The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That Country

The volume assembles translations and studies of the vernacular literature of Esthonia, chiefly presenting a long heroic epic of about twenty cantos that traces a giant-hero’s marriages, kin-strife, voyages, combats, journeys to the otherworld, and apocalyptic finale. It also collects numerous prose folk-tales grouped by type—tales tied to the epic, orphan and foundling stories, cosmopolitan variants of familiar fairy tales—and selects ballads, magical songs, and mythic material. Scholarly introductions and notes compare traditions, summarize local collections and variant counts, and contextualize religious and folkloric beliefs. A map and editorial commentary accompany translations from Estonian and German sources.