The Finnish epic poem Kalevala and its protagonist named Kulervo were among Tolkein’s significant sources of inspiration and the blueprint for Túrin Turambar. The Story of Kullervo was assembled by an expert on Tolkein, Verlyn Flieger, and published in Czech translation by Jan Čermák in spring. The text is from 1914 and foreshadows Tolkien’s lifelong passion of creating his own world with its own mythology, history and language. Two studies on Kalevala are also a part of the volume, which attests to Tolkein’s interest in the mythological material.
The Story of Kullervo is not the only connection between J. R. R. Tolkein and Finland. In 1960, Finnish-Swedish artist Tove Jansson, who was also famous for her art alongside her written works (The Summer Book, Travelling Light, Fair Play, The Sculptor’s Daughter, moomin stories and more) recieved an offer to illustrate the Swedish edition of Hobbit. The offer came from Astrid Lindgren who was an editor at the publishing house Rabén & Sjögren at that time. The Czech edition should come out later this year.
The discussion with Jan Čermák and Lenka Fárová will be moderated by Martin Švec.
In Czech.
Entrance fee is voluntary.
© Tove Jansson, harpercollins.co.uk
The event is organised by Scandinavian house and publishing house Argo in collaboration with Reading Room Unijazz and with support by Prague City Hall and Ministry of Culture Czech Republic.
