A list of translations of the Finnish national epic Kalevala in chronological order by language. The epic has appeared in 61 translated languages.
Based partially on the list made by Rauni Puranen and the article here.
Language | Year | Translator | Remark | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1840 | N. Mühlberg | The first 60 lines of the first song, published in: Verhandlungen der gelehrten Esthnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat. Ersten Bandes erstes Heft. 1840, 94–96. | ||
1848 | A short 38 line reading at a presentation in the Berlin Academy of Sciences. | |||
1852 | A very important translation used by many other translators to bring Kalevala to their own language. | |||
1885–1886 | H. Paul | |||
1967 | Full translation directly from Finnish. | |||
2004[1] | Gisbert Jänicke | Full translation. | ||
1841 | Full translation of the 1835 Old Kalevala. | |||
1864–1868 | Karl Collan | Full translation of the 1849 Kalevala. | ||
1884 | ||||
1944 | Olaf Homén | An abridged edition | ||
1948 | trims about 10% of the text | |||
1999 | ||||
1845 and 1867 | An important translation used by many other translators to bring Kalevala to their own language. | |||
1926 | Charles Guyot | Abridged version of Louis Léouzon le Duc's translation. | ||
1927 | Full translation in metric verse. | |||
1991 | Full translation. In old style French vocabulary. | |||
1868 | Partial translation (The story of Aino[2]) via Franz Anton Schiefner's translation. | |||
1869 | Partial translation directly from Finnish (with a lengthy essay). | |||
1888[3] | Full translation, via Franz Anton Schiefner's translation. | |||
1893[4] [5] | R. Eivind | A complete prose adaptation for children via Crawford's translation. | ||
1907[6] [7] | Second full translation. Directly from Finnish. Imitates the Kalevala meter. | |||
1950 | Aili Kolehmainen Johnson | Abridged prose translation. | ||
1954 | Margaret Sperry | Adapted verse translation of song 50. | ||
1963[8] | Scholarly prose translation. Included with detailed essays and background information. | |||
1969[9] | Scholarly prose translation of the 1835 Old Kalevala. | |||
1977 | Ursula Synge | Abridged prose version. Using W. F. Kirby's translation as a reference. | ||
1989 | Eino Friberg | Editing and introduction by George C. Schoolfield. Imitates the Kalevala meter selectively. The songs in this version are also not of the same length or structure as in the original.[10] Released to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the original publication. | ||
1989[11] | Keith Bosley | Uses a syllabic verse form to allow for accuracy and metrical variety; released to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the original publication. Subsequently, published as an audiobook read by the translator himself in 2013. | ||
2020 | Kaarina Brooks | Complete translation of runic version of 1835 Old Kalevala, following the Kalevala meter throughout. | ||
2021 | Kaarina Brooks | Complete translation of runic version Kalevala, following the Kalevala meter throughout. | ||
1871 | Ferdinánd Barna | Full translation via Franz Anton Schiefner's translation. | ||
1909[12] | Béla Vikár | |||
1971 | Kálmán Nagy | |||
1976 | István Rácz | |||
1985[13] | Antal Reguly | Old Kalevala songs 1-3 and 29. | ||
1987 | Imre Szente | |||
1888[14] | An important translation used by many other Slavic translators to bring Kalevala to their own language. | |||
1998[15] & 2006 | Eino Kiuru and Armas Hiiri | |||
1891–1898 | M. J. Eisen | |||
1938 | August Annist | |||
1894–1895 | Full translation in metric verse. | |||
1901 | Jevhen Tymčenko | |||
1902 | Partial translation. | |||
1994 | ||||
1909[16] | Verse translation (hendecasyllable) | |||
1910[17] | Verse translation (original metre) | |||
1912 | Francesco Di Silvestri Falconieri | Prose translation | ||
1980 | Liliana Calimeri | Used Ursula Synge's version as a model. | ||
1988 | Gabriella Agrati and Maria Letizia Magini | Prose translation | ||
2010 | Marcello Ganassini | Verse translation (blank verses) | ||
1922 | Adolfas Sabaliauskas | |||
1972 | ||||
1924 | Linards Laicens | |||
1965 | ? | Uses trochaic tetrameter and syllable stress rhythm. | ||
1928 | Maya Tamminen | Partial prose translation. | ||
1938 | Full prose translation. | |||
1940 | Jan H. Eekhout. | An excerpt in poetic form. | ||
1969 | Jr. Henrik Hartwijk | Translation of song #5. Published in the Yearbook of the Kalevala Society. | ||
