An (American) Indian Kalevala

In 1968, I wrote this term paper for English 112 at BYU. The professor was as impressed with the paper as I was surprised by the professor's evaluation. The pictures here are added for "color."

The thesis: There are allegations that Longfellow's inspiration for writing his Indian Edda, Song of Hiawatha, was not all together Indian in its spirit or inception, but that the Finnish national epic Kalevala served as his model for form and content.

LONGFELLOW, "THE SON OF A GUN"
The Influence of Kalevala on the Song of Hiawatha

November 10, 1855, was a day of celebration for the American literary circles. It was the publication date of "perhaps the only American epic"(1), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha.

The reviews of Hiawatha, both before and after the publication of these Indian songs, were friendly and favorable. Most reviewers seemed to agree that the work was "very fresh and fragrant of the woods, and genuine Indian life" (2). 

Longfellow was praised for rescuing and resurrecting the highly poetic Indian stories. In his attempt to transform these "wild and superstitious legends of savage life" into romantic poetry, Longfellow had succeeded, indeed (3).

The triumph of the Indian Edda, as Longfellow named his work, did not, however, remain undisturbed. Unfavorable critiques appeared, claiming that Hiawatha was "the most childish nonsense that ever dropped from human pen" (4). Opinions fluctuated both for and against, until, finally, November 26, 1855, only two weeks after the publication of Hiawatha, a bomb hit. It came in the form of a newspaper article written by Thomas Conrad Porter in the Washington National Intelligencer. Porter prefaced his essay:

My object in writing this present brief notice is to call the attention of the literary public to the astounding fact that Professor Longfellow, in his poem "Hiawatha" has transferred the entire form, spirit, and many of the most striking incidents of the Finnish epic [Kalevala] to the North American Indians. The resemblance is so close that it cannot be accidental (5).

The battle was on. Hiawatha was not attacked only for its literary weakness; its origin was also made questionable. Years later, Detroit Free Press published an article reflecting on the accusation:

We have looked upon [Hiawatha] as the great Homeric classic of our Indian folklore. And now we are informed that Mr. Longfellow stole the whole thing, almost bodily, from the national epic of Finland. . . . The son of a gun (6).

Gradually the discussion attracted international attention. In the preface of his German version of The Song of Hiawatha, the translator, Ferdinand Freiligrath, acknowledged the Finnish Kalevala in discussing the relationship between these two: "Longfellow, instead of calling his poem an 'Indian Edda,' should have called it an 'Indian Kalevala.'"(7)

The Finnish national epic Kalevala appeared in its fullness in 1849. (The first edition, though not complete, was published in 1835.) The name of its author is unknown; indeed, no one person created it. It is a combination of fifty poems—runos, or Anglicized "runes"—which lived among the ancient people of Finland for several centuries, repeated from generation to generation by the word of mouth. They were performed in pentatonic chant; thus they can be rightfully called songs. Most of these stories date back to the pre-Christian era in Finland, to approximately 1000 A.D.; some were created during the Finnish crusades, 1150-1300 A.D. This is why Kalevala is a quaint mixture of Christianity and paganism. (8)

The runes were collected by a young poet, Elias Lönnrot, on his long travels for this very purpose. He wrote down the songs in their original form, meter and verse, as the old rune-singers performed them to him. In his effort to record the Finnish folklore, Lönnrot was responding to and greatly influenced by the vast national movement in Finland of his time. His collections included numerous runes similar to those in Kalevala, such as "Kanteletar" and "Edda runot." As a result of his great work, Lönnrot became one of the most important personalities in Finnish Nationalism—along with his contemporary Jean Sibelius—so much so that he later was pronounced the Finnish national poet, and is still regarded as such.

Kalevala soon attained fame abroad, resulting in several translations. The Swedish translation was made after the first edition in 1835 by Alexander Castrén. A French translation by Leouzon LeDuc was published in 1845. The most accepted English versions were by Dr. J.M. Crawford in 1888 and by William F. Kirby in 1907. The most significant translation, however, is the German version by Anton Schiefner, printed in Helsinki in 1852.

Since the German translation later on played an important role in the development of Hiawatha, it will be interesting to know how it was viewed as a translation. Mr. Moyne commented on this topic:

Although this translation is not always quite accurate and not very elegant, Schiefner's version is nevertheless a very useful one. In it he used a flexible meter resembling the original as closely as the difference in the characteristics of Finnish and German would permit. Because of this difference . . . some of the alliterative quality of the Finnish poetry has been lost. While Schiefner's meter reproduces the fall of the accent quite correctly, it fails to give an accurate idea of the grace and variety of the lines of Kalevala. (9)

The controversy over the relationship between Hiawatha and Kalevala was widespread. The newspapers were flooded with correspondence both pro and con. Many friends of Longfellow's hurried to the aid of the author. Conway felt deeply insulted for Longfellow, and claimed: "There is no relationship between them!" He further said: "Similar legends arise in Finland and in America of a person of a miraculous birth who came to benefit mankind. . . . That is not Longfellow's fault!"(10) Yet, he failed to finish his argument.

In his defense, Wayne Nyland claimed that Kalevala was purely of Finnish influence, but that its forthcoming was inspired by foreign movements. Herder in Germany originated the idea of national self-realization, which idea spread to Finland. This was adopted by patriots, and it materialized, among other things, in rune-collecting. (11)

Mr. Nyland is right, of course: the idea of nationalism did originate in Germany, but as a means of supporting his cause, his claim seems strained. The runes contained in Kalevala existed in their form and verse without the influence of foreign nationalism. The only thanks to nationalism, if there be any, may lie in the fact it inspired the oppressed Finns to come to their national identity. Rune-collecting was only one aspect of the movement.

Though some scholars disagree, Longfellow was, no doubt, influenced by the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, in creating his Song of Hiawatha, inasmuch the meter, form, and some of the legends and episodes in Hiawatha resemble very closely those in the Finnish epic. Substantial evidence can be gleaned from the works themselves: first, by observing the historical circumstances, and second, by carefully comparing the works themselves.

During his visit to Sweden in the summer of 1835, Longfellow kept in touch with the Finnish literary circles. He met people who told him about Finnish customs and traditions; he even studied the Finnish language. He became acquainted with several Finns, such prominent men as historian Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, poet Nicander, and a friend of the latter, Gustaf Henrik Mellin, who was a poet himself. Longfellow was interested in the Finnish language, and Mellin was willing to teach. From Longfellow's notes on the Finnish alphabets and their pronunciation found in a little Swedish-Finnish traveler's guide, En nyttig och tydelig anvisning til svenska och finska språken ("Useful and Simple Instructions to the Swedish and Finnish Languages"), one can presume that Longfellow acquired a basic knowledge of Finnish. He also brought back to America a collection of books in Finnish and about Finland's history, culture and language. In addition to the Swedish-Finnish handbook mentioned, his collection included a Finnish Bible, a Finnish almanac, translations into Finnish from other languages, dissertation in Latin on Finnish history and language, and a book on Finnish grammar in Swedish. (12)

Mellin, while teaching Finnish to Longfellow, had also introduced to him Kalevala, "the epic that was to become a model for his greatest work." (13) Later on, Longfellow became better acquainted with Kalevala in translations; indeed, he studied the German version with special care. Ernest J. Moyne and Tauno F. Mustaoja wrote in answer to Wayne Nyland's assumption that Longfellow never read Kalevala:

Longfellow studied the [Anton Schiefner's German] translation thoroughly. The best evidence of it is provided by Longfellow's numerous penciled reference marks in his copy of Schiefner, which is now in the Longfellow museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (14)

An entry in Longfellow's journal, made on June 5, 1854, states that he did read "with great delight the Finnish epic Kalevala . . . It is charming." (15) Only a couple of weeks later, on June 22, Longfellow made this interesting and noteworthy comment in his journal:

I have at length hit upon a plan for a poem on the Indians, which seems to me the right one, and the only one. It is to weave together their beautiful traditions into a whole. I have hit upon a measure, too, which I think is the right one and the only one for such a theme. At present it delights me. Let us see how it will prosper. (16)

From these journal entries it is easy to come to the conclusion that it was the inspiration of Kalevala that led Longfellow to "hit upon a plan" and to finally come up with a measure suitable for his purpose.

To make the point clear, let us study Kalevala's meter and make comparisons between the two works in question.

Moyne describes the old Finnish meter of Kalevala in this manner:

This meter is based partly on each of two systems, korko and laajuus, i.e., accent and quantity. Three degrees of accent are distinguished: primary, secondary and weak (unaccented). In the first system primary and secondary accents are used; the primary accent always falls upon the first syllable of the word. In the latter system the stress is determined by the quantity of the syllable, whether long, medium or short. The long syllables include long vowels and diphthongs; the medium syllables include short-voweled syllables ending in short vowels. The rhythm consists of regular alterations of strong and weak metrical elements, known as nousu and lasku, i.e., arsis and thesis. An arsis is an accented syllable; a thesis, an unaccented syllable. There are eight syllables in each line and four stresses, the feet being trochaic. Thus each line has four trochees. (17)

In addition to these characteristics, there are other rules that are typical of Finnish folk poetry. For example, a one-syllable word may never end a line; the longest word is to appear there instead. Also, a word longer than three syllables must not be placed in the middle of a line. (18)

Another characteristic of the old Finnish meter is the constant use of alliteration, i.e., repetition of words with the same initial letter, and parallelism. The following excerpt from Kalevala will show how these aspects are employed in Finnish runes:

Tuost' on siemenen sikiö,

alku onnen ainiaisen,

tuosta kyntö, tuosta kylvö,

tuosta kasvu kaikenlainen,

tuosta kuu kumottamahan,

tuosta päivä paistamahan

Suomen suurille tiloille,

Suomen maille mairehille!

(Rune XLIII, 297-304.)

Translation:

From these seeds the plant is sprouting,

Lasting welfare is commencing,

Here is ploughing, here is sowing, 

Here is every kind of increase, 

Thence there comes the shining moonlight,

Thence there comes the lovely sunlight

O'er the mighty plains of Suomi,

And the lovely land of Suomi.

(All translations are from the W.F. Kirby edition.)

A very typical and enriching property of this meter is the use of onomatopoeia, the use of words whose sound resembles the meaning. The following excerpt, a description of Ilmarinen rowing a boat, is one of the most striking passages in Kalevala because of the plentiful use of onomatopoeia:

Soutavi sorahteli,

teljot nytkyi, laiat notkui,

airot puikki pihlajaiset,

airon pyörät pyinä vinkui,

terät teirinä kukerti,

nenä joukui joutsenena,

perä kaarskui kaarnehena,

hangat hanhina havisi. 

(Rune XXXIX, 317-324.)

Translation:

On he rowed, while splashed the water,

Clashed the mountain-ashwood oars,

Creaked like hazel-grouse the rudders,

Croaked the stern as croaks the raven,

Hissed the rowlocks just as geese hiss.

This latter example also points to the constant use of alliteration and parallelism.

From the example above, it can be seen that rhyme is not used regularly; indeed, it is "the exception rather than the rule." (19) However, internal rhyme is used occasionally:

Miehen mieltä, kiurun kieltä,

Tuota käänti, tuota väänti.

(Italics mine.)

What, then, would the study of the Hiawatha meters reveal? Mr. Moyne describes the meter of Hiawatha in these words:

The meter of The Song of Hiawatha is trochaic tetrameter throughout the poem, but it is based entirely on accent . . . It is a modified Finnish meter. Longfellow did not modify it entirely by himself, but followed the example set by Schiefner. (20)

In his biographical sketch of Longfellow in connection with Hiawatha, F.H. Underwood remarks: "In form it follows the measure of the Finnish epic, the 'Kalevala.'" (21)

Ferdinand Freiligrath, who translated Hiawatha into German, agreed with Underwood. He wrote to Longfellow on December 7, 1855:

Are you not chuckling over the war which is waging in the [London] Athenaeum about the measure of Hiawatha? Of course William Howitt is right; and your trochaic meter is taken from the Finns. (22)

It is interesting to note here that even an encyclopedia recognizes that Longfellow use the meter of old Finnish folklore in his Song of Hiawatha. (23)

Furthermore, in showing that the meter of Hiawatha is identical to the meter of Kalevala, it will be enlightening to review Longfellow's own "confession," which he made to Mr. T.C. Elliot, the editor of the New York Commenrcial Advertiser in reference to the meter of his Indian Edda. He wrote that he had "tried to do for the old Indian legends what the unknown Finnish poets had done for theirs," and that in doing this, he had "employed the same meter." (24)

As to the details in the meter of Hiawatha, the use of alliteration is not as prominent as it is in Kalevala, but Longfellow did employ it to a small degree. Yet this partial omission is not all Longfellow's choosing; the English language simply does not lend to such inflections as easily as does Finnish. The Finnish language is more flexible, with fifteen cases for the nouns and endless declensions for the verbs. Hence, to create alliteration, for example one that follows, would be simply impossible in English:

Pukehissa puhta'issa,

Valke'issa vaattehissa.

