Väinämöinen is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical singing voice.
Head of Väinämöinen by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1895
The Väinämöinen monument in Vyborg, in January 2015
Väinämöinen Plays Kantele, a 1814 relief by Erik Cainberg [fi] that is considered to be the first visual depiction of Väinämöinen
In the Old Kalevala (1835), an eagle laid its eggs on the knee of Väinämöinen, unlike in the standard New Kalevala (1849) where a goldeneye lays its eggs on the knee of Ilmatar. (Drawing by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1859)
The Kalevala is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the epic mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
Kalevala. The Finnish national epic by Elias Lönnrot. First edition, 1835.
Elias Lönnrot
The statue of Väinämöinen by (1888) decorates the Old Student House in Helsinki
A caricature of Elias Lönnrot by A. W. Linsen: "Unus homo nobis currendo restituit rem" – "One man saved everything for us by running".