The re-translated version by Eva Moltesen of the Kalevala for young readers
Eva Moltesen, née Hällström, was born in Joroinen in 1871. Originally, she planned to continue the family tradition and study to become a pharmacist or a doctor, but she graduated with a master’s degree in zoology. However, she worked her whole life in the field of culture, as a translator and author. She was inspired by the ideologies of the folk high schools and the nationalism and when she had worked for a year in Savo, in 1892–1893, she went on a study trip to Denmark. There she met her husband Laust Jevsen Moltesen, who was a historian specialised in church history and who later became the foreign secretary of Denmark.
Through her marriage, Eva Moltesen became Danish. The cultural heritage of her birth country still remained on her mind and in 1908 she wrote a comprehensive, word-by-word abridged version of the Kalevala, Fra Kalevalas Lunde, 182 pages. The book was positively received also in Finland. E. N. Setälä praises it in the Kalevalavihko in the Valvoja:
“This adaptation seems to be superior when it is compared to all other versions, in any other language, of the Kalevala for young people. It is done with great care when selecting the texts, the narrative style is poetic and captivating. The author is indeed a Finn, who fully understands the finest nuances of the original language and who, herself, has a wonderful poetic sense and talent.”
The time for the publication was also favourable since the 75th anniversary of the Kalevala was approaching and there were discussions in Finland on how to make the Kalevala more approachable to the people. The library historian Eeva Mäkelä-Henriksson writes in her article ”Kalevalan lyhennelmistä ja mukaelmista” (On the abridged and adapted versions of the Kalevala) that there was, particularly, a need for versions of the Kalevala that were popular and suitable for young people. It was obvious to Helmi Setälä that there was a real need for a version of the Kalevala for young people. It would not replace the poetic version of the Kalevala but instead direct the interest of the readers. In issue number 3 (1910) of the Valvoja, she wrote the following in reference to the abridged version by Moltesen:
“It is most common, I assume, that a young boy or girl takes the Kalevala in his or her hand for the first time when they are a little bit older, in the middle grades in school, and then he and she listens to it being read for hours and its strange words are being explained at the same time. This kind of slow reading, where the whole book never comes into focus, is likely to kill any kind of pleasure. And, undoubtedly, it is a fact that when a person has graduated, he or she will never again open the Kalevala, and without having the courage to confess it to anyone else, just keeps wondering in his or her own mind what it is in that book that makes it so magical and beautiful.” (Valvoja 3, 1910, p. 225.)
The book by Moltesen was translated into Finnish in 1910, which is an anniversary year for the Kalevala. It was specifically meant for schools. “When Otava celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1910, the board decided to donate 10 000 copies of the book by Moltesen at the end of the spring term to those Finnish speaking children who graduated from grammar school. This meant that each grade in every school obtained 4 copies of the book”, Eeva Mäkelä-Henriksson writes.
Mäkelä-Henriksson, Eeva 1961. Kalevalan lyhennelmistä ja mukaelmista. Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 41 (1961) pp. 270-292
Nørgaard, Fred.: Eva Moltesen i Dansk Biografisk Leksikon på lex.dk. https://biografiskleksikon.lex.dk/Eva_Moltesen (Read 26.9.2024)