1935 | Ivan S. Šajković | |||
1937 | Kakutan Morimoto | |||
1961 | Tsutomu Kuwaki | |||
1976 | Tamotsu Koizumi | |||
1944 | Alejandro Casona | Abridged prose translation, based on Charles Guyot's version. | ||
1953 | María Dolores Arroyo | Full metric verse translation via Perret's French and Pavolini's Italian translations | ||
1967 | Juan B. Bergua | Full prose translation, via French and English translations | ||
1985 | Ursula Ojanen and Joaquín Fernández | Full translation directly from Finnish. | ||
1995 | Carmen Crouzeilles | Abridged prose translation. Published in Buenos Aires. | ||
1946 | Barbu B. Brezianu's | Full prose translation. | ||
1959 | Iulian Vesper | Full translation using an eight syllable verse form. | ||
1985 | P. Starostin | Published in Moldovan which is identical to Romanian. Abridged translation. | ||
1954 | ||||
1978 | Sarah Tubia | |||
1954[18] | Hersh Rosenfeld | |||
1956 | M. Mašapa | Prose and poetry excerpts. | ||
1957 & 1962 | Karl Ísfeld | This translation utilises the Icelandic "three-par" alliteration method. | ||
1962 | Shih Hêng | Translated via the Russian translation. | ||
1981[19] | Sun Yong | Translated via W.F.Kirby's English translation. | ||
2000 | Zhang Hua Wen | |||
1964 | Johan Edvard Leppäkoski | Full translation in Kalevala meter, published as trochaic octometers (one for every two Finnish verses) with mandatory central caesura | ||
1965[20] | Hilmi Ziya Ülken | Translation of the first 2 songs. Using the Hungarian and French as basis. Published in the Yearbook of the Kalevala Society, volume 43 (1963) | ||
1982 | Lale and Muammar Oğuz | Full interpreted prose translation. Missing 25% of the original content for artistic purposes. | ||
1967 | Albert Lange Fliflet | Nynorsk language translation. Based on an earlier unpublished translation. | ||
1969 | M. Macavarian, Š. Tšantladze & G. Dzneladze. | |||
1970 | Muhamed Said al-Juneid | Abridged translation published in the yearbook of the Kalevala Society. | ||
1991[21] | Sahban Ahmad Mroueh | |||
1972 | A. Siras. Proosaa | Abridged prose translation. | ||
1974 | Full translation based on the work of Karol Laszecki. | |||
1998 | Full translation | |||
1980 & 1984 | Adolf Turkin | Partial translation (Väinämöinen's playing and song 10.) | ||
1983 | Alpha A. Diallo | Book was published in Hungary, illustrated with Akseli Gallen-Kallela's artwork. | ||
1985 | Amrith Someshwar | Used Keith Bosley's Wanton Loverboy to aid in the translation of some parts. | ||
Latin[22] | 1986 | Tuomo Pekkanen | ||
1986 | Cao Xuân Nghiêp | Full prose translation. | ||
1991 | Hoàng Thái Anh | Full prose translation. | ||
1994 | Búi Viêt Hòa's | Full translation in metrical verse. | ||
1986 | Marek Svetlik & Jan Petr Velkoborský. | |||
1990 & 1997 | ||||
1991 | Jelka Ovaska Novak | Partial translation. | ||
1997 | Jelka Ovaska Novak | Full translation. | ||
1992 | Jan Knappert | Illustrated with Tanzanian Robino Ntila's graphics. | ||
1992 | Nino Nikolov | |||
1992 | Maria Martzoukou | Verse translation of the first 20 poems with prose translation of the rest. | ||
1993 | ||||
1994[23] | R. Sivalingam (Uthayanan) | Full translation. Introduction by Asko Parpola. | ||
1997 | Full translation in metric verse, directly from Finnish. | |||
1997 | Abridged prose translation. | |||
1998 | Full translation directly from Finnish. | |||
2012 | Retold and translated in Persian directly from Finnish.[24] | Kalevala Maailmalla,” January 29, 2019. https://kalevalamaailmalla.kalevalaseura.fi/kalevalan-kaannokset-1835/.[25] | ||
1998 | Vesna Acevska | |||
2001 | Full translation from English. | |||
2001 | Stjepan A. Szabo | Partial translation in narrative form. | ||
2006 | Slavko Peleh | Full translation using the German translation partially. | ||
2001 | ||||
2001 | Mahendra Kumar Mishra | Prose translation. | ||
2001 | Anatoli Uvarov | Summary. | ||
2003 | Nina Zaiceva | Verse summary. | ||
2022[26] | Nina Zaiceva | Full translation. | ||
2007 | Orlando Moreira | Full translation from an English version. | ||
2009 | José Bizerril and Álvaro Faleiros | Partial translation. Only the first song. | ||
2013 | Ana Soares & Merja de Mattos-Parreira | Full translation from Finnish; in verse; with critical introduction, and hundreds of footnotes. | ||
2007 | Bengt Pohjanen | Translation of a select four songs. | ||
2012 | Arshad Farooq | |||
2015[27] | Yakub Lapatka | |||
2015 | Raisa Remšujeva | |||
Karelian Proper | 2015 | Zinaida Dubinina |