Poetry
Vana kannel
Not translated into English
Jakob Hurt · 1875
Synopsis
The first volume brings together, in their dialect, the old songs of the parish of Põlva, in Võrumaa; the second, those of Kolga-Jaani, in Viljandimaa. They are songs of oral tradition in the old Estonian metre, the regilaulud, arranged by parish and then by type of song, each given with all its variants; the first volume accompanies them with a German translation. No narrative links them: what one reads is what a parish used to sing.
Context
Hurt published the songs of Põlva in three instalments, from 1875 to 1886, and the songs of Kolga-Jaani from 1884 to 1886, in 750 copies, the first volumes of a scholarly series that he wanted to be vast. From 1888, he organised a collection by correspondence: some 1,400 contributors sent him songs, proverbs, riddles and tales, more than one hundred and ten thousand pages that he classified by parish. After his death, the collection went to the Finnish Literature Society in Helsinki, then returned to found in 1927 the Estonian Folklore Archives; the series now comprises fourteen volumes.
Who it is for
A scholarly collection in dialectal Estonian, with a German translation for the first volume; only one of its songs has appeared in French. It is consulted by types of songs rather than read straight through.
Prizes and reception
First volume of the great edition of ancient Estonian songs, whose classification by parish and by type still guides current editions.