Tale of Kullervo: Ancient Finnish Myth

All across the world, many cultures have developed their own myths and folktales, either to explain the natural of order of things or to provide a creative medium to pass wisdom from one generation to the next. Many of the more popular ones include the typical Greek and Roman myths of gods and heroes engaged in the complex dance of drama and entwined fate. Such stories may usually include cautionary lessons sometimes regarding the dangers of arrogance, greed, or even misplaced love.

But one lesser known, more obscure myth--one that tackles far deeper issues than the usual ones most common to everyone, comes from the snowy land of Finland. This myth, or folktale, is part of a larger epic poem known as the Kalevala, which is considered to be the Finnish national epic compiled in the 19^th century by Finn Elias Lonnrot from ancient oral poetry. This myth is the Tale of Kullervo.

At the beginning of the myth, two brothers are born and separated, Kalervo and Untamo (Untamoinen in the translated text). They both grow up to be men and they settle into two different lands. But one day, Untamo lays his fish nets into the waters of Kalervo and Kalervo, seeing this, steals Untamo's net along with any fish that Untamo caught with it. And from there, a cycle of vengeance begins, culminating to the ultimate destruction of Kalervo's tribe by Untamo and the virgin birth of Kullervo by Untamala (Kalervo's daughter), who survives only by submitting to Untamo.

From here the story shifts to Kullervo (Kullerwoinen in the translated text) who, at only three months old, is heard making vows of vengeance against Untamo and his tribe. Untamo, hearing this, tries three times to kill Kullervo, but in all three times Kullervo survives due to his inborn magical abilities. Finally, Untamo gives up and decides to put Kullervo, who's now a young youth, to work. He assigns him to multiple tasks (cutting down trees, threshing grain, etc.), but Kullervo, because he's overpowered with magic, unintentionally fails at every task. As a result, he ends up being sold as a slave to a blacksmith named Ilmarinen after Untamo declares:

"Kullerwoinen as a workman
Is a miserable failure;
Whatsoever work he touches
Is but ruined by his witchcraft;
I shall carry him to Ehstland,
In Karyala I shall sell him
To the blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
There to swing the heavy hammer."

Under the ownership of Ilmarinen, Kullervo gets assigned the task of being a shepherd. But during his stay, Ilmarinen's wife is cruel to Kullervo and, during a round of shepherding, Kullervo shatters his family's heirloom knife, while cutting a piece of bread for dinner that the blacksmith's wife maliciously baked a rock into. From there, Kullervo snaps and with his powerful magic turns the wife's herd of cows into wolves and bears, which then maul and kill her. Afterwards, Kullervo flees. But during his flight, he encounters an old woman who informs him that his original tribe is still alive and living in the Northland. Kullervo then goes to his family and discovers them all, but for his sister, which his mother informs him went missing and is feared to be dead.

Though this would be a very joyous time for Kullervo, who's now a young man, the joy of the time isn't that long lasting, as Kullervo unintentionally fails again at all the tasks that his father, Kalervo, gives him during his stay. In frustration, Kalervo finally assigns Kullervo the task of collecting tributes for the tribe, which he is successful at doing. But on his way back from the task, Kullervo seduces a wandering girl and ends up sleeping with her. Then, on the following day, Kullervo discovers, to his horror, that the girl he slept with was his long lost sister who, upon realizing what she's done, commits suicide right in front of him. Kullervo, completely ashamed, returns home and informs his family of this.

After confessing to his family, Kullervo intends to kill himself, despite his mother's pleas not to, and ultimately determines to take out Untamo's tribe in one last act of vengeance. As Kullervo, himself, proclaims:

"I can never hide from sorrow,
Cannot flee from my misconduct;
To the jaws of death I hasten,
To the open courts of Kalma,
To the hunting-grounds of Pohya,
To the battle-fields of heroes.
Untamoinen still is living,
Unmolested roams the wicked,
Unavenged my father's grievance,
Unavenged my mother's tortures,
Unavenged the wrongs I suffer!"

One by one, his family tries to persuade him not to go down this path, but he refuses to relent and, as a result, they end up disowning him, except for his mother, who continues to love him even though she knows that what he's doing is wrong.

Kullervo, battle ready, departs for his mission of vengeance and during his journey, he discovers that every member of his family has died, one after the other. With his heart hardened, he barely stops to mourn for any of them. But once he discovers that his mother has died, the only one who has ever shown him any true love, Kullervo mourns. However, the fire of vengeance is heavy on his heart and Kullervo still chooses not to turn back to attend his mother's funeral. He pushes on with his mission. Before confronting Untamo's tribe, he requests a broadsword from Ukko, the chief god of the Finnish pantheon, and, armed with Ukko's sword, he slays all of Untamo's people and burns their villages to the ground.

But this victory is hollow for Kullervo. For when he returns back home he finds his homestead deserted with all of his family dead. With reality setting in, Kullervo weeps for days before finally crying out to his mother, who then awakens from her grave. Still bound to the love of her son, she tells Kullervo to go to the forest where wood-nymphs would take care of him and shelter him. Kullervo, upon the words of his mother, goes there, but during his trip he discovers the corpse of his long lost sister. With this being more than Kullervo could take, he asks his sword if it would accept his life. The sword, being a mere weapon of destruction, bursts into song, saying that it would gladly do so, since it is what it is and doesn't care if it takes the life of the righteous or guilty.

"Why should I not drink thy life-blood,
Blood of guilty Kullerwoinen,
Since I feast upon the worthy,
Drink the life-blood of the righteous?"

With that Kullervo, plunges the sword into his heart killing himself. The tale ends with the minstrel, Väinämöinen, the central character of the Kalevala epic, speaking the tale's moral which is that a child should never be raised in wickedness and foolishness lest he or she would grow up to be as misguided as Kullervo.

The Tale of Kullervo is a very unique tale in the fact that it's one of the only folktales in the world to address the detrimental consequences of child abuse and neglect. Though this obscure tale comes from a fairly primitive background, its subject matter and conveyance of that subject matter is extremely sophisticated for what it is and very relevant, even in the modern day. In fact, the fundamental essence of the tale and its characters echo painfully keen when spoken in light of the tragic events of Columbine and Virginia Tech. In both incidences, we have adolescents who, despite their incredible potential, experience abuse in their youth (whether from bullying or neglect) and who, in turn, make terrible choices when dealing with the resulting pain. In both cases, vengeance comes at a high cost to both them and others around them. And, by the time all is said and done, their tale ends with them, ultimately, turning their weapon of destruction upon themselves, just as Kullervo did with Ukko's sword.

Overall, what the perpetrators of Columbine (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) did was inexcusable and terrible. Moreover, it was their ultimate decision to deal with their pain the wrong way that led to the atrocity. The same goes for Seung-Hui Cho of the Virginia Tech massacre. But just as Kullervo's ultimate fate could have possibly been averted with enough love and understanding, such could be the same with those mentioned.

In an age of computers, Internet, and genetic research, the issues that haunted society in the past still haunt the modern age. Though man, through the ages, has achieved many accomplishments, the need for responsible parenting and the need to be sensitive to one another still remain essential, yet unfulfilled with each passing generation. Ultimately, the words of the minstrel from Kullervo's tale continue to ring true today as it did countless centuries ago:

"O, ye many unborn nations,
Never evil nurse your children,
Never give them out to strangers,
Never trust them to the foolish!
If the child is not well nurtured,
Is not rocked and led uprightly,
Though he grow to years of manhood,
Bear a strong and shapely body,
He will never know discretion,
Never eat the bread of honor,
Never drink the cup of wisdom."