Translation:

Clad in robes of dazzling luster,

Clad in raiment white and shining.

The same type of effect can be seen in these lines from Hiawatha:

1. Over meadow, over mountain.

2. He the merry mischief maker.

3. Bore the body of the beaver.

4. Smote the mighty Mishe-Mokwa.

It is also interesting to note that in the Finnish verse, only two words can form a full, orthodox line, whereas the English verse demands, in these cases, the minimum of four words. (Finnish words are generally long, with a plethora of structural endings making them even longer.)

In employing parallelism, Longfellow proved to be very skillful. In some cases his parallelism did not consist of only two lines, but three more lines, as this excerpt from his poem shows:

There he sang of Hiawatha,

Sang the song of Hiawatha,

Sang his wondrous birth and being.

In his letter to Longfellow, Ferdinand Freiligrath acknowledges Kalevala as the origin of Hiawatha's parallelism: "The characteristic feature, which shows that you have fetched the metre [sic.] from the Finns, is the parallelism adopted so skillfully and gracefully in Hiawatha." (25)

Underwood supports Freiligrath almost word for word: " . . . And like that poem [Kalevala], it [Hiawatha] makes constant use of parallelism or repetitions, which are so characteristic of the Finnish meter. (26)

The structural elements of the two works are also strikingly similar. In arranging the old Finnish runes, which he collected in the field, Lönnrot grouped the various songs in cycles by inserting a few lines to make a story about chief heroes, especially about Väinämöinen. 

In Hiawatha Longfellow followed Lönnrot's example, grouping the Indian legends in various cycles about chief heroes, especially about Hiawatha. Not only does the general structure of Hiawatha resemble that of Kalevala, but also some of the legends and episodes are so similar that the relationship ought to be unmistakable.

Longfellow, tracing the contents of Kalevala, opens his Indian Edda with an introduction, in which he explains the origin of the legends. Moyne claims that there was no Indian source for this kind of introduction. (27) Therefore, when compared with the prelude in Kalevala, it becomes obvious that Longfellow's introduction has its roots in the Finnish epic.

Hiawatha, Introduction, 1-17

Should you ask me, whence these stories?

Whence these legends and traditions,

With the odors of the forest,

With the dew and damp of meadows,

With the curling smoke of wigwams,

With the rushing of great rivers,

With the frequent repetitions,

With their wild reverberations,

As the thunder in the mountains?

I should answer, I should tell you,

From the forests and the prairies,

From the great lakes of the Northland,

From the land of Ojibways,

From the land of Dacotahs,

From the mountains, moors and fen-lands,

Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah

Feeds among the reeds and rushes.

The following excerpts from the prelude of Kalevala are from Kirby's English translation. May it be remembered, however, that Longfellow himself read the German version. The resemblance will be evident in any case.

Rune I, 1-10

I am driven by my longing,

And my understanding urges

That I should commence my singing,

And begin my recitation.

I will sing the people's legends,

And the ballads of the nation.

To my mouth the words are flowing,

And the words are gently falling,

Quickly as my tongue can shape them,

And between my teeth emerge them.

Rune I, 30-36

And recall our songs and legends,

Of the belt of Väinämöinen,

Of the forge of Ilmarinen,

And of Kaukomieli's sword-point,

And of Joukahainen's crossbow,

Of the utmost bounds of Pohja,

And the Kaleva's wide heathlands.

While the land of Ojibways, the land of Dacotahs, and the feeding grounds of Shuh-shuh-gah in Hiawatha and the belt of Väinämöinen, the forge of Ilmarinen, the sword of Kaukomieli, and the bow of Joukahainen in Kalevala are not identical, the legends of these epics do have at least one source in common: Longfellow's fables come from the forests and the prairies of the Northland, and those in Kalevala, from the utmost bounds of Pohja, or the Northland, and the heaths of Kaleva.

The resemblance between the parentages of Hiawatha and Väinämöinen is striking, as well. In the Indian legend, Wenonah, daughter of Nokomis—who is the daughter of the moon—bears a son, Hiawatha, to the West Wind, Mudjekeewis. Väinämöi-nen is the son of the virgin of the air, Ilmatar, who having descended into the sea, had been impregnated by the winds and the waves.

