Runeberg Day
Description:
It became a holiday in the early 1900s. It is not a holiday, but a liputuspäivä, a solemn day on which national flags are displayed. It is not only in administrative buildings. Every Finn has the right to buy a Finnish flag, install a pole in front of his house and raise the flag on the Liputuspäivä: Independence Day, Runeberg Day, Kalevala or Mother Day. Or on your own birthday or wedding. That's democracy. In the calendar of the University of Helsinki, the day was first marked as a festive day in 1950, when people began to celebrate days dedicated to outstanding personalities.
Many poems by Johan Ludwig Runeberg are set to music. More than 320 composers wrote more than 900 works on his lyrics. The book of Psalms also has many melodies on Runeberg's poems.
Fenrik Stol's Tales is Runeberg's most famous poem. This is a patriotic work that depicts the heroes of the war of 1808-1809. At the beginning of the work, the poem Maamme was first presented.
Maamme's poem has been put to music more than 20 times. The Fredrik Pasius melody, which was first performed in 1848, became the official national song of Finland. However, it is not enshrined in the laws of Finland, like other national symbols, flag and coat of arms.
Original by Johan Ludwig Runeberg in Swedish:
Vårt land, vårt land, vårt fosterland,
ljud högt, o dyra ord!
Ej lyfts en höjd mot himlens rand,
ej sänks en dal, ej sköljs en strand,
mer älskad än vår bygd i nord,
än våra fäders jord!
Translated by Alexander Blok:
Our land, our land, our land
Oh, sound, louder than words!
Whose ridge grows above the earth,
Whose breeze rises above the water,
Love mountains and coasts
Homeland of the fathers?