folklore at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. Anderson's most significant students were Oskar Loorits and :et:August Annist. Loorits became the director of the Estonian Folklore Archives founded in 1927. His major field was

folk religion Folk religion, traditional religion, or vernacular religion comprises, according to religious studies and folkloristics, various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. ...

and mythology, a study on Estonian, Livonian and Russian folk beliefs. His most monumental work ''Grundzüge des estnischen Volksglaubens'' was published from 1949 to 1957 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Arvo Krikmann and Ingrid Sarv assembled the five-volume Estonian proverb collection "Eesti vanasõnad" between 1980 and 1988.Wolfgang Mieder. 2014. Preface. ''Proverbium'' 31: ix-xi.

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References

External links

Online collection of Estonian fairy tale books
- Available at Folklore.ee (in

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Folklore Culture of Estonia

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Further reading

External links