The Finns, one group of Uralic speaking Indo-European peoples, speak the Finno-Ugric language based on an original Uralic vernacular spoken by peoples of the northern Urals for several millennia.

These peoples have developed a distinct mythology after they migrated into the area known as Finland and Karelia. These myths were collected in the national epic of Finland, the Kalevala, compiled by the poet Elias Lonnrot in the 19th century. 

Hi there! Welcome to Stories That Made Us! On this episode, we recount the Finnish creation myth, which is based on ancient Finno-Ugric traditions. The story recounted here is told mainly in the first two runes or sacred chants of the epic Kalevala. 

Väinämöinen is the central character of epic. He is a shamanistic hero and a minstrel or bard. He is born of Ilmatar, the water goddess and contributes to the creation of Earth - especially bringing fertility to the barren world. This is his tale, as much as it is the story of the world's creation.

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The music used for the episodes are either free to use, or under creative commons license. Below are their links and attributions:

Invitation to the Castle Ball

Artist: Doug Maxwell

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Peaceful Conclusion

Artist: Asher Fulero

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Final Reckoning

Artist: Asher Fulero

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Heaven and Hell (Part 2)

Artist: Jeremy Blake

Source: YouTube Audio Library

The Sea Captain & The Mermaid

Artist: Asher Fulero

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Vanity Reprise

Artist: Text Me Records / Leviathe

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Reconciliation

Artist: Asher Fulero

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Bittersweet

Artist: Silent Partner

Source: YouTube Audio Library

The Future Ancient Now

Artist: Nathan Moore

Source: YouTube Audio Library

Prelude No. 6 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/