View source for Kullervo

{{Short description|Character in Finnish mythology}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Gallen Kallela Kullervos Curse.jpg|thumb|''Kullervo's Curse'' by the Finnish painter [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]] from 1899. It depicts a scene from the ''[[Kalevala]]'' in which Kullervo curses beasts from the woods to attack his tormenter, the Maiden of the North.]]
'''Kullervo''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈkulːerʋo}}) is a hero in [[Finnish mythology|Finnish]] and [[Estonian mythology]]. He is often called a son of [[Kalevi (mythology)|Kaleva]]. He also appears as an ill-fated character in the epic ''[[Kalevala]]'' by [[Elias Lönnrot]].

==In runic songs==
[[Runic songs]] of Kullervo mention him as a son of [[Kalevi (mythology)|Kaleva]].<ref name="krohn">{{cite book |last=Krohn |first=Kaarle |date=1914 |title=Suomalaisten runojen uskonto |url= |location=Porvoo |publisher=Finnish Literature Society, WSOY |pages=303 |isbn= |access-date=}}</ref> Sometimes, his father is called Kalervo, but this is a later variation which morphed from Kaleva. [[Ingria]]n and [[Karelia]]n runic songs further tell of the fight between two families, the other being the family of Kaleva or Kalevainen, who ruin each others fields and possibilities to survive. Kalevainen and his family were exterminated but an unborn child survives and continues the family feud, bakes a stone inside the bread of a mean mistress of a house, and ends up committing [[incest]]. In a different runic song from [[Ilomantsi]], after killing Kaleva, the enemies try to kill his son by throwing him into a large bonfire. However, he had the ability to control fire. To avenge his family, he asks [[Ilmarinen]] to forge him a sword and goes to war. Other songs tell he was later defeated on the battlefield.<ref name="sal"/> In a runic song written down in the 1700s from an unknown location, it is Kullervo himself who is killed (on the battlefield) but has an unborn child who is later thrown into fire, who is able to control fire.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1786 |title=SKVR XV 75. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-087973 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-07-08}}</ref>

In runic songs from [[Estonia]], Kuller Kalevi poega ("Kuller, son of Kalev") creates himself an artificial wife from gold or wood. However, the golden maiden is cold to the touch. Kullervo is not always the protagonist of this story, as it might also be [[Lemminkäinen]], an unnamed smith or Kalev himself. In runic songs from Finland, the smith is usually [[Ilmarinen]] or [[Väinämöinen]]. The songs ends with the commandment that one must not make himself a wife out of gold and silver.<ref name="sal">{{cite book |last=Siikala |first=Anna-Leena |date=2012 |title=Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia |url= |location=Helsinki |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |pages=125–126, 228 |isbn=978-952-222-393-7 |access-date=}}</ref>

In a runic song from [[Kainuu]], a cowshed snake is born out of Kullervo's war spear snapping into two.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1836 |title=SKVR XII2 7233. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069939 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-07-08}}</ref> In this context, his name appears as Istervo in [[North Karelia]],<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1837 |title=SKVR VII3 loitsut 1157. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-036602 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Istervö in North Karelia, [[Ladoga Karelia]] and [[North Savo]],<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1830 |title=SKVR VII3 loitsut 1143. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-036587 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Istori in [[South Savo]],<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1897 |title=SKVR VI1 3984. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-026449 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Lispervo in Ladoga Karelia,<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1846 |title=SKVR VII5 loitsut 4199. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-039652 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Lisperi in North Karelia,<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1846 |title=SKVR VII5 loitsut 4194. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-039647 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> and Histervo in North Karelia and in a runic song from an unknown location.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1786 |title=SKVR XV 355. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-088257 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref>

In a runic song from South Savo, Kullervo asks, as he is going to war, if his father and mother would cry after hearing he has died. His father says no, as he would simply make another, better son. However, his mother says she'd cry so much it would melt all snow and turn earth green.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1871 |title=SKVR VI1 30. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-022455 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> When he gets the message that his mother has died, he doesn't care, thinking he could make a better mother for himself from seeds, twigs and leaves.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1828 |title=SKVR VI1 31. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-022456 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> In a runic song from [[Central Finland]], when he gets the message he similarly doesn't care, being too busy fighting in the war.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1864 |title=SKVR IX2 22. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-049767 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref>

