The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1939-12-28
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AND
Tomorrow
By
Frank Parker Stockridge

! F1NNS mySIlcdl
Nobody who knows the Finnish
people can fail to admire their "a
cial qualities of honor, high mo-
raj standards and industry: There
are half a dozen Finnish clubs
and societies in New York where
I have frequently been guest at
parties of various kinds. The more
l see of Firms the more I like
them.
When I was a boy in New
England seaport town I used to
hear seafaring men express great
respect for the Firms as sailors,
but they often stood somewhat in
awe of their supposed ability to
work magic It is an old supersti-
ton that a Finn can raise a gale
by calling on the ancient gods of
his people, and shipmasters used
to be wary of offending Finnish
sailor.
To many people there seems to
be something mystical in the Fin
nish character. They really are
unlike any other people except
their racial cousins of the eastern
baltic shores and the other men,
bers of the Finno-Ugraic race of
northern Asia. The Firms came
out of Asia into Finland about L.
200 years ago. Ever since then
Russia and Sweden have been
fighting to gain control of their
country, and the Firms have
fought many wars with both.
CHRISTIANS independence
The Films brought with them to
Europe an ancient religion much
like that of the American Indians.
When the Swedes invaded and
conquered Finland in 1857 they
brought an English bishop with
their army. Bishop Henry re-
manned and began a mission
which resulted in the general con-
version of the Firms to Christian
ity. He was killed on one of his
trips to a lonely region, was af-
forwards declared a saint by the
church, and today Saint Henry is
the patron saint of Finland.
Many Firms relapsed into pa
ganism after st. Henry's death,
and in 1909 another English mis-
sionary, Bishop Thomas, took up
Henry's work and not only
brought the whole people into the
Christian fold but encouraged
them to fight for their indepen-
dence against Sweden.
There has been a great revival
of the spirit of Christianity in re-
cent years in Finland and in SWe-
den. The longtime dislike of the
two peoples for each other has
given place to mutual tolerance
and respect. Sweden was the first
of many nations to offer aid to
Finland when the Russians in
vaded the country a few weeks
ago.
HIAWATHA folklore
The Firms brought from Asia
the folklore of their ancestors
handed down from generation to
generation by word of mouth, and
taking the form of poetical mar
rative, in a rhythm peculiarly
their own.
Just about hundred years ago
a Finnish writer went all over the
country getting the old people to
recite the fragments of the an
cient myths and legends. The r.
900 lines of verse which DR.. Elias
Lonnrot collected he wrote in the
form of a great national epic po-
EN-, called the "Kalevala."
A young American poet, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, read the
Kalevala saga, and got the idea
! of similar collection of folktales
of the American Indians. He
wrote them in poetical form, in
the identical rhythm of the Kale-
vala, and called the poem "Hia
watha." It was the first poem in
the English language written in
the ancient Finnish meter.
The publication of the Kalevala
was the beginning of modern Fin
nish literature. The nation has
produced many great writer's
since then, and one of the great
est musical composers in the
world, DR.. Jan Sibelius.
CHAMPIONS sports
One of the roads by which the
Films have come into worldwide
fame in recent years is through
their skill in athletics. The worlds
records for three-mile, four, five
and six mile runs are held by
Firms, and Paavo Nurmi, who has
run many races in America, holds
the world record for an hours
run.
Looking over the list of world
champions in the Olympic games