jjnaas on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/jjnaas/art/Heroes-of-Kalevala-5400171jjnaas

Deviation Actions

jjnaas's avatar

Heroes of Kalevala

By
Published:
8.5K Views

Description

An illustration I did for my university magazine, to an article concerning Kalevala, the Finninsh national epic that has also influenced Tolkien when he wrote LOTR. (Tolkien knew Finnish well enough to read Kalevala in the original language, and according to Tolkien, the elven language is a mix of Finnish, ancient Welsh.. and some third language.)

Anyway, the characters from top to the bottom, from left to right:

Louhi - Witch-Queen of Pohjola, the Winter Hag/Crone; leader of the rival tribe of the southern Kalevala.

Ilmarinen - The magical black smith who created the Sampo (a money making machine), the stars and the heavenly dome.

Väinämöinen - The eternal sage, a bard and a powerful sorcerer.

Joukahainen - A gambler, brother of Aino.

Aino - Joukahainen's sister, she was promised to be Väinämöinen's Wife, but ran away after discovering how old he was.

Kyllikki - Maiden of the islands.

Lemminkäinen - Adventurer, friend and comrade of Väinämöinen; potentially comes from a God of love/fertility. Also known as Lempo (which later came to be associated with the devil)

Kullervo - The tragic hero, an angsty young man.
Image size
557x700px 112.25 KB
© 2004 - 2024 jjnaas
Comments54
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
ChisuKisu's avatar
Ai että, Kalevala on hieno.