Birth of the Kalevala Epic and the Kainuu Province

Translated into English by Pietari Willey from Markku Nieminen’s  book Kalevalan synty ja Kainuu.

Englanninkielinen käännös kirjasta Kalevalan synty ja Kainuu. Käännös: Pietari Willey.

Elias Lönnrot worked as a district doctor in Kajaani for twenty years in the early 19th century. These were the years of Lönnrot’s manhood, when he created the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Based on Lönnrot’s travelogues, letters and other written documents, this book examines the contribution of the Kainuu province to the creation of Finnish national epic and the conditions in which the poor region lived at that time.