FWIW, The Kalevala and Kalevipoeg, the national epic of Estonia, are linked in many ways (not surprising since we are neighboring countries, and the languages a

FWIW, The Kalevala and Kalevipoeg, the national epic of Estonia, are linked in many ways (not surprising since we are neighboring countries, and the languages are extremely similar). For example, Kalevipoeg swims to Finland over the gulf (50 miles) to find his kidnapped mother. He visits Ilmarine, the famous Finnish blacksmith -- also a character in Kalevala (Ilmarinen) --, wanting to buy a sword. A deal is made and followed by a feast -- during which, however, Kalevipoeg manages to fell the head of Ilmarine's son using that same sword. Ilmarine curses the special sword that took him 7 years to forge. The opening strophe of Kalevipoeg also mentions Vanemuine, the god of music ("Lend me your zither, O Vanemuine!"), which is very probably derived from Väinamöinen. In Estonia, I suppose everybody knows this sentence; one may occasionally hear it paraphrased in spoken language. (So... If you come to Estonia to launch a startup, maybe greeting your companions with "Laena mulle kannelt, Vanemuine!" would break some ice... or, not.) There's a great synopsis of Kalevipoeg on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevipoeg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevipoeg An English translation of Kalevipoeg (1895, by W.F. Kirby) is available on Sacred Texts as well. Not the actual 19,000+ verses, but an apparently very deep contextual explanation of the myths and surrounding culture. Great addition, even if you're actually interested in the Finnish Kalevala: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/hoe/index.htm https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/hoe/index.htm Really interesting to see something like this on the front page of HN!