24 JUNE 1893, Page 37

A NEW BOOK ON ANCIENT FINLAND.*

DR. BnowN informs us in his preface that the present work is intended to form one of a series of compilations on the Ethnography of Northern Europe, suited for popular study; and he adds : "As a compilation, it consists largely of excerpts and translations, but I have felt free to combine with these, remarks illustrative of matters to which they refer." It would therefore be unfair to expect too much from a work of this character. It proves to consist chiefly of a series of lengthy extracts from Dr. Crawford's translation of the Kalevala, arranged to illustrate the different phases of Fin- nish life described in the poem. To those unacquainted with the Kalevala, Dr. Brown's book may serve as a useful and interesting introduction to a subject still comparatively little known to the majority of English readers. But the author's knowledge of his subject is almost entirely confined to Dr. Crawford's version and the accompanying notes, and to the information contained in one or two German works on Fin- land. Scripture parallels are sought for everywhere ; but otherwise the author's general information can hardly be called extensive, and is sometimes employed in a rather whimsical and far-fetched manner. For instance, Dr. Brown fancies he sees some resemblance between the ceremonies used during the great bear-hunt, described in the 46th Runo of the Kalevala, and those of the cannibal Bechu- anas, which leads him to remark : "Possibly at that remote period, the Bechuanas of the South, and the Finns of the North, had a common ancestry, of which we have what appear to be other indications in tales and fables, such as that of the lame man who could not walk, nor direct his bearer where to go." Here is a clue for folk.lorists and antiquarians to follow up !

Dr. Brown discusses the Mundane Egg, but does not even allude to India ; and the incident of Lemminkainen piercing the rampart of serpents, reminds him, not of the Hall of Serpents in Nastrond, described in the Icelandic Eddas, but of the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head. As regards the myth of Ilmatar, the Daughter of the Air, Dr. Brown makes two suggestions in different parts of his book. As • Peoria of Fioland in Arthaie Titan; being Skotoliox of thorn moon in the " Salorala," and in other National Works. Compiled by 3.0. Brown, LLD., ite. Loudon: Kogan Paul and Co. 1892.

the three heroes of the Kalevala are often called brothers, he supposes them all to be sons of Ilmatar, and as the number three suggests the eons of Noah, he conjectures that Ilmatar may represent the Ark Even if we took this notion seriously, it is at once disposed of by the circumstance that no two of the heroes were literally brothers. As their mothers were more celebrated than their fathers, we may say that only Vainamoinen was the son of Ilmatar ; Ilmarinen was the son of the stately housewife, Lokka ; while the mother of Lem- minkainen was the mighty sorceress, who was able to overawe even the formidable Loch, the witch-queen of Lapland her- self, by her terrible threats. Dr. Brown's second suggestion respecting Ilmatar, however, is more happy, and seems to us to be not far from the truth. He very aptly compares Ilmatar to the Spirit of God moving upon the surface of the waters. We believe, however, that this profound philosophical con- ception is only supported by a single variant; and in most Finnish Creation-myths, and even in the first recension of the Kalevala itself—to which Dr. Brown only alludes very slightly —we find Vainamoinen taking the place of Ilmatar.

The Kalevala is usually treated by Dr. Brown as a homo- geneous poem, composed by one author, and afterwards re- collected in fragments. Great credit is due to Dr. Lonnrot for the care with which he has pieced it together into a more or less connected whole, notwithstanding the many serious discrepancies and inconsistencies which have been pointed out by Von Tettau and other critics; but the Kalevala is really a skilful compilation from the whole ballad literature of Finland, and many of its component parts were certainly composed at very different times and places. The latest, we imagine, are some of the prayers addressed to Ukko ; and the last Runo, containing the legend of Marjatta. It is hardly possible to doubt that these parts of the poem have not been more or less influenced by Christianity. The pestilence described in Rune 45 seems to us not unlikely to be a reminiscence of the Black Death of the middle of the fourteenth century, and if so, is likewise of quite modern date. Nor do we think the evidence warrants us in ascribing a very high antiquity to most other portions of the poem.

The misprints which we occasionally notice, such as " Tempo " for `` Lempo," are doubtless due to the failing sight of which the author complains in his preface; and for the preposterous translations of Finnish words which occur in some of the prose extracts from Dr. Crawford's book, Dr. Brown is, of course, in no way responsible. Among these we may note " Tuonen poika, the God of the Red Cheeks," instead of "the son of Tnoni," and " Kanteletar, Lyric Charms," in- stead of "the Daughter of the Harp." In the translations from the German we find such words as " Einwohner" and " Volksfeste" used as if they were technical terms, without a word. to show that they are German and. not Finnish. In another part of the book, the old herdsman who assassinated Lemminkainen is called " Nasshut," for which error we sup- pose Dr. Crawford is again responsible. " Na,sshut " is only Schiefner's German translation of the compound epithet, " Markiihattu," which, in an English book, should either have been left in Finnish, or translated by its literal English equivalent, "Wet-hat." A still stranger error occurs near the beginning of the book, where we read of the wedding-feast of Pohjola, daughter of the Rainbow." "Pohja" is the North, and " Pobjola," the North country (=Lapland), and one of the most beautiful passages in the whole poem is that at the commencement of the 8th Rune, where Vainamoinen sees the maiden seated on the rainbow, weaving. But neither here, nor in any other passage in the Kalevala, so far as we remember, is she called by any name, but is usually styled the Maiden of Pohja, or of Pohjola ; though in one of the prose versions of the story she is called Katrina. " Pohjola " is only the name of her country, and, as far as we can make out, the epithet, " Rainbow-daughter " is only a poetical embellishment of Dr. Crawford's.

It will thus be seen that most of the errors in Dr. Brown's book are not of his own making, and will hardly interfere with its attractiveness to those who may prefer to read a series of assorted extracts to attacking so large a book as the entire Kalevala. Among the various subjects dealt with in these extracts, are the wedding-feast of Pohjola, hunting, boat-building, origin of agriculture, brewing of beer, iron and bronze, theology, cosmogony, worship of Nature, myth of the serpent, state of the dead, magicians, giants and. dwarfs, Marjatta (the Virgin Mary of Finland), &c., besides discus- sions on the plan, contents, and era of the Kalevala, and on life in Finland generally.

One or two more small matters may be mentioned. The brewing of the beer for the wedding-feast reminds Dr. Brown of a story in 'Wilson's Noetes Ambrosianw respecting the overflowing of a haggis. Perhaps the story of St. Dunstan in the Ingoldsby Legends might have furnished him with a. better comparison. Again, Dr. Brown agrees with Dr. Crawford that the objections made by the daughter of Tuoni to row the living Vainamoinen across the river to the land of the dead, arose from feelings of humanity. This we can hardly agree to ; she seems rather to have regarded. a living man as an unauthorised and unwelcome intruder, travelling without his passport, for she challenged. him again and again to inform her what death he had died, and contemptuously tossed aside all his pretences of being dead already. As the extracts from the Kalevala in this book are not original, we think it would be out of place to quote any specimens of this part of the work.