"Maamme" (Our Land) is the Finnish title of Finland's national anthem. The title in Swedish, Finland's second official language, is Vårt Land (Our Land).
It was composed by Fredrik Pