Middle Earth is Finnish - influences of Finnish mythology on J.R.R. Tolkien's world [REACTION]

[@juutuuppiuksev]

Today (10.10.) we have Kalevala day in Finland 🇫🇮

[@MQReacts]

@@juutuuppiuksev really??? you mean today is Kalevala day in Finland?

[@juutuuppiuksev]

Sorry my bad, to day is for Aleksis Kivi. Kalevala day (28.2.) thank you for interesting content 👍

[@MQReacts]

@@juutuuppiuksev oh okay… it would have been a beautiful coincidence if today was Kalevala day and I posted a video about Kalevala today. 😊😊 you’re welcome dear❤️🙏

[@MikkoSimila]

Here one too. In lord of the rings; wedding ring is seen as ring of power, while in Kalevala everyone is after infinite machine called Sampo. Sampo can produce infinite amount of 3 things: salt, grain and money.

[@MQReacts]

@@MikkoSimila .⁠ ⁠Incredible connection! The Sampo's infinite production of salt, grain, and money echoes the Ring's corrupting power. Love seeing these mythological ties! Kalevala's Sampo and Tolkien's Ring share intriguing similarities.

[@MikkoSimila]

@@MQReacts Another one is that Lord of the Rings movie starts Gandalf riding through Shire, as there is Bilbos birthday (Gandalf friend) coming up. While Kalevala "Sampo" Poem starts Väinämöinen riding through Finland to meet his friend Ilmarinen, to whom he tells about Louhi's daugther who is single. While Louhi is witch and female Sauron in Kalevala. So Lord of the Rings and tenth poem of Kalevala (story about sampo) starts same way.

[@kanukki84]

Incredibly, Tolkien studied Finnish so that he could read the Kalevala in the original language.

[@MQReacts]

@@kanukki84 Whoa, that's dedication! Tolkien's love for Finnish mythology really knew no bounds. A true scholar.

[@kanukki84]

In the series Rings of power, the Finnish choir is responsible for some of the orc sounds.

[@MQReacts]

@@kanukki84 Whoa, that's fascinating! I had no idea Finnish choir contributed to the orc sounds in Rings of Power. Amazing how global influences shape Middle-earth's world-building.

[@SamiHeiskanen-jl4vt]

When we put our children to sleep, we hum that background music  

[@MQReacts]

@@SamiHeiskanen-jl4vt Aww, that's so sweet! Perfect lullaby material huh?

[@finnishculturalchannel]

Here is a good video about Kalevala: "Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot-The epic poem of Finland (12 things you should know)". And here's a review of Kalevala: "The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People". A video about Kalevala's influence on Tolkien: "From Kalevala to Middle-Earth: Tolkien's love for Finland's MYTHS!". Here are couple of rune songs from Kalevala's "Sister Epic" 'Kanteletar': "My Kantele (Eriskummainen kantele) - Loituma" and "Loituma - missing him". A Finnish folk music group Värttinä took part to the Lord of the Rings musical's production: "Lord Of The Rings promotional video" and "Värttinä: Saruman from The Lord of the Rings Musical (Live at Verkatehdas 2013)". Also, as it happened, a Finnish director Dome Karukoski directed the 2019 movie about Tolkien "Tolkien | Official Trailer". While Kalevala has effected greatly on Finnish culture and identity (E.g.: "Stories of Finnish Art - Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Lemminkäinen's Mother, 1897" and "Sibelius : The Swan of Tuonela - Karajan*"), it has had some influence outside Finland too. E.g. there's a planet Kalevala in 'The Mandalorian' TV series: "Mando & Grogu visit Bo-Katan at Kalevala - The Mandalorian Season Three (2023)".

[@MQReacts]

@@finnishculturalchannel Awesome suggestions! I'm excited to explore more about Kalevala's impact on Tolkien and Finnish culture. The connections between Finnish folklore and global pop culture are truly fascinating. I’ll definitely check them out and dive deeper into the fascinating world of Kalevala and its influences.

[@aeschynanthus_sp]

It's stupid that the original video says that Middle-Earth is Finnish--basically clickbait. What is true is that the Finnish language was inspiration for Tolkien's language that came to be called Quenya; it's early version was "Qenya" which was much more like Finnish. Then the idea for the children of Húrin came from the Kalevala, as is well known.

[@Anttimation]

To get anyone to watch, one has to resort to such despicable tricks. "Thoughts on the known and possible influences of Finnish mythology and Kalevala on Tolkien's Midde-Earth" would be accurate but I doubt many would be interested.