The following episode from Hiawatha, in which Nokomis warns Hiawatha against carrying out his plan to kill his father, finds parallel passages in Kalevala.

Hiawatha, Canto IV, 50-59

Warning said the old Nokomis,

"Go not forth, O Hiawatha!

To the kingdom of the West Wind,

To the realms of Mudjekeewis,

Lest he harm you with his magic,

Last he kill you with his cunning."

But the fearless Hiawatha

Heeded not his woman's warning;

Forth he strode into the forest,

At each stride a mile he measured.

Now note the similar story in Kalevala, in which Lemminkäinen's mother warns him against his intentions to seek his father:

Rune XII, 130-34

And the aged woman warned him:

"Yet beware, my son, and go not

Unto Pohjola's dread homestead,

Destitute of magic knowledge,

Destitute of all experience."

Rune XII, 213-16

Then went lively Lemminkäinen

To the gloomy land of Pohja,

'Spite the warnings of his mother,

'Gainst the aged woman's counsel.

Another passage in Hiawatha may have found its inspiration in Kalevala, namely the story of Hiawatha's gift of corn to the nation, as told in Canto V. The hero fasts for seven days and prays to Master of Life for prosperity of his people, and maize is given in answer. In Kalevala, Rune II, Väinämöinen prays to Ukko (God) for a plentiful harvest. His prayer is answered in the form of barley. The justification for comparison in self-evident.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable resemblances between the two works is in Hiawatha's experience with the King of Fishes and Väinämöinen's adventures with the giant, Antero Vipunen. Hiawatha, with his canoe, is swallowed by the great sturgeon; Väinämöinen finds himself in the belly of the giant. Väinämöinen builds himself a boat to explore the giant's entrails, as does Hiawatha. Both heroes escape unharmed. (Very notably, these episodes bear a striking resemblance to the story of Jonas in the belly of the big fish in the Old Testament of the Bible-such are the influences of universal lore.)

There is another noteworthy similarity between the advice given by old Nokomis to her grandson concerning the idle maiden and the same type of warning given to Väinämöinen by his dead mother.

Hiawatha, Canto X, 27-33

Gravely then said old Nokomis:

"Bring not here an idle maiden,

Bring not here a useless woman,

Hands unskilled, feet unwilling;

Bring a wife with nimble fingers,

Heart and hand that move together,

Feet that run on willing errands!"

Kalevala, Rune V, 230-41

Seek thou out the maids of Pohja,

Where the daughters are more handsome,

And the maidens twice as lovely,

And are five or six times more nimbler,

Not like lazy girls of Jouko,

Lapland's fat and sluggish daughters.

Thence a wife, O son, provide thee,

From the fairest maids of Pohja;

Choose a mid of fair complexion,

Lovely, too, in every features,

One whose feet are always nimble,

Always active in her movements.

Moreover, Väinämöinen's impressive character seems to have inspired Longfellow in modeling another hero in his Indian Edda, namely, Hiawatha's friend Chibiabos. He was "the best of all musicians," as Canto VI introduces him. He fashioned flutes from hollow reeds and created music that would stir and melt the souls of those gathered to losten to him. Even nature would stop at the sound of his playing and singing: the brook ceased its murmuring, the birds stopped their twittering, and the rabbits and other animals came to look and listen. Rune XL in Kalevala tells how Väinämöinen fashioned a harp of pike-bones, and Rune XLI illustrates all the birds of the air and animals of the forest listening to his singing and playing. Similarly, Rune XLIV gives an account of Väinämöinen carving a kantele of birch-wood, and again, the grand bard played to the great enjoyment of all nature and people of Kaleva. (Kantele is a harp-like instrument, originally only with five strings (g,a,b,c,d). The folklore of Kalevala and other similar native poetry was sung to the kantele, thus the chant was pentatonic. Later on, more strings were added to form a conventional scale. Kantele is acknowledged as the national musical instrument of the Finns.)

