Kultapyörä

Is this thing from the Kalevala in actual Finnish mythology?

The Kalevala is often treated as some kind of an authentic epic and portrayal of Finnish mythology. It's not. It is an 19th century work of literature formed with the ideals of the time in mind. Here, I try to explain to you to the best of my ability what kinds of themes from the Kalevala are actually in Finnish mythology and what are not. And I am talking about FINNISH ONLY, not Karelian. If something is or isn't in Karelian myth, good for them, but here I only talk about what exists in FINNISH runosongs.

1. World Creation from an egg on Ilmatar's knee
   - No, a wigeon lays an egg on Väinämöinen's knee in Kainuu. In Savo, Central Finland etc, a sparrow lays an egg on a boat.
2. Väinämöinen was born out of Ilmatar
   - No, Väinämöinen's birth is rarely described but is once said to have been from a "northern maiden".
3. Ilmatar was impregnated by waves
   - No, Louhi was impregnated by waves and gave birth to the nine diseases.
4. Sämpsä Pellervoinen planted trees
   - Yes.
5. The Great Oak
   - Yes.
6. Väinämöinen sows lands
   - The lines exist but not necessarily done by Väinämöinen specifically. They are general farming incantations.
7. Väinämöinen VS Joukahainen
   - Yes.
8. Joukahainen offering his sister to Väinämöinen
   - Only in some versions. In others, the fight is stopped when the man from the sea appears, and Väinämöinen and Joukahainen are brothers. In anyway, Joukahainen's sister never appears, nor do we see any reaction from her to these events.
9. Väinämöinen pursuing Aino
   - No. Aino as a character does not exist in Finnish mythology at all. Väinämöinen does catch a fish that turns out to be a water maiden, though.
10. Joukahainen shoots Väinämöinen
    - Kind of. Joukahainen is not named, only called a son of Pohjola. It could be Joukahainen who shoots Väinämöinen, though it could also be put on a different Underworld related male figure.
11. Väinämöinen in Pohjola
    - Väinämöinen does end up in Pohjola, yes. He does drift there after being shot and is found by Louhi, but he also travels there on his own and is challenged by the sons of Pohjola to cross the river. He does sometimes either accompany Lemminkäinen to seek a maiden from Pohjola, or tries to get Louhi herself as his wife.
12. The Northern Maiden
    - Typically synonymous with Louhi. The maiden Väinämöinen tries to get, who gives him tasks, is actually Tuulikki though.
13. Väinämöinen's knee wound
    - Yes. This is, in fact, the mostly widely known Väinämöinen story.
14. Origin of Iron
    - Yes.
15. Ilmarinen forges the Sampo
    - No.
16. Ilmarinen marries the Northern Maiden
    - No.
17. Lemminkäinen on Saari island
    - No. These come from Ingrian runosongs focusing on the hero Kaukomieli, although him and others in this tale (Ahti, Veitikka) are mentioned by name in Finnish runosongs as well.
18. Lemminkäinen going to Pohjola
    - It is Ahti and his friend who go on a campaign but are frozen in the middle of the sea. Not connected to Lemminkäinen, who however does go to seek a maiden from the Underworld, is killed and resurrected by his mother (no Yahweh involved).
19. Ski hunt of the Moose of Hiisi
    - The hunt is performed by an unnamed Sámi man.
20. Suonetar
    - Yes, but not in context of Lemminkäinen.
21. Sämpsä's sea voyage
    - Yes.
22. Väinämöinen making a boat
    - Yes.
23. Väinämöinen travelling to Tuonela
    - In myth, Pohjola and Tuonela are synonymous, and as we already saw, Väinämöinen DID go to Pohjola and therefore Tuonela. A few lines of the ferrywoman's questions can be found from Finland. It is typically a Lady, maybe Louhi, who offers Väinämöinen or Lemminkäinen snake beer in Pohjola.
24. Antero Vipunen
    - Yes, Väinämöinen travels to the Underworld to find Vipunen (and does not simply just poke his body).
25. Competitive courting
    - No.
26. Ilmarinen's feats
    - Are given to different characters depending on the runosong, and are not connected to the same narrative.
27. The Great Ox
    - Yes.
28. The Growing of Barley
    - Is accurate to Finnish mythology, but not necessarily with these specific lines.
29. Osmotar making beer
    - Yes.
30. Feast in Pohjola
    - There are mentions of a drinking party in either Saariala, or the Underworld. The story of someone not having been invited does mostly not appear (apart from one instance of a "son of a harlot" not being invited) but the names Kaukomieli or Lemminkäinen are not connected to those instances.
31. Arrival of the son-in-law, the son-in-law's horse
    - Nope.
32. "God" would sing thus
    - Argh, no! Those are typical words of a tietäjä (singing sea into honey, etc), not the feats of Yahweh!
33. Asking the groom to wait
    - No.
34. Making the bride cry
    - Not with these lines.
35. Advice to the bride
    - Not with these lines.
36. Advice to the groom
    - Not with these lines.
37. Groom arriving at home, "the village waited for new moon"
    - No. Yes to greeting the haltija of earth and haltija of sauna at a new home after marriage (not exactly what happens in the Kalevala thought).
38. Telling people to be merry, praising the Lord and Lady
    - Yes, but not in any context related to Väinämöinen or other myth.
39. Lönnrot stop inserting God into places challenge (impossible)
40. Lemminkäinen's journey to Pohjola
    - Yes, but not specifically in the context of not being invited to a wedding.
41. Lemminkäinen fights with the son Pohjolainen
    - Yes, and also beheads him. There is no Lord of Pohjola other than this son.
42. Lemminkäinen's escape
    - No.
43. Lemminkäinen created the Golden Wheel Oak on Saari
    - No, it's never implied that Lemminkäinen created this oak. It is there, though, it's the world tree.
44. Lemminkäinen has sex with an entire island of maidens and has to leave
    - No.
45. A boat cries at Lemminkäinen
    - No, I think the boat typically cries at Väinämöinen. Can't remember an instance where it would've cried to Lemminkäinen.
46. Going on a campaign with Tiera
    - The name Tiera is not mentioned. It is mentioned that Ahti was frozen in the sea. It's is not said that he pushed Frost into fire. Lemminkäinen is not the same as Ahti. The origin of frost is not connected to this myth.
47. Kalervo and Untamo
    - No. Kalervo is the same as Kaleva. Untamo does not appear in Finland, though it is my own personal theory that Untamo is the same as Vento/Uljamoinen which is mentioned in Finland.
48. Kullervo
    - Exists, yes. He is a son of Kaleva. One account states that Kullervo went to war with his children and died on the battlefield. I assume his children were also killed. But he states that he still has a child in a womb. After the child is born, the enemy tries to throw it into a bonfire, but the child is able to control fire and can't be burned. This is the end of the story.
49. Kullervo as a slave
    - Not to Untamo or Ilmarinen. Someone names Soini, who might or might not be the same as Kullervo, is sent as a slave to the smith Köyrötyinen and proceeds to summon wolves and bears to kill the mistress after finding a stone in his bread.
50. Words to forest gods
    - Obviously not connected to the context of Kullervo or Soini's enslavement.
51. Lönnrot stop implying that Finns were proto-monotheists challenge (impossible)
52. The complaints of an orphan
    - Yes but not connected to Kullervo.
53. "Blue cloak woman" (usually Mielikki) tells Kullervo literally anything
    - No.
54. Kullervo lies with his own sister
    - No, it is Tuurituinen, the son of Köyrötyinen, who lies with his own sister.
55. Kullervo goes to war, his father not crying and his mother crying
    - Yes. No mention of sister or Kullervo insulting his father. Kullervo does not care about his mother's death nor communicate with her ghost.
56. Death of Kullervo
    - He does not commit suicide but dies on the battlefield. The words he asks his sword are said by Iivari Kojonen when he is about to murder his bride.
57. Crying after a missing spouse
    - Yes but has nothing to do with Ilmarinen who never married a Northern maiden.
58. Ilmarinen forging a golden wife
    - Yes.
    
