Covertekst
The Kalevala is a realm of fantasy,during the time when time itself yet had no meaning. It's a story about three heroes, the wise old knower Väinämöinen, the smith Ilmarinen, and the loverboy adventurer Lemminkäinen, whose shamanistic journeys take them up to the cold northland of Pohjola. The rivals, on their quest for finding a wife, compete for the hand of the beautiful daughter of Pohjola. Louhi, the wizard mistress of Pohjola refuses to give her daughter, which into a war between Kalevala and Phojola. Sampo, the magic hill, is forged in ransom for the daughter of Pohjola, and whoever possessing the magic mill will possess eternal wealth and the secrets of the universe. But who will be the final triumphant in the war of sorcery, is not to be seen until the very last confrontation between the two most powerful magicians.
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The Kalevala is one of the great epics of the world literature, along with the Iliad and the Odyssey, Gilgamesh and the Nibelungenlied. As the national epic of Finland, the stories of the Kalevala were passing on as oral tradition through centuries, recited as sung poems from one generation to another until finally compiled as a book in 1849 by Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884). The Kalevala has been translated into almost 100 languages, and has been widely used as a reference in arts and literature. One of the well-known examples is J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fascination for the Kalevala and the Finnish language itself was vividly adapted as an inspirational source into his own tales of fantasy, The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.
This Kalevala graphic novel is the first and the only comic book adaptation of the epic, containing the whole storyline of the Kalevala and its 50 chapters. In the English translation by Eino Friberg (1901-1995) the original poetic phrasing is left, and while Friberg's masterful translation captures the essential core of the colorful language of the Kalevala, it also manages to arouse the interest of a modern-day reader.
Kristian Huitula (1973) is an acknowledged Finnish comic book artist who was also awarded as the Young Artist of the Year 2003 by the Kalevala Society foundation. Since its Finnish edition in 2000 the Kalevala graphic novel has become one of the best selling graphic novels in Finland. Huitula's strong and dynamic visual images show extreme artistic skill and knowledge for detail, making the graphic novel adaptation one of a kind in the genre of fantasy comics. At last the magic of the Kalevala has found its way to the audience in a new modern form, being more intriguing and approachable than ever before.
