THE EPIC OF FINLAND.*

IMAGINE Hiawatha so increased in bulk as to be about half as long again as the Iliad, and you have some idea of the- Xalevala, the epic of Finland, which Mr. Crawford has been. at such pains to present in an English dress. The resem- blance between Longfellow's transcript of Indian legend and.

• The Kalevala : the Epic Poem. of Finland. Into English by John Martin Crawford. New York : john D. Alden. London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. MR

myth, and this curious production of Finnish genius, is strangely close, so close that we are somewhat surprised that

the translator has nothing to remark about it. It is no exaggeration to say that whole passages might be transferred from one to the other without appearing in the least out of

place in the new context.

The Kalevala, Mr. Crawford thinks, " dates back to an immense antiquity." He does not scruple to attribute to it an age of three thousand years, exceeding, with the possible .exception of one or two Hebrew fragments, that of any verse in the world,—or, to be more cautious, in the world outside

China. But surely the translator goes too far when he says that "it betrays no important signs of foreign influence." The story of Mariatta, the main point of which is a virgin conception, may be an " ante-Christian legend," though the name of the heroine is a little surprising. There is something of the same kind to be found in national legends which undoubtedly date from before the Christian era. But the coincidence that the mother is forced to take refuge in a stable, and that the birthplace was a manger, is certainly startling. The baptism and holy water which follow must, on this theory,

be Christian interpolations. But the most significant indica- tion of .a later origin is that the wizard Wainamoinen recog- nises his waning powers, and sings his farewell song when the virgin-born hero becomes " King and Master of Karyala."

This certainly looks very like the ancient heathenism giving way before the new faith of the " White Christ."

The general antiquity and genuine nationality of the whole we have no disposition to deny. From beginning to end it is a poem of Nature-worship, and just such as might be expected among a people that had a hard struggle for life with the physical forces amongst which their lot was cast. The word

Kalevala means " Land of Heroes." " It relates," according to Mr. Crawford, " the ever-varying contests between the Finns and the darksome Laplanders." We cannot, however, agree with him when he goes on to say that it relates them " just as the Iliad relates the contests between the Greeks and the Trojans." Nothing could be more unlike than the Kalevala and the Iliad. It would be too much to say that there is no human interest in the Finnish epic ; if there is nothing else, there is the touch of love that, more than any other

thing, makes the whole world kin ; but what may be called the every-day interest of the Homeric poems, the interest of

the home-life, of battle, of adventure by sea and land, is wholly apart from the Kalevala. We find ourselves a whole world removed from the simplicity of the story of the wrath of Achilles, or the wanderings of Ulysses, when we see that the " deeper and more esoteric meaning of the Kalevala points to a contest between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil; the Finns representing the Light and the Good, and the Lapps the

Darkness and the Evil," and certainly not less when we are told, what is undoubtedly true, that the whole poem is " replete with the most fascinating folk-lore about the mysteries of Nature, the origin of things, the enigmas of human tears."

It is difficult to give an adequate specimen of these, the most characteristic parts of the poem. Nothing is more striking than " Rune XV.," entitled " Lemminkainen's Restoration." The dead hero's mother has found his mangled remains, after wanderings that remind us of Demeter searching for Proserpine ; she has joined them with magic balsam, has healed his wounds, and stilled his pains, and all that she wants is that which will restore his speech. She per- suades the honey-bee to seek it in the seventh of heavens

Thereupon the bee arising, From the earth thee swiftly upward, Flutters on with graceful motion, By his tiny wings borne heavenward, In the paths of golden moonbeams, Touches on the Moon's bright borders, Fans the brow of Kootamoinen, Rests upon Otawa's shoulders, Hastens to the seven starlets, To the heads of Hetewank Flies to the Creator's castle, To the home of gracious Ukko, Finds the remedy preparing, Finds the balm of life distilling, In the silver-tinted caldrons, In the purest golden kettles ; On one side, heart-easing honey, On a second, balm of joyance, On the third, life-giving balsam.

Here the magic bee, selecting, Gathers the life-giving balsam, Gathers too, heart-easing honey, Heavy-laden hastens homeward.

Time had travelled little distance, Ere the busy bee came humming To the anxious mother waiting, In his arms a hundred cuplets, And a thousand other vessels, Filled with honey, filled with balsam, Filled with balms of the Creator.

Lemminkainen's mother quickly Takes them on her tongue and tests them, Finds a balsam all-sufficient.

Then the mother speaks as follows : ' I have found the long-sought balsam, Found the remedy of Ukko, Wherewith God anoints his people, Gives them life, and faith, and wisdom, Heals their wounds and stills their anguish, Makes them strong against temptation, Guards them from the evil-doers."

Here, again, we cannot but think that if this is pre-Christian, the language is somewhat surprising.

The glimpses into actual life are, as has been hinted, few and far between. Here is one, dwelling on the contrast between the lot of the maiden and the wife

Bright and warm are days of summer, Warmer still is maiden-freedom ; Cold is iron in the winter, Thus the lives of married women ; Maidens living with their mothers Are like ripe and ruddy berries ; But the most of married women Are like dogs enchained in kennel, Rarely do they ask for favors, Not to wives are favors given."

It is here, indeed, in the story of the fair daughter of the Northland ; of her suitors," Wainamoinen, old and trusty," and the younger Lemminkainen, whom she prefers ; of her lament over the home which she leaves; of the compact when— "the two made oath together, Registered their vows in heaven, Vowed before omniscient Ukko, Ne'er to go to war vowed Ahti, Never to the dance, Kyllikki ;"

and of the disastrous results with which the compact was broken, that the singer keeps most closely to ordinary human experience.

The translator has executed his task with care and success. We do not pretend to judge of his fidelity to the original, but he has certainly made a spirited poem. It is very seldom indeed that he " nods," as when he uses such a phrase as the " vicious canine," for, we presume, " ill-tempered dog." For the most part, his taste and metrical skill are worthy of great praise.