This book presents an overview of Finnish folklore from the nineteenth century to the present. The Nordic country of Finland has been influenced by both east and west and serves as an excellent showcase of European folklore in general. Guided by Finnish Folklore, readers will learn how folklore has been collected and researched in Finland, what regional distinctions exist in the country's traditions, and how traditions have changed in the process of modernization. An extensive anthology section features ancient alliterative poetry, such as formed the basis of the Finnish national epic Kalevala. The book contains translated examples of rhymed folk songs, folktales, legends, and other narratives, proverbs, riddles, jokes, and contemporary genres like children's folklore, urban legends, and anecdotes. Tradition continues to live on in communications from person to person, sometimes travelling thousands of miles and over many national borders in the process. The same item of folklore may acquire new meanings in new contexts. What is the linking thread of tradition? Humour, sexuality, fear, or laughter? Is it our eternal longing for happiness or just the endless need of human beings to pass the time with each other?

Ilmatar gave birth to the bard who sang the Finnish landscape into being in the Kalevala (the Finnish national epic). In Ilmatar's Inspirations, Tina K. Ramnarine explores creative processes and the critical role that music has played in Finnish nationalism by focusing on Finnish "new folk music" in the shifting spaces between the national imagination and the global marketplace. Through extensive interviews and observations of performances, Ramnarine reveals how new folk musicians think and talk about past and present folk music practices, the role of folk music in the representation of national identity, and the interactions of Finnish folk musicians with performers from around the globe. She focuses especially on two internationally successful groups—JPP, a group that plays fiddle dance music, and Värttinä, an ensemble that highlights women's vocal traditions. Analyzing the multilayered processes—musical, institutional, political, and commercial—that have shaped and are shaped by new folk music in Finland, Ramnarine gives us an entirely new understanding of the connections between music, place, and identity.

'One of the great mythic poems of Europe' The New York Times Sharing its title with the poetic name for Finland - 'the land of heroes' - Kalevala is the soaring epic poem of its people, a work rich in magic and myth which tells the story of a nation through the ages from the dawn of creation. Sung by rural Finns since prehistoric times, and formally compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the nineteenth century, it is a landmark of Finnish culture and played a vital role in galvanizing its national identity in the decades leading to independence. Its themes, however, reach beyond borders and search the heart of human existence. Translated with an Introduction by Eino Friberg

A long time ago Finns, Finno-Ugric tribes and Baltic tribes practised animistic nature-based belief, where everything in nature had its own place and spirit. Trees were widely worshipped. Some trees, holier than others were called spirit trees. In this book, you will learn about ancient tree worship and mythologies and stories told about different tree species and gods, goddesses and magical creatures related to them. How these trees were used in folk magic and how people saw them. Sacred groves were very common. These special places were thought to harbour gods and goddesses, so they were also worshipped and given sacrificial gifts of food, drink and treasures. Altars were built in these groves for the purpose of worship. An altar was usually a large stone or a wooden table holding a statue or an image of a particular deity. Sacred groves were communally owned by an entire village and were generally located in the woods near the village. People could visit a grove alone or in groups to show reverence to the gods. It was believed that trees understood humans, especially women. People told their troubles to trees and felt certain that the trees kept their secrets. In the old days, people relied more on the forest than they do today. The entire forest ecosystem offered almost all of the materials needed for life: shelter and abundant food like berries, plants, mushrooms and animals.Learn about the Christmas tree tradition and how it arrived in Finland and the tree emuu's, these were spirits that created the different tree species. Niina Pekantytär aka Fairychamber is known for her passion and knowledge of Finnish mythology and folklore. Born in northern Finland, Niina grew up listening to these stories from a very young age.

It was the Kalevala that initiated the process leading to the foundation of Finnish identity during the nineteenth century and was, therefore, one of the crucial factors in the formation of Finland as a new nation in the twentieth century.