The Kalevala has been translated into Hungarian numerous times. At least, at first, the reason for the translations was the notion that the Hungarians and Finnish are sister nations, and that it would be a positive thing to create a better connection between them. Ferdinand Barna was the first person who translated the Kalevala into Hungarian. He did not have a chance to visit Finland at all during his life  – nonetheless, he thought that it was “his dear task to build a spiritual bridge, the base of which … has already been successfully and relentlessly done and the purpose of which is to implement mutual collaboration between the sister nations Hungary and Finland.

Antal Reguly had the opportunity to visit Finland and Béla Vikár did the translation because of his love for the Finnish language. The Hungarian translations of the Kalevala did, by no means, end there and Vikár’s translation of the Kalevala was a success among the readers and it has been re-printed several times.