[Fedora]

> Ever read "Kalevala", the Finnish epic poem? It is very Silmarillion-like. In fact "Turin Turambar" is very similar to a story from Kalevala... think the hero's name was Kullervo, but the stories are almost identical.

I read "Kalevala" once, but feel a need to read it again to really absorb it. I did take a few notes on possible parallels between "Silmarillion" and "Kalevala"--as I'm looking at them now I notice one thing I wrote down was "Turin parallels Finnish Kullervo" :) I also jotted down that I thought the sampo played a similar function to the silmarils; that the end of Kalevala with Vainamoinen sailing into the heavens parallels the voyage of Earendil; and that the eagles in Runo 7 may have influenced the eagles in "The Hobbit".

[JenB]

The stories of the Sun and Moon had a few parallels, too.

I love the way Kalevala sounds. Its rhythms. Makes me wish I knew Finnish. Tolkien read it in the original, I believe...