ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds light on the questions through examining the Ka/eva/a-inspired alterations in the songs and song repertoires of two Karelian peasants, Vihtoora Lesonen and Luka Tarasov. Vihtoora’s songs demonstrate the importance of the Kalevala as a source for refiguring one’s familial repertoire. Created from a joining of local tradition and literary text, these songs help us gauge the Kalevala’s capacity for displacing native versions. Vihtoora’s song, in fact, although clearly borrowed from Liinnrot’s text, comes closer to the folk tradition of the locale in both overall form and specific details than to its literary source. Vihtoora’s skillful elision removes plot details understood in the oral version, avoiding description of Vainamoinen’s entry and initial interactions with his host. Comparison of Vihtoora’s version and its source in the Kalevala reveals the singer’s selective learning as well as the lengths to which Lonnrot went to clarify his epic’s plot.
