Epics of the world
Epic song traditions have existed among nearly all peoples of the world. In many cases a literate poet or editor has compiled oral-traditional elements into a unified epic.
Compared to other world epics, the Kalevala has been heavily influenced by the 'folk'. The poems were collected word for word from the mouths of the folk themselves and arranged by Lönnrot, who shaped them into a coherent whole. Only three percent of the lines were composed by Lönnrot himself. In many cases broad epic compilations or published collections have been accorded the same significance as epics. Epics still exist in the oral traditions of the world.
Nonetheless, the Kalevala could hardly have come into being without the influence of older, pre-existing epics. The example of Homer was to have a decisive effect on the formation of an epic plan in Lönnrot's mind. A necessary prerequisite for the birth of the Kalevala was the then prevailing notion that the Homeric epics were assembled from separate epic poems.
There are many ways to produce epics. Epics are an important demonstration of a culture's literary vitality.
Some national epics have received their written form due to the work of just one person. The Kalevala is such an epic.
The Kalevala has also been an example for other epics around the world. Between 1857 and 1861 Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald published the Kalevipoeg epic on the basis of Estonian folk tales. In 1855, imitating the metre and style of the Kalevala, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote The Song of Hiawatha based on Native American Indian legends.
The world's epics (e.g.)
Kalevala, Finland
Edda, Iceland, Norway
Kalevipoeg , Estonia
Lacplesis , Latvia
Táin Bó Cuailnge , Ireland
Beowulf , England
The Songs of Ossian , Scotland
Nibelungenlied , Germany, Austria
The Song of Roland , France
Miréio , France (Provence)
El Cid, Spain , (Castilian)
Os Lusíadas , Portugal
The Aeneid , Italy
The Iliad and the Odyssey , Greece
Marko Kraljevic , Serbia
The Kosovo series , Kosovo
Gilgamesh , Mesopotamia
Enuma elish , Babylonia
Dede Qorkut , Turkki
Vephistqaosaniœ, Georgia
Dumy , Ukraina
Byliny , Russia (Kiev, Novgorod)
Shahname , Persia
Mahabharata , India
Ramayana , India
Narty , North Caucasus
Geser , Buryat
Gesar , Tibet
Dzangar , Western Mongolia
Alpamysh , Uzbekistan
Maadaij-Kara , Upper-Altaic mountains
Altyn-Aryg , Hakassi
Koblandy batyr , Kazakhstan
Köroglu , Anatolians, Armenians, Kurds, among others
Edige, Baskiria , Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Manas , Kirghizia
Dzangar , Volgan Kalmuks
Ersogotokh , Yakuts
Ekva-tygris , Ostyaks and Voguls
Yarabts , Nenets
Kudaman , Indonesia
Kutune Shirka , Japan (Hokkaido)
Lianja , Congo
Mwindo , Zaire
Silamaka , Mali
Sundiata , Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, among others
Utenzi wa Liongo , East Africa
Popol Vuh , Mayas, Guatemala
Hiawatha , United States
