The Story of Kullervo

[Judderman]

Nobody has mentioned this pending posthumous Tolkien release

Apparently based on the Finnish saga Kalevala, and Tolkein wrote most of it in 1914. It has recently been edited by a Tolkien scholar (Verlyn Flieger).

Hopefully it will be an entertaining tale.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-story-of-kullervo/j-r-r-tolkien/verlyn-flieger/9780008131364

 

[Extollager]

You don't have to wait till the Tolkien book appears to read the tale of doomed Kullervo. Try Keith Bosley's translation of The Kalevala, or the translation by Kirby that was Tolkien's own entry into the Kalevala (Everyman's Library, 2 vols.), or even a retelling for children in Babette Deutsch's Heroes of the Kalevala. There's also the musical piece by Sibelius.

 

[JoanDrake]

Emil Petaja did a 4 book series, The Cosmic Kalevala in the 60's. I've only read the one installment, Tramontane, and that some time ago so I can't comment, though I can say the book was memorable.

Are the Finns as intriguing a people as most of what I've read of them makes them out to be? They speak a language that's in its own family, look more Turkish than Scandinavian by most accounts and regard being thought Scandinavian as slightly pejorative. In WWII their premier's reply to Stalin's threat to send 10 million men against them was, "tell them to bring their own shovels, we can't bury that many." Even Julius Caesar said "Beware the Finns, for they are a wild and terrible race."

 

[Judderman]

They speak a language that's in its own family, look more Turkish than Scandinavian by most accounts and regard being thought Scandinavian as slightly pejorative.

They speak a language similar to Estonian, very different to the Scandinavian languages. But I am speechless that people would claim they look Turkish! Unbelievable. Perhaps their language has some faint similarities. They are very pale and look similar to Scandinavian. But yes they don't appreciate being known as Scandinavian. Just as Scots don't like being called English or Canadians being called Americans. But they do have an intriguing love of saunas.

Presumably Tolkien's tale will be significantly different to the old Kalevala poems. it is just based on them!

 

[JoanDrake]

I've noted that the illustrations I've seen has many of them having black hair, maybe that's it. There is also a speculation I saw in a book on King Arthur that the Picts and through them the famous Black Irish may have come from them, though I don't remember how they said this happened. Oh, and Neal Stephenson mentions a Turkish appearance specifically in Cryptonomicon

I also remember that one cover girl from a Girls of Europe Playboy book had a Finnish beauty with the greenest eyes I've ever seen. She was very exotic but hard to place. If their main girls look even close they must be an attractive people

 

[Ray McCarthy]

ook more Turkish than Scandinavian

Finnish isn't Scandinavian but more Hungarian?
Folk with high proportion Ginger hair historically:
Ireland, Scotland, Finland, somewhere central Europe and some Jewish folk* (King David supposedly).

[* I actually met a Transylvanian - American Ginger Jew]

 

[Brian G Turner]

There's a feature about this on the BBC website today:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34063157