In some runic songs, an unnamed "beautiful son of Kaleva" is sold as a slave to a smith in Karelia. When he is asked to look after a child, he kills the child with a disease. When he is asked to build a fence, he ties full grown spruces together with snakes and lizards. When he is asked to herd cattle, his mistress bakes a stone into his bread. This angers him, and he summons bears and wolves to kill the mistress. In many regions, the protagonist in question is identified as Kullervo, but in [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]] and Kainuu, the protagonist is [[Soini (mythology)|Soini]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1789 |title=SKVR XII1 121. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-062690 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2024-07-08}}</ref><ref name="solki">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1839 |title=SKVR XII1 125. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-062694 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2024-07-08}}</ref>

== In the ''Kalevala''==
Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, the tribe of Untamo, were also the ones who had slain his family. As a child, he is sold into slavery and mocked and tormented further. When he finally runs away from his masters, he discovers surviving members of his family, only to lose them again. He seduces a girl who turns out to be his own sister, having thought his sister dead. When she finds out it was her own brother who seduced her, she commits suicide. Kullervo becomes mad with rage, returns to Untamo and his tribe, destroys them using his magical powers, and commits suicide.

At the end of the poem the old sage [[Väinämöinen]] warns all parents against treating their children too harshly.

The story of Kullervo is laid out in runes (chapters) 31 through 36 of the Kalevala.

=== Rune 31 – Untamo and Kullervo ===
[[File:Carl Eneas Sjöstrand - Kullervo Tearing His Swaddling Clothes; Kullervo Bursts His Swaddling Bands.jpg|thumb|150px|''Kullervo Tearing His [[Swaddling]] Clothes'', [[Carl Eneas Sjöstrand]], 1858]]
Untamo is jealous of his brother Kalervo, and the strife between the brothers is fed by numerous petty disputes. Eventually Untamo's resentment turns into open warfare, and he kills all of Kalervo's tribe save for one pregnant girl called Untamala, whom Untamo enslaves as his maid. Shortly afterwards, Untamala gives birth to a baby boy she names ''Kullervo''.

When Kullervo is three months old, he can be heard vowing revenge and destruction upon Untamo's tribe. Untamo attempts to kill Kullervo three times (by drowning, fire, and hanging). Each time, the infant Kullervo is saved by his latent magical powers.

Untamo allows the child to grow up, then tries three times to find employment for him as a servant in his household, but all three attempts fail as Kullervo's [[wikt:Special:Search/wanton|wanton]] and wild nature makes him unfit for any domestic task. In the end, Untamo decides to rid himself of the problem by selling Kullervo to [[Ilmarinen]] as a [[slave]].<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/><ref name="sammonsalat">{{cite web |title=Kullervo Kalervon poika |url=http://www03.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/sammon_salat/characterpages/kullervo.html |website=Sammon Salat |access-date=6 July 2020}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

===Rune 32 – Kullervo and the wife of Ilmarinen===
[[File:Blomstedt, Episodi Kalevalasta.jpg|thumb|''Episode from Kalevala (Kullervo carves his name into an oak)'', {{ill|Väinö Blomstedt|fi}}, 1897]]
The boy is raised in isolation because of his status as a slave, his fierce temper, and because people fear his growing magical skills. The only memento that the boy retains from his previous life in a loving family is an old knife that had been passed along to him as an infant.

Pohjan Neito/Tytär (Maiden/Daughter of the North), wife of [[Ilmarinen]], enjoys tormenting the slave boy, now a youth, and sends Kullervo out to herd her cows with a loaf of bread with stones baked into it. This chapter includes a lengthy magical poem invoking [[Finnish mythology|various deities]] to grant their protection over the herd and to keep the owners prosperous.<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

===Rune 33 – The death of Ilmarinen's wife===
Kullervo sits down to eat, but his beloved heirloom knife breaks on one of the stones in the bread. Kullervo is overwhelmed with rage. He drives the cows away to the fields, then summons up bears and wolves from the woods, making them appear like cows instead. He herds these to Ilmarinen's house and tells the wicked mistress of the house to milk them, upon which they turn back into wolves and bears and maul her. As she lies there bleeding, she invokes the high god [[Ukko]] to kill Kullervo with a magic arrow, but Kullervo prays for the spell to kill her instead for her wickedness, which it indeed does.<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=170
|File:Sigfrid Keinänen - Kullervo with His Herds.jpg|''Kullervo with His Herds'', {{ill|Sigfrid Keinänen|fi}}, 1896
|File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo Herding his Wild Flocks.jpg|''Kullervo herding his wild Flocks'', Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1917
}}

===Rune 34 – Kullervo and his parents===

Kullervo then flees from slavery and finds that his family is actually still alive except for his sister, who has disappeared and is feared dead.

