Deep in the forests of eastern Finland, there lived a number of musicians and storytellers who learned the oral tradition of the myths and legends of the Finnish people. These myths were performed as songs, and those who sung them were known as Rune Singers.

In 1835, Physician, linguist and amateur poet Elias Lönnrot compiled these myths and stories together into what would become Finland's national epic, The Kalevala. Now held as a culturally and historically significant literary piece among the likes of The Iliad, The Odyssey, and the Poetic Edda.

Singers of the Kalevala continued to pass on this tradition orally with apprentices learning the songs from masters on and on through the generations. Because of this oral tradition, the epic myth endured through Finland's occupation and attempted cultural eradication by Sweden, Russia, and Germany. The singers of these Rune-songs learned and performed them in secret and helped keep the Finnish language alive and stoke the flames of independence among the Finnish people which they gained in 1918.

This humble song stands as a tribute to the power and endurance of music. In our global human culture, music has the power to uplift, to overthrow, and to sway hearts and minds of people. Music is also our uniquely human form of expression and preservation, both for ourselves and our species. The songs we write hold all that we are within them and with any luck, will live on long after we are gone.

This song is dedicated to the last Rune Singer.
Jussi Huovinen
April 24, 1924 - May 12, 2017
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbJH1hlglRI