The Tales of Ensign Stål (
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
original title:
Fänrik Ståls sägner,
FinnishFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
:
Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat, or year 2007 translation
Vänrikki Stålin tarinat) is an epic poem written in Swedish by the
Finland-SwedishFinland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...
author
Johan Ludvig RunebergJohan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
, the national poet of
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
. The poem describes the events of the
Finnish WarThe Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
(1808-1809) in which Sweden lost its eastern territories; these would become incorporated into the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
as the
Grand Duchy of FinlandThe Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland that existed in its territory 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire.- History :...
.
The first part of
Ensign Stål was first published in the
revolutionary year 1848The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European continent...
, the second in 1860.
The Tales of Ensign Stål (
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
original title:
Fänrik Ståls sägner,
FinnishFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
:
Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat, or year 2007 translation
Vänrikki Stålin tarinat) is an epic poem written in Swedish by the
Finland-SwedishFinland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...
author
Johan Ludvig RunebergJohan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
, the national poet of
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
. The poem describes the events of the
Finnish WarThe Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
(1808-1809) in which Sweden lost its eastern territories; these would become incorporated into the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
as the
Grand Duchy of FinlandThe Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland that existed in its territory 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire.- History :...
.
The first part of
Ensign Stål was first published in the
revolutionary year 1848The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European continent...
, the second in 1860. It shaped Finnish identity and was later given out for free during the
Winter WarThe Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
to raise patriotic spirit. The first chapter of the poem also became the
national anthem of FinlandMaamme or Vårt land , is the title of Finland's national anthem. There is no law on an official national anthem in Finland, but Maamme is firmly established by convention....
.
The name of the title character, "Stål", is Swedish for steel, a typical example of a so-called "soldier's name". These were names, often consisting of simple words for traits or traits related to the military or nature, given to Swedish soldiers by their commanders, and many of Runeberg's characters have them: Dufva, Svärd and Hurtig ('pigeon, 'sword' and 'hearty') are other examples.
The poems of
Ensign Stål feature several officers who fought in the Finnish War, including marshals
Wilhelm Mauritz KlingsporWilhelm Mauritz Klingspor was a Swedish noble military officer and one of the Lords of the Realm. He is probably best known from his time as field marshal during the Finnish War and for participating in the coup that dethroned Gustav IV of Sweden....
and
Johan August SandelsCount Johan August Sandels was a Swedish soldier and politician, being appointed Governor of Norway 1818 and Field Marshal in 1824...
, generals Carl Nathanael af Klercker,
Carl Johan AdlercreutzCarl Johan Adlercreutz was a Swedish general of Finland Swedish birth, the chief promoter of the revolution of 1808. He told king Gustav IV to his face that Gustav ought to retire....
, and
Georg Carl von DöbelnGeorg Carl von Döbeln was a Swedish friherre , Lieutenant General and war hero.Georg Carl was born at the Stora Torpa manor in Segerstads parish in Västergötland to Johan Jakob von Döbeln and Anna Maria Lindgren...
.
Among the most famous characters is the simple but heroic
rotesoldatThe allotment system was a system used in Sweden for keeping a trained army at all times. This system came into use in around 1640, and was replaced in the early 1900s by the Swedish Armed Forces conscription system...
Sven Dufva. The organisations
Lotta SvärdLotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. During the Finnish Civil War it was associated with the Suojeluskunta. After the war Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organisation on September 9 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg...
and Lottorna were named after the character in
the poem of the same nameLotta Svärd is the fourth poem in the second part of Johan Ludvig Runeberg's epic poem The Tales of Ensign Stål from 1860.The Lotta Svärd poem is about a woman who manned a field kitchen during the Finnish War...
.
From its publication to the mid-twentieth century, The tales of Ensign Stål was staple reading in both Finnish and Swedish schools. It shaped the later image of the war and of some of its real-life protagonists. Admiral
Carl Olof CronstedtCarl-Olof Cronstedt the elder was a Swedish naval commander responsible for the overwhelming Swedish victory at the Second Battle of Svensksund, one of the largest naval battles in history...
is mainly remembered today for his treacherous surrender of the
fortress of SveaborgSuomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori , or Sveaborg , is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands , and which is nowadays part of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular with both tourists and locals, who enjoy it as...
. The Russian general
Yakov KulnevYakov Petrovich Kulnev was, along with Bagration and Yermolov, one of the most popular Russian military leaders at the time of the Napoleonic Wars...
, on the other hand, is described positively as a chivalrous and brave soldier and ladies' man.
Ensign Stål was translated into Finnish by a group led by
fennomanThe Fennomans were the most important political movement in the 19th century Grand Duchy of Finland. They succeeded the fennophile interests of the 18th and early 19th century...
professor
Julius KrohnJulius Leopold Fredrik Krohn was a Finnish folk poetry researcher, a professor of Finnish literature, a poet, a hymn writer, a translator and a journalist. He was born in Vyborg. Krohn worked as a lecturer on Finnish language in Helsinki University from the year 1875 and as a supernumerary ...
in 1867. Later translations were made by
Paavo CajanderPaavo Cajander was a Finnish poet and translator.He was renowned by translation into Finnish of Shakespeare's works and of Johan Ludvig Runeberg's The Tales of Ensign Stål, whose first verse is currently the Finnish national anthem....
in 1889 and
Otto ManninenOtto Manninen was a Finnish writer, poet, and a celebrated translator of world classics into Finnish language. Along with Eino Leino in the early 20th century, he is considered as a pioneer of Finnish poetry...
1909.
Albert EdelfeltAlbert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt was a Finnish painter.Albert Edelfelt was born in Porvoo, Finland. His father Carl Albert was an architect. Edelfelt admired the poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who was a friend of the family. The company of Runeberg had a lasting impact on Edelfelt, who from time to...
drew the illustrations between 1894-1900. Due to the dated language, a new translation was issued in 2007. It raised some controversy, in particular due to the new wording of the poem
MaammeMaamme or Vårt land , is the title of Finland's national anthem. There is no law on an official national anthem in Finland, but Maamme is firmly established by convention....
, the
national anthemA national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of Finland.
External links
- Original Swedish text of the book, at Project Runeberg
Project Runeberg is an initiative patterned after Project Gutenberg that publishes freely available electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. The Project began archiving Nordic-language literature in December 1992, but today also has graphical...
.