Kaleva – also known as Kalevi or Kalev – and his sons are important heroic figures in

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 ...

n, Finnish and

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

n mythology. In the Finnish epic the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

'', he is an ancient Finnish ruler. In

Estonian mythology Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccle ...

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 ...

's epic poem ''

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th-century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition, known as ...

'', King Kalev was the father of King Kalevipoeg and the husband of Linda.

History

Some historians have suggested that the oldest known written reference to Kaleva (Kalev / Kalevi) can be found in the 6th- or 7th-century Anglo-Saxon poem "

Widsith "Widsith" (, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the '' Exeter Book'' (''pages 84v–87r''), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the la ...

", which was copied into the

Exeter Book The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, is a large codex of Old English poetry, believed to have been produced in the late tenth century AD. It is one of the four major manuscripts of Old Englis ...

, a manuscript of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

poems compiled in the late 10th century. "Widsith" states that

Caesar ruled the Greeks, Caelic the Finns ... I was with the Greeks and Finns and also with Caesar ...

Some historians have interpreted the term "Caelic" to refer to the ancient Finnish ruler Kaleva mentioned in the Kalevala. The first clear written references appear in a list of deities published by

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...

in 1551 and in the Leyen Spiegel by Heinrich Stahl (1641). Johannes Cajanus wrote in a letter in 1674 that Kaleva was an ancient Finnish king and had 12 sons, including

Väinämöinen () is a deity, demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical sing ...

Ilmarinen Ilmarinen () is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything. In addition, he is described as working the known metals of the time, including brass, copper, iron, gold, and sil ...

and

Hiisi Hiisi (; plural ''hiidet'' ) is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities. In later, Christian-influenced folklore, they are depicted as demonic or trickster-like ent ...

. He had, with his sons, conquered whole Russia once upon a time. 18th-century Finnish folklore-collector Cristfried Ganander later wrote the same. He listed the following sons of Kaleva and their places of living: Hiisi (

Paltamo Paltamo (, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . There are two built-up areas in the municipality: Kon ...

), Soini (

Liminka Liminka () is a municipality in the Northern Ostrobothnia region in Finland. Liminka is located about south of Oulu. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighbour ...

), Kihovauhkonen, Liekiöinen ( Savonia), Väinämöinen ( Southwestern Finland) and Ilmarinen ( Tavastia). They used to live in the hometown of their father, Paltamo, before moving to various different places, including to

Kemi Kemi (; ; ; ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately from the city of Tornio and the Finland–Sweden border, Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and t ...

. The title of Estonia's national epic ''

'' means "Son of Kalev" and the title of the Finnish national epic the ''

'' means "Land of Kaleva". Some have suggested that Kalevala might be the Estonian mainland.

Myths

n stories, sons of Kalev were originally considered royalty. In Finnish stories, however, they are more often referred to as

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

who built several castles and lived in various regions of Finland. In both cases, they are often blamed for oddities in nature, such as strangely large or weird stones. Myths tell that as more and more of the citizens became Christianized, their inhabitants began to hate Kaleva's sons for remaining

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

s. Soon, Kaleva's sons were forced to leave their country, Kalevala. As time passed, Christians invaded more and more land, pushing Kaleva's sons further away. Eventually, Kaleva's sons found an island where they stayed. Christian priests came and cursed them, until they took a big stone and sailed away with it. They have not been seen since then, but the legend is that they often appear at night and destroy crops or cut down forests. Similar visitations are attributed to beings known as ''hiidet'' (singular ''

hiisi Hiisi (; plural ''hiidet'' ) is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities. In later, Christian-influenced folklore, they are depicted as demonic or trickster-like ent ...

''), who resemble

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

s. They too were forced to flee by the Christians.

Osmo

The name ''Osmo'' appears in Finnish, Karelian, Ingrian and Estonian

runic song Runic song, also referred to as ''Rune'' song, ''Runo'' song, or ''Kalevala'' song, is a form of oral poetry and national epic historically practiced among the Baltic Finnic peoples. It includes the Finnish epic poems ''Kalevala'' and '' Kantele ...

s as a synonym for Kaleva. The feminine form ''Osmotar'' or ''Kalevatar'' appears as the kave brewing the first beer, but this could be a later variation: In Ingria, the brewer is "Kalervo's curly-haired son" and in East Karelia, the masculine ''Osmonen'' or ''Osmori''. Osmo also appears as a synonym for the word

Jumala (), () or ( Mari)A History of Pagan Europe, P. 181
means in the

. A West Ingrian song also uses the word ''Osmero'' as someone one could buy alcohol from, who

Kaarle Krohn Kaarle Krohn (10 May 1863 – 19 July 1933) was a Finnish folklorist, professor and developer of the geographic-historic method of folklore research. He was born into the influential Krohn family of Helsinki. Krohn is best known outside of Finla ...

explained means a German noble living in Estonia. The name ''Osmo'' is also connected to casting iron. In Estonian, ''osmus'' or ''osman'' means "

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

", similar to the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word for cast iron, ''ásmundr''. ''Ásmundr'' is also the name of a king in the

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

. According to Krohn, due to poetic

alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...

, the initial has transformed into i-sound in a mention of

North Savo North Savo (or Northern Savonia; ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the region and Kallavesi, ...

nian ''Ismo ilman tyttäriä'' ("Ismo of air daughters") and

Kainuu Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic o ...

''Ismärätär, Tuonen tyttö'' ("Ismärätär, Girl of Tuoni"). In Ingria, variations like ''Ismero'' or ''Ismaro'' have come to refer to

instead.

Derived

Finnish people Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

called the star

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

''Kalevan tähti'', Kaleva's star.

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt is an asterism in the constellation of Orion. Other names include the Belt of Orion, the Three Kings, and the Three Sisters. The belt consists of three bright and easily identifiable collinear star systems – Alnitak, Alnilam, ...

was called ''Kalevan miekka'', Kaleva's sword, and swirls in the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

''Kalevan porras'', Kaleva's step, or ''Kalevan kynnys'', Kaleva's threshold.

Legacy

In paintings

Oskar Kallis, an Estonian painter from the 1900s, produced the Kalevipoeg series of paintings portraying the epic heroic figure Kaleva/Kalevi/Kalev. These paintings are viewable at Kumu art museum in Estonia.

In government

Toompea Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...

, a hill in the centre of

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 ...

, was said to be the

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

over his grave, erected by Linda in memory of him. It is now

's centre of government.

In sports

* KK Kalev, a basketball club from Estonia * JK Tallinna Kalev, a football club from Estonia *

Kalevi Keskstaadion Kalevi Keskstaadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Opened in 1955 and having a capacity of 12,000, it is the traditional venue of the Estonian Dance Festival and the former home ground of JK Tallinna Kalev. The address of the sta ...

, a stadium in Estonia * Kalev Sports Hall, an indoor sports hall in Estonia * Kalevan Pallo, an ice hockey club from Finland *

Kalevan kisat The Finnish Athletics Championships, which are known as ''Kalevan kisat'' in Finnish_Language, Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year. In the beginning, women were not allowe ...

, an annual sports event in Finland * Kalevan Rasti, an

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

club from

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

, Finland.

In toponymy

* Kalevala, Russia, a Karelian town of Uhtua * In an old Russian chronicle the Estonian city of Tallinn was called Kolyvan (Estonianized: ''Kolõvan''). It probably meant ''Kalev city''.

References

External links

* {{Kalevipoeg Characters in the Kalevala Finnish mythology Kalevipoeg Mythological kings