Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
poet, and is the national poet of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. He wrote in the Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
.
Runeberg studied first in the cities of Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
and Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, later on at the Imperial Academy of Turku, where he befriended Johan Vilhelm Snellman
Johan Vilhelm Snellman
Johan Vilhelm Snellman was an influential Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman, ennobled in 1866.Snellman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as son of Kristian Henrik Snellman, a ship's captain...
and Zacharias Topelius
Zacharias Topelius
Zachris Topelius was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history in Swedish.-Life and career:...
. His studies concentrated mainly on the classical languages of Latin and Greek. From 1837 onwards he lived in Porvoo
Porvoo
Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...
, where he served as professor of Latin literature in the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
of Porvoo. He was married to his second cousin Fredrika Runeberg, née Tengström, with whom he had eight children and who wrote poems and novels, too.
Many of his poems deal with life in rural Finland. The best known of these is Bonden Paavohttp://www.kantele.com/nwfwebsite/runeberg_martin/runeberg_martin.html, (Farmer Paavo, Saarijärven Paavo in Finnish), about a smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
peasant farmer in the poor parish of Saarijärvi
Saarijärvi
Saarijärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
and his determination, "sisu
Sisu
Sisu is a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. However, the word is widely considered to lack a proper translation into any language. Sisu has been described as being integral to understanding...
" (guts) and unwavering faith in providence in the face of a harsh climate and years of bad harvests. Three times, a frosty night destroys his crops. Every time, he mixes double the amount of bark
Phloem
In vascular plants, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients , in particular, glucose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed. In trees, the phloem is the innermost layer of the bark, hence the name, derived from the Greek word "bark"...
into his bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
to stave off starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
and works ever harder to dry off marsh into dryer land that would not be as exposed to the night frost. After the fourth year, Paavo finally gets a rich crop. As his wife exults, thanks God and tells Paavo to enjoy full bread made entirely out of grain, Paavo instructs his wife to mix bark into grain once more, because their neighbour's crop has been lost in a frost and he gives half of his crop to the needy neighbour.
Runeberg's most famous work is Fänrik Ståls sägner (The Tales of Ensign Stål
The Tales of Ensign Stål
The Tales of Ensign Stål is an epic poem written in Swedish by the Finland-Swedish author Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland...
, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
) written between 1848 and 1860. It is considered the greatest Finnish epic poem outside the native Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
tradition and contains tales of the Finnish War
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
of 1808–09 with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In the war, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
ignominiously lost Finland, which became a Grand Duchy
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
in the Russian empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The poem, which is composed episodically, emphasizes the common humanity of all sides in the conflict, while principally lauding the heroism of the Finns. The first poem "Vårt land" (Our Land, Maamme in Finnish) became the Finnish National Anthem
Maamme
Maamme or Vårt land is the title of Finland's national anthem. There is no law on an official national anthem in Finland, but Maamme is firmly established by convention....
. Runeberg is celebrated on 5 February each year.
See also
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg was selected as the main motif in a recent Finnish commemorative coin, celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth, the €10 Johan Ludvig Runeberg and Finnish Poetry commemorative coin, minted in 2004. The obverse of the coin features an interestingly stylized portrait of Runeberg's face. The reverse features a 1831 font sample from Helsingfors Tidningar - a Swedish-language newspaper - since Runeberg wrote most of his work in Swedish, representing his versatile literary talent.
- List of Swedish language writers
- Runeberg's tartRuneberg's tartRuneberg's torte is a Finnish pastry flavored with almonds and rum and it usually weighs about 100 grams. There is usually raspberry jam in a sugar ring on the tart....
- Finnish band EnsiferumEnsiferumEnsiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
wrote a song "Old Man" that contains two verses from Johan Ludvig Runeberg's work "The Cloud’s Brother", where a dead hero’s girl shows her loss and pride by saying:
-
- "Sweeter far than life from I found that love was"
- "Sweeter far than love to die as he did"
External links
- Works by Runeberg at Project RunebergProject RunebergProject Runeberg is an initiative patterned after Project Gutenberg that publishes freely available electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries...
- http://www.dugamladufria.com/songs/finland.html