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Kalevala

American  
[kah-luh-vah-luh, kah-le-vah-lah] / ˌkɑ ləˈvɑ lə, ˈkɑ lɛˌvɑ lɑ /

noun

  1. (italics) the national epic of Finland (1835, enlarged 1849), compiled and arranged by Elias Lönnrot from popular lays of the Middle Ages.

  2. the home or land of Kaleva; Finland.


Kalevala British  
/ ˈkɑlɛvɑlɑ, ˌkɑːləˈvɑːlə /

noun

  1. the land of the hero Kaleva, who performed legendary exploits

  2. the Finnish national epic in which these exploits are recounted, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from folk poetry in 1835 to 1849

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Kalevala

From Finnish

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Kalevala: Din takes Grogu to Kalevala, “another planet in the Mandalorian system.”

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 1, 2023

The great epic story of Finland, the Kalevala, was written by a Finnish intellectual in 1827; it was based on actual Finnish legends, but it had never existed as one long story before.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2020

Tolkien used numerous plot elements from the Kalevala in his own novels - a powerful magical object, incest, battles between brothers, and orphan heroes setting out on quests.

From BBC Aug. 26, 2015

“Kullervo,” a symphonic poem for singers, men’s chorus and orchestra, was the first of Sibelius’s works inspired by the Kalevala.

From New York Times Mar. 2, 2010

Sex equality has always been a characteristic of the race, as we find from the ancient Kalevala poem.

From Through Finland in Carts by Mrs. (Ethel) Alec-Tweedie

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