Kaleva – also known as Kalevi or Kalev – and his sons are important heroic figures in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. In the

epic the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

'', he is an ancient

ruler. In

Estonian mythology Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccles ...

and

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 ...

's epic poem ''

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition of legends e ...

'', King Kalev was the father of King Kalevipoeg and the husband of

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

History

Some historians have suggested that the oldest known written reference to Kaleva (Kalev / Kalevi) can be found in the 6th- or 7th-century Anglo-Saxon poem "Widsith", which was copied into the Exeter Book, a manuscript of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

poems compiled in the late 10th century. "

Widsith "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...

" states that

Caesar ruled the Greeks, Caelic the Finns ... I was with the Greeks and Finns and also with Caesar ...

Some historians have interpreted the term "Caelic" to refer to the ancient Finnish ruler Kaleva mentioned in the Kalevala. The first clear written references appear in a list of deities published by

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territory ...

in 1551 and in the Leyen Spiegel by Heinrich Stahl (1641). The title of Estonia's national epic ''

'' means "Son of Kalev" and the title of the Finnish national epic the ''

'' means "Land of Kaleva". Some have suggested that Kalevala might be the Estonian mainland. According to the 18th-century Finnish folklore-collector

Kristfrid Ganander Cristfried Ganander (21 November 1741 in Haapajärvi – 17 February 1790 in Rantsila) was a Finnish compiler of folk culture, a priest and an 18th-century lexicographer. Ganander's greatest achievement was the compilation of the first fully exten ...

, Kaleva had twelve sons in total, including

Väinämöinen Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, mag ...

Ilmarinen Ilmarinen (), the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the ''Kalevala'', is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as being unlucky in love. He i ...

and

Hiisi Hiisi (; plural ''hiidet'' ) is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities. In later, Christian-influenced folklore, they are depicted as demonic or trickster-like entit ...

Myths

n stories, sons of Kalev were originally considered royalty. In

stories, however, they are more often referred to as

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

who built several castles and lived in various regions of Finland. In both cases, they are often blamed for oddities in nature, such as strangely large or weird stones. Myths tell that as more and more of the citizens became Christianized, their inhabitants began to hate Kaleva's sons for remaining

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

s. Soon, Kaleva's sons were forced to leave their country, Kalevala. As time passed, Christians invaded more and more land, pushing Kaleva's sons further away. Eventually, Kaleva's sons found an island where they stayed. Christian priests came and cursed them, until they took a big stone and sailed away with it. They have not been seen since then, but the legend is that they often appear at night and destroy crops or cut down forests. Similar visitations are attributed to beings known as ''hiidet'' (singular ''

hiisi Hiisi (; plural ''hiidet'' ) is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities. In later, Christian-influenced folklore, they are depicted as demonic or trickster-like entit ...

''), who resemble

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

s. They too were forced to flee by the Christians.

Derived

Finnish people Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

called the star

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

''Kalevan tähti'', Kaleva's star.

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt or the Belt of Orion, also known as the Three Kings or Three Sisters, is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak Alnitak is a triple star system in the constellation of ...

was called ''Kalevan miekka'', Kaleva's sword, and swirls in the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

''Kalevan porras'', Kaleva's step, or ''Kalevan kynnys'', Kaleva's threshold.

Legacy

In paintings

Oskar Kallis Oskar Kallis (Tallinn, November 23, 1892 – Yalta, 1 January 1918) was an Estonian artist, one of the main representatives of the Estonian national romanticism. Kallas studied in 1907 and 1913 to 1916 in the studio of the artist Ants Laikma ...

, an Estonian painter from the 1900s, produced the Kalevipoeg series of paintings portraying the epic heroic figure Kaleva/Kalevi/Kalev. These paintings are viewable at Kumu art museum in Estonia.

In government

Toompea Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...

, a hill in the centre of

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 ' ...

, was said to be the

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

over his grave, erected by Linda in memory of him. It is now

's centre of government.

In sports

KK Kalev Kalev (also known as Tallinn Kalev, Korvpalliklubi Kalev) was a professional basketball club from Tallinn, Estonia what was back then part of Soviet Union. The team played in the Estonian Basketball League (Korvpalli Meistriliiga) and in the So ...

, a basketball club from Estonia * JK Tallinna Kalev, a football club from Estonia *

Kalevi Keskstaadion Kalevi Keskstaadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Opened in 1955 and having a capacity of 12,000, it is the traditional venue of the Estonian Dance Festivals and the home ground of JK Tallinna Kalev. The address of the stadium ...

, a stadium in Estonia *

Kalev Sports Hall Kalev Sports Hall ( et, Kalevi spordihall) is a multi-purpose arena in Estonia. It was built in 1962 and holds up to 1,780 people (all-seater).Kalevala, Russia Kalevala (russian: Калевала; krl, Kalevala) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Kalevalsky District in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 4,52 ...

, a Karelian town of Uhtua (today in Russia) * In an old Russian chronicle the Estonian city of Tallinn was called Kolyvan (Estonianized: ''Kolõvan''). It probably meant ''Kalev city''.

References

External links

Estonian epic Kalevipoeg
{{Kalevipoeg Characters in the Kalevala Finnish mythology Kalevipoeg Mythological kings