Kalevala Collection

The Kalevala Collection of the SKS Library is one of the world’s largest special collections of various editions of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.

The Kalevala Collection includes the epic’s

The items of the Kalevala Collection are available for reading room use only. The Collection of Cultural Research has a wide selection of Finnish editions and translations of the Kalevala available which can be borrowed and taken home.

The research literature on Kalevala is placed in other collections in the library, especially in the Cultural Research Collection and in the Literary Studies Collection.

The Kalevala Collection is one of the oldest special collections in the library. As early as the 1880s, the acquisitions programme of the library defined that different editions and translations of the Kalevala would be acquired as comprehensively as possible. The collection is still actively accrued.

SKS is the first publisher of the Kalevala. The first edition, the so-called Old Kalevala, was published in 1835. The second edition, “New Kalevala”, which is known as the Finnish national epic, was published in 1849. Editions of the Kalevala continue to be published by various publishers. In particular, a number of different adaptations have appeared in recent years.

The Kalevala is the most translated Finnish book, having been translated into over 60 languages. The earliest published translation of the entire Kalevala is M. A. Castrén’s Swedish translation of the Old Kalevala from 1841. The first complete translation of the New Kalevala in verse form is Anton Schiefner’s German translation from 1852. Translations, reprints, revised editions and adaptations in different languages continue to appear, with many being published even in the 21st century.

Photos: Gary Wornell, Emma Suominen.