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Runic song

Runic song, also referred to as Rune song, Runo song, or Kalevala song, is a form of oral poetry and national epic historically practiced among the Baltic Finnic peoples. It includes the Finnish epic

Description#

Runic song is typically monophonic among most Baltic Finnic groups, though it is generally polyphonic when practiced among the Seto. Runic song usually does not contain rhyming couplets, but is frequently heard in alliterative trochaic tetrameter, or Kalevala meter. Runic song is usually sung in , though quadruple metre and sextuple metre singing also exists. In addition to their musical character, runic singers also are required to follow certain practices as they sang, such as Karelian runic singers holding hands while singing in a call and response fashion. Ingrian runic singing includes additional choralists. Vocal ranges usually correspond with the range of a kantele.

History#

Though runic song has existed for at least a millennium, it only began to be transcribed in 1797. Efforts to write down runic song acquired new urgency in Finland after the Russian victory in the 1808–1809 Finnish War and its subsequent annexation of Finland. This led to the publication of the Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot in 1835.

Notable runic singers#

  • Larin Paraske
  • Arhippa Perttunen

Notable runic songs#

  • Kalevala
  • Kanteletar
  • Kalevipoeg
  • Archive of Estonian runic songs
  • Archive of Finnish, Ingrian and Karelian runic songs
  • RunoVerse - Runic songs exploration toolkit