===Rune 35 – Kullervo and his sister===

Kullervo's father has no more success than Untamo in finding work suited for his son, and thus sends the young man to collect taxes due to his tribe. On his way back home in his sleigh, Kullervo propositions several girls he sees on the way: all of them reject him. Finally, he meets a beggar-girl who also rejects him at first, struggling and screaming when he pulls her into his sleigh. But he starts talking to her sweetly and shows her all the gold he's collected during his trip, bribing her into sleeping with him. Afterwards, she asks who he is, and as she realises he's her own brother, she commits suicide by throwing herself into the rapidly rushing river nearby. The distraught Kullervo returns to his family and tells his mother what happened.<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

===Rune 36 – The death of Kullervo===

Kullervo vows revenge on Untamo. One by one, his family members try to dissuade him from the fruitless path of evil and revenge. His mother asks what will become of her and Kullervo's father in their old age, and what will become of Kullervo's siblings if he's not there to take care of them, but Kullervo only replies that they can all die for all he cares about is revenge. As he leaves, he asks if his father, brother and sister will mourn him if he dies, but they say they won't—that they'd rather wait for a better son and brother to be born who is cleverer and more handsome. Finally, Kullervo asks his mother if she'll weep for him, and she replies that she will. Kullervo hardens his heart and refuses to reconsider, and goes to war full of haughty pride, singing and playing his horn.

[[File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo Sets Off for War (tempera).jpg|thumb|''[[Kullervo Sets Off for War]]'', Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1901]]

He becomes so obsessed with his revenge that even as he learns of the deaths of his family members during his journey, he doesn't even stop to honour their deaths, apart from weeping a little for his mother—yet he does not pause in his quest for revenge. He prays to the high god Ukko to get from him a magical broadsword, which he then uses to slay Untamo and his tribe, sparing no one, burning down his entire village.

When he returns home, he finds the dead bodies of his own family littered about the estate. His mother's ghost speaks to him from her grave and advises him to take his dog and go to the wild woods for shelter. He does so, but instead of finding shelter, he only discovers the place by the river where he'd seduced his sister, the earth still mourning out loud of his ruining of her: no plants grow in the spot where he'd slept with her, either.

Kullervo then asks of Ukko's sword if it will have his life. The sword eagerly accepts, noting that as a weapon it doesn't care whose blood it drinks—it's drunk both innocent and guilty blood before. Kullervo commits suicide by throwing himself on his sword. On hearing the news, [[Wainamoinen|Väinämöinen]] comments that children should never be given away or ill-treated in their upbringing, lest like Kullervo they fail to attain understanding and a man's discretion.<ref name="kansallisbiografia">{{cite web |last1=Asplund |first1=Anneli |title=Kullervo |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/5431 |website=Kansallisbiografia |access-date=6 July 2020 |date=13 October 2004}}</ref>

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=170
|Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo as an Avenger.jpg|''Kullervo as an Avenger'' by Gallen-Kallela, 1893
|Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Regretful Kullervo.jpg|''Regretful Kullervo'' by Gallen-Kallela, 1918
|File:Kullervo puhuu miekalleen.jpg|''Kullervo Speaks to His Sword'', [[Carl Eneas Sjöstrand]], 1868, cast into bronze in 1932
}}

== Evaluation ==

Kullervo is fairly ordinary in [[Finnish mythology]], in being a naturally talented magician; however, he is the only irredeemably [[tragedy|tragic]] example. He showed great potential, but being raised badly, he became an ignorant, implacable, immoral and vengeful man.

The [[death poem]] of Kullervo in which he, like [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]], interrogates his blade, is famous. Unlike the [[dagger]] in Macbeth, Kullervo's [[sword]] replies, bursting into song: it affirms that if it gladly participated in his other foul deeds, it would gladly drink of his blood also. This interrogation has been duplicated in J.R.R. Tolkien's ''[[The Children of Húrin]]'' with [[Túrin Turambar]] talking to his black sword, [[Gurthang]], before committing [[suicide]]. (Túrin also, like Kullervo, unwittingly fell in love with his own sister and was devastated when he learned the truth, his sister also killing herself).<ref name="npr"/>

[[Jääkärimarssi]] (Jäger March), a well-known Finnish military march, evokes Kullervo's bitterness in the lines ''me nousemme kostona Kullervon/soma on sodan kohtalot koittaa'' (We arise like the wrath of Kullervo/so sweet are the fates of war to undergo).