There is yet another instance of parallel personages in Hiawatha and Kalevala. A very interesting character in the Indian poem, Pau-Puk-Keewis, and Lemminkäinen in Kalevala appear to be very much alike. Pau-Puk-Keewis is frequently referred to as "He, the handsome Yenadizze," which corresponds the oft-repeated description of Lemminkäinen: "He, the handsome Kaukomieli." They both are beloved by women. They both are jovial, reckless fellows, and they seem to be in constant trouble. Pau-Puk-Keewis is under Hiawatha's wrath for killing his feathered friends; Lemminkäinen is unwelcome in Pohjola for his quarrelsome disposition. They both escape danger through their own magical powers. Lemminkäinen meet with death at the river Tuoni, but his mother brings him back to life. Pau-Puk-Keewis goes through several transformations before he is finally laid down.

Lastly, the episodes at the end of each epic are very much alike. Especially is this trues of the spirit in them. As was previously pointed out, both poems have substantial Christian influence. In Rune L of Kalevala, the legend of the virgin Marjatta resembles the story of the Virgin Mary-even in name. The legend recounts how Marjatta swallowed a cranberry and brought forth a son. Väinämöinen advises that the child should be put to death, but the boy was baptized to be the King of Karjala. Väinämöinen was greatly offended and left the country. In departing, he gave his kantele and the songs as a gift to the people, and he also promised to come back to make a new kantele and to bring more light to the people of Suomi. (Great parallels can be drawn between Christianity and Finnish folklore, to the converting of the pagan Finns to Christianity.)

In Canto XXII of the Indian poem, Hiawatha resigns himself to the new order introduced by the Catholic priest who has come to teach the nation about the Virgin Mary and Son, the Savior. Hiawatha welcomes the priest heartily, and leaves his people. He, too, promises to come back, but he advised the Indians to take heed of the priest and his teachings.

The actual departure scenes best illustrate the resemblance in spirit and phrase between Kalevala and Hiawatha. The similarity is great, and undoubtedly the Finnish epic influenced Longfellow. Hiawatha sailed into the sunset, the dusk of evening, until he seemed lifted up "into the sea of splendor." Väinämöinen also sailed away "to loftier regions, to the land beneath the heavens."

The study of the relationship between The Song of Hiawatha and Kalevala has shown that Longfellow imitated the Finnish epic in his Indian Edda. Not only did he adopt the meter of Kalevala but he also selected some of the savage and superstitious Indian legends that most resemble the folk themes in the Finnish epic. He fashioned some of his Indian characters after the models given in Kalevala. And finally, using Kalevala as his model, Longfellow organized his material into a fascinating unity. He created one work and made another known. Perhaps this is a sufficient compensation for the debt he owes to Kalevala.

References:

1 Moncure Daniel Conway, Washington National Intelligencer, November 23, 1855

2 Ernest J. Moyne, Hiawatha and Kalevala (Helsinki, 1963), p. 9

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid., p.10

5 Ibid., pp.10-11

6 Malcolm Bingay, "Good Morning," Detroit Free Press, 23, January 27, 1940

7 Moyne, Op. cit., p. 63

8 Aimo Turunen, "Kalevala; Finland's National Epic," American-Scandinavian Review, 50:133-36, June 1962

9 Moyne, Op. cit., p. 67

10 Ibid., p.14

11 Wayne Nyland, "Kalevala as a Reputed Source of Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha," American Literature, 22:4, March 1950

12 Moyne, Op. cit., pp. 48-49

13 Amandus Johnson, "The Relation of Longfellow to Scandinavian Literature," American-Scandinavian Review, 3:41, January 1915

14 Ernest J. Moyne and Tauno F. Mustaoja, "Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha and Kalevala," American Literature, 25:88, May 1953

15 Ernest J. Moyne, "Origins and Development of Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha," Journal of Inter-American Studies, 8:116, January 1966.

16 Ibid.

17 Moyne, Hiawatha and Kalevala, p. 64-65

18 Ibid., p. 66

19 Ibid., pp. 66-67

20 Ibid., p.67

21 Francis Henry Underwood, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Critical and Descriptive Sketches of His Writings (Boston, 1882), p. 168

22 Samuel Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Extracts from His Journal and Correspondence (Boston, 1886), p. 298

23 "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow," Encyclopaedia Britannica XIV (1968 ed.), 298

24 Moyne, Hiawatha and Kalevala, p. 63

25 Samuel Longfellow, op. cit., p. 298

26 Underwood, op. cit., pp. 168-69

27 Moyne, op. cit., p. 73

All excerpts from Kalevala are from the Porvoo, 1963 edition.

All the excerpts from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha are from the New York, 1963 edition.