The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing dates back to
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...
' ''
Gesta Danorum
''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' (c. 1179). Saxo spoke of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for a battle.
Henry of Livonia
Henry of Latvia ( la, Henricus de Lettis, german: Heinrich von Lettland, lv, Latviešu Indriķis, et, Läti Henrik; 1187 – after 1259), also known in the English-speaking world as Henry of Livonia, was a priest, missionary and historian. He ...
at the beginning of the 13th century described Estonian sacrificial customs, gods and spirits. In 1578
Balthasar Russow
Balthasar Russow (1536–1600) was one of the most important Livonian and Estonian chroniclers.
Russow was born in Reval, Livonia (now Tallinn, Estonia). He was educated at an academy in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland). He was the Lut ...
described the celebration of
midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...
(''jaanipäev''), the St. John's Day by Estonians. In 1644 Johann Gutslaff spoke of the veneration of holy springs and J.W. Boecler described Estonian superstitious beliefs in 1685. Estonian folklore and beliefs including samples of folk songs appear in ''Topographische Nachrichten von Liv- und Estland'' by August W. Hupel in 1774–82. J.G von Herder published seven Estonian folk songs, translated into German in his ''Volkslieder'' in 1778 and republished as ''Stimmen der Völker in Liedern'' in 1807.
At the beginning of the 19th century during the
Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840), increased interest in Estonian folklore occurred among
Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...
. J.H. Rosenplänter founded ''Beiträge zur genauern Kenntniß der ehstnischen Sprache'', a journal for studies on Estonian language, literature, and folklore. In ''Beiträge'' the German translation of ''Mythologia Fennica'' by
Kristjan Jaak Peterson
Kristian Jaak Peterson (, Riga – , Riga) also known as Christian Jacob Petersohn, was an Estonian poet, commonly regarded as a herald of Estonian national literature and the founder of modern Estonian poetry. He died of tuberculosis aged 21.
...
was published in 1822. In 1839 The
Learned Estonian Society
The Learned Estonian Society ( et, Õpetatud Eesti Selts, shortened ÕES; german: Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft, shortened GEG) is Estonia's oldest scholarly organisation, and was formed at the University of Tartu in 1838. Its charter was to stu ...
was founded as the central organization for collecting and studying Estonian folklore. A leading figure in the society,
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) (31 December 1798 in Ao Manor, Kreis Jerwen – 22 April 1850 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist active in Livonia, Russian Empire. He was a co-founder of the Learned Estonian ...
published a number of Estonian legends and myths in German based on genuine Estonian folklore and on Ganander's Finnish mythology "
The Dawn and Dusk" (''Koit ja Hämarik''
[Inspired by Faehlmann, the philologist ]Nikolai Anderson
Nikolai Karl Adolf Anderson (24 September (6 October) 1845 in Kulina, Estonia – 9 (22) March 1905 in Narva, Estonia) was a Baltic German philologist who specialized in comparative linguistics of Finno-Ugric languages.
Life
Anderson was bo ...
authored a ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
based on this myth: ), being considered one of the most beautiful Estonian myths having popular origin. In 1842 the
Society of the Estonian Literati was founded in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
.
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald ( – ) was an Estonian writer who is considered to be the father of the national literature for the country. He is the author of Estonian national epic ''Kalevipoeg''.
Life
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's pare ...
started collecting Estonian folklore in 1843 but ended up changing the tales considerably. The materials collected primarily from
Virumaa
Virumaa ( la, Vironia; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Western Vironia. Vironians built ma ...
were reworked and published as The Old Tales of the Estonian People in 1866.
Alexander H. Neus' anthology ''Ehstnische Volkslieder'' (3 vols; 1850–52) is considered the first scholarly publication on Estonian folksongs. In total 1,300 songs are given in
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...
and in German translation.
The president of The Society of the Estonian Literati, Pastor Dr.
Jakob Hurt
Jakob Hurt ( in Himmaste – in St Petersburg) was a notable Estonian folklorist, theologian, and linguist. With respect to the last, he is perhaps best known for his dissertation on "pure" -ne stem nouns ("Die estnischen Nomina auf -ne purum ...
, considered the "king of Estonian folklore" began collecting Estonian folklore in the 1870s. The total amount collected is approximately 12,400 pages. In The Old Harp (''Vana Kannel''), 2 volumes of folksongs were published from 1875–76. Two more volumes were added in 1938 and 1941. The Setus Songs (''Setukeste laulud'') in 3 volumes were published from 1904–1907. Inspired by Hurt's work, Matthias J. Eisen started a folklore collection in the 1880s resulting a collection of 90,000 pages.
Oskar Kallas
Oskar Kallas (also Oskar Philipp Kallas; in Kirikuküla, Saaremaa – 26 January 1946 in Stockholm) was an Estonian diplomat, linguist and folklorist.Toivo Miljan, ''Historical Dictionary of Estonia'', Scarecrow Press 2004 He was the husband o ...
,
Ph.D
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
(1868–1946) studied at the
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
and was the first folklore scholar of Estonian descent.
After the establishment of the
Republic of Estonia
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
,
Walter Anderson was appointed to the newly founded chair of folklore at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
. Anderson's most significant students were
Oskar Loorits
Oskar Loorits ( – 12 December 1961) was an Estonian folklorist.Felix J. Oinas, ''Loorits, Oskar'', Encyclopedia of the fairy tale Vol 8 (1996), pages 1193-1195.
Life
Loorits was born in Suure-Kõpu Parish, Viljandi County. He initially studied ...
and
:et:August Annist. Loorits became the director of the Estonian Folklore Archives founded in 1927. His major field was
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
and mythology, a study on Estonian, Livonian and Russian folk beliefs. His most monumental work ''Grundzüge des estnischen Volksglaubens'' was published from 1949–1957 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
.
Arvo Krikmann
Arvo Krikmann (21 July 1939 – 27 February 2017) was an Estonian academician, folklorist, linguist, paremiologist, and humour researcher. He may be best known as a proverb scholar, “one of the leading paremiologists in the world.”
Krikman ...
and Ingrid Sarv assembled the five-volume Estonian
proverb collection "Eesti vanasõnad" between 1980 and 1988.
[Wolfgang Mieder. 2014. Preface. ''Proverbium'' 31: ix-xi.]
Footnotes
References
External links
Estonian Folk Tales(en)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Folklore
Estonian culture