The story of Kullervo is unique among ancient myths in its realistic depiction of the effects of child abuse.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.finlit.fi/kalevala/index.php?m=1&s=27&l=1 |title=www.finlit.fi |access-date=2009-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225725/http://www.finlit.fi/kalevala/index.php?m=1&s=27&l=1 |archive-date=2007-09-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Canto 36 ends with [[Väinämöinen]] stating that an abused child will never attain a healthy state of mind even as an adult, but will instead grow up to be a very disturbed person.
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote =<poem>
Then the aged Väinämöinen,
When he heard that he had perished,
And that Kullervo had fallen,
Spoke his mind in words that follow:
"Never, people, in the future,
Rear a child in crooked fashion,
Rocking them in stupid fashion,
Soothing them to sleep like strangers.
Children reared in crooked fashion,
Boys thus rocked in stupid fashion,
Grow not up with understanding,
Nor attain to man's discretion,
Though they live till they are aged,
And in body well-developed."</poem> |source = "Kullervo" from ''[[Kalevala]]'', [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33089/33089-h/33089-h.htm]<br /><br /><sup><sup>[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33089/33089-h/33089-h.htm Translation by William Forsell Kirby]</sup></sup><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kalevala, Volume II (of 2), by Anonymous, Translated by W. F. Kirby.|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33089/33089-h/33089-h.htm|access-date=2020-12-02|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> }}
<blockquote>
:Silloin vanha Väinämöinen,
:kunpa kuuli kuolleheksi,
:Kullervon kaonneheksi,
:sanan virkkoi, noin nimesi:
:"Elkötte, etinen kansa,
:lasta kaltoin kasvatelko
:luona tuhman tuuittajan,
:vierahan väsyttelijän!
:Lapsi kaltoin kasvattama,
:poika tuhmin tuuittama
:ei tule älyämähän,
:miehen mieltä ottamahan,
:vaikka vanhaksi eläisi,
:varreltansa vahvistuisi.".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finlit.fi/kalevala/index.php?m=1&s=27&l=1|title=Kalevala|publisher=www.finlit.fi|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223230153/http://www.finlit.fi/kalevala/index.php?m=1&s=27&l=1|archive-date=23 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
</blockquote>

== In drama, music, poetry and games ==

''Kullervo'' is an eponymous 1860 play by [[Aleksis Kivi]].<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/> An English translation, by Douglas Robinson, was published in 1993: ''Aleksis Kivi's Heath Cobblers and Kullervo''.{{clarify|date=July 2020}}

''[[Kullervo (Sibelius)|Kullervo]]'' is an eponymous 1892 [[symphony|choral symphony]] in five movements for full [[orchestra]], two [[vocal soloist]]s, and [[choir|male choir]] by [[Jean Sibelius]]. It was opus 7 for Sibelius and his first successful work.<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

''[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akseli_Gallen-Kallela_-_Kullervo_Cursing_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg Kullervo's Curse]'' (1899) and ''[[Kullervo Rides to War]]'' (1901) are two paintings by [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]] on the myth.<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

In the ''[[Jäger March]] (Jääkärin marssi)'' by [[Jean Sibelius]] one of the lines reads: ''Me nousemme kostona Kullervon'', in English: ''We shall rise as Kullervo's revenge''.<ref name="ylesibelius">{{cite news |last1=Lehtonen |first1=Tiina-Maija |title=Jean Sibelius - vaarallisen Jääkärimarssin säveltäjä |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/01/09/jean-sibelius-vaarallisen-jaakarimarssin-saveltaja |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Yle |date=9 January 2018}}</ref>

Kullervo is the subject of a 1988 [[Kullervo (Sallinen)|opera]] by [[Aulis Sallinen]].<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

Kullervo is also the subject of a [[Kullervo (Madetoja)|symphonic poem]] composed in 1913 by [[Leevi Madetoja]].<ref name="kansallisbiografia"/>

In 2006, the Finnish metal band [[Amorphis]] released the album ''[[Eclipse (Amorphis album)|Eclipse]]'', which tells the story of Kullervo according to a play by [[Paavo Haavikko]]. The play has been translated into English by [[Anselm Hollo]].<ref name="soundi">{{cite news |last1=Siltanen |first1=Vesa |title=Uuden alun kynnyksellä 10 vuotta sitten – Amorphis-miehet muistelevat Eclipsen syntyä |url=https://www.soundi.fi/jutut/amorphis-uuden-alun-kynnyksella-10-vuotta-sitten-eclipse-syntyi-periksiantamattomuudesta/ |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Soundi |date=15 February 2016}}</ref>

The [[Hilliard Ensemble]] commissioned an English language setting of Kullervo's story, ''Kullervo's Message'', from [[Veljo Tormis]].<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Rian |title=Hilliard Ensemble |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/may/30/classicalmusicandopera6 |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=30 May 2008}}</ref>

