Chapter II: Preface

When I took up the study of the _Kalevala_ and Finnish
literature, with the intention of publishing a critical English
edition of the poem, on which I am still engaged, the
accumulation of the necessary materials led me to examine the
literature of the neighbouring countries likewise. I had
expected to find the _Kalevipoeg_ an Esthonian variant of the
_Kalevala_ ; but I found it so dissimilar, and at the same time
so interesting, when divested of the tedious and irrelevant
matter that has been added to the main story, that I finally
decided to publish a full account of it in prose, especially as
nothing of the kind has yet been attempted in English, beyond a
few casual magazine articles.

The Esthonian folk-tales are likewise of much interest, and in
many cases of an extremely original character; and these also
have never appeared in an English dress. I have, therefore,
selected a
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sufficiently representative series, and have added a few
ballads and short poems. This last section of the work,
however, amounts to little more than an appendix to the
_Kalevipoeg_, though it is placed at the end of the book.
Esthonian ballad literature is of enormous extent, and only
partially investigated and published at present, even in the
original; and it would therefore be premature to try to treat
of it in detail here, nor had I time or space to attempt it. I
had, however, intended to have included a number of poems from
Neus' _Ehstnische Volkslieder_ in the present volumes, but
found that it was unnecessary, as Latham has already given an
English version of most of the best in his "Nationalities of
Europe."

The Introduction and Notes will, it is hoped, be sufficiently
full to afford all necessary information for the intelligent
comprehension of the book, without overloading it; and it has
been decided to add a sketch-map of this little known country,
including some of the places specially referred to. But
Esthonian folk-literature, even without the ballads, is a most
extensive study, and I do not pretend to do more than offer a
few specimens culled from some of the most easily accessible
sources. My professional work does not allow me time to attempt
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more at present; and it is from the same cause that my work on
the _Kalevala_
has been delayed so long.

In outlying parts of Europe like Finland and Esthonia, which
were not Christianised till long after the southern and western
countries, primitive literature has survived to a much greater
extent than elsewhere; and the publication of the _Kalevala_
and the _Kalevipoeg_
during the present century furnishes a striking example before
our very eyes of the manner in which the Iliad and the Odyssey
grew up among the Greeks, before these poems were edited in the
form in which they have come down to us, by order of
Pisistratus.

The principal books used in the preparation of this work are mentioned in the short Bibliography. The names of others quoted or referred to will be found in the Index, which has also been drawn up in such a manner as to form a general glossary.

W.F. KIRBY.

Chiswick, _September 1894_.

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