59. Ilmarinen being accused of killing a former wife
    - No, but these lines exist in unrelated contexts.
60. Ilmarinen kidnapping a maiden
    - HeavensPäivölä no. It is Iivari Kojonen who kidnaps a maiden.
61. Ilmarinen and co. go to steal the Sampo from Pohjola
    - No, it is Joukahainen and Väinämöinen who try to take the Sammas from Pohjola. It is not in any way clear that it's supposed to be Louhi who chases after them.
62. Words to the rapid
    - Yes but not in this context.
63. Words to the rock
    - Yes but not in this context, also I think "kimmo kammon poika" is incorrect.
64. Boat caught on a pike
    - Yes, Väinämöinen makes a Kantele thus. Not connected to the Sampo story.
65. Louhi summons Iku-Turso
    - No.
66. Väinämöinen has to make a new Kantele out of wood
    - No.
67. Louhi is a midwife to Loviatar who gives birth to diseases
    - Wtf? No? Louhi IS Loviatar and she gave birth to the diseases before she became the Lady of Pohjola.
68. Louhi sends a bear to attack
    - No, the lines are from real bear rituals though.
69. Lönnrot stop glazing Yahweh at every turn challenge (impossible)
70. Louhi imprisons the Sun and the Moon
    - Väinämöinen does free the Sun and the Moon from a rock by forging, but it's never said it was Louhi who put them there.
71. Ukko tries to make a new Sun but fire ends up falling down to earth
    - No, a spark of fire falls down to earth when Ilmarinen is forging.
72. Origin of Fire
    - Yes.
73. It is Päivätär who created fire. A woman, at every instance. I'm kind of offended that this feat is handed to Ukko-Yahweh.
74. Marjatta
    - No. There is the runosong of Margareta who tries to hide her pregnancy and the baby after its born, but another woman named Helena finds it, and the child itself reveals its parents. As well as the runosong where Väinämöinen has a son secretly out of wedlock but people find the baby. Väinämöinen says the father-less child should be killed, which is when the child reveals Väinämöinen is his father.