In June 2023, the video game [[Warframe]] released a new playable character named for and inspired by Kullervo.<ref name="mmobomb">{{cite web |url=https://www.mmobomb.com/news/warframe-7-crimes-of-kullervo-update-launches-today-new-warframe-areas-cosmetics-more |title=Warframe: The 7 Crimes Of Kullervo Update Launches Today With A New Warframe, Areas, Cosmetics, And More  |last=Blackburn |first=Troy |date=21 June 2023 |website=MMOBomb |access-date=24 June 2023 }}</ref>

The 1938 play ''Suomi'' by [[Elizabeth Goudge]] (1900-1984), in her ''Three Plays: Suomi; The Brontës of Haworth; Fanny Burney'' (Gerald Duckworth, 1939), includes a Kullervo-like character in her modern story of Finland's struggle for independence from Tsarist Russia. The mother in the story is called "Suomi", a nickname based on the Finnish word for "Finland". Her two sons are Olof and Kryosti. Olof (a Lemminkäinen-figure) is killed by Russians. Kryosti (as a Kullervo-figure) is exiled to Siberia. When he returns, eighteen years later, during the Russian Revolution, he kills Olof's son, Sigurd, and then, in a fit of remorse, Kryosti commits suicide. Following the incest-motif of the story of Kullervo, Sigurd and Anna are the twin children of Olof. Ignorant of the fact that they are brother and sister, they marry. But Anna dies in childbirth, and Sigurd is murdered by Kryosti, because of his insane jealousy of his own brother, Olof.

In August 2024, it was announced that [[Antti Jokinen]] has been attached to direct the upcoming film ''Kalevala: The Story of Kullervo'', and {{ill|Elias Salonen|fi}} has been cast as the title character in the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20103890|title=Yli 20 vuotta odotettu kotimainen suurelokuva toteutuu – Nurmekseen nousee iso Kalevala-kylä|first1=Helmi|last1=Nykänen|first2=Karina|last2=Huttunen|work=[[Yle]]|date=9 August 2024|access-date=9 August 2024|language=fi}}</ref>

===Influence on J. R. R. Tolkien===
[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] wrote an interpretation of the Kullervo cycle in 1914; the piece was finally published in its unfinished form as ''[[The Story of Kullervo]]''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Tolkienin Kalevala-tarina julkaistaan sadan vuoden viipeellä – Kullervo vannoo kostoa taikuri-Untamolle| date=8 June 2015 |url = http://yle.fi/uutiset/tolkienin_kalevala-tarina_julkaistaan_sadan_vuoden_viipeella_-_kullervo_vannoo_kostoa_taikuri-untamolle/8055974|access-date = 2015-06-29|language = fi|trans-title=Tolkien's Kalevala story published after a hundred-year lag – Kullervo vows revenge on Untamo the magician}}</ref> in ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' in 2010, as edited by [[Verlyn Flieger]]. It was re-published in book form in 2015 by [[HarperCollins]]. It was his first attempt at writing an epic narrative but was never completed.<ref name=":0" /> The story acted as a seed for the epic tale of [[Túrin Turambar]] which features in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', the "[[Narn i Chîn Húrin]]" section of ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' and, in a longer form, ''[[The Children of Húrin]]'' as well as the poem "[[The Lay of the Children of Húrin]]".<ref name="npr">{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Elizabeth |title=Frodo, Bilbo, Kullervo: Tolkien's Finnish Adventure |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/04/10/471619609/frodo-bilbo-kullervo-tolkiens-finnish-adventure |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=NPR |date=10 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |last1=Sander |first1=Hannah |title=Kullervo: Tolkien's fascination with Finland |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34063157 |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=BBC |date=27 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=JRR Tolkien: 'Dark' unfinished tale Kullervo published |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-34044052/jrr-tolkien-dark-unfinished-tale-kullervo-published |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=BBC |date=27 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="yletolkien">{{cite news |last1=Tapiola |first1=Paula |title=J.R.R. Tolkienin Kullervo-tarina julkaistu – "Kaikista tummin tarina" |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8259336 |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Yle |date=27 August 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Kullervo}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33089/33089-h/33089-h.htm#Runo_XXXI_Untamo_and_Kullervo William Forsell Kirby's English translation of the Kalevala (1907).]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/12/jrr-tolkiens-first-fantasy-story-to-be-published-this-month Tolkien's first fantasy novel]

{{Kalevala}}

[[Category:Characters in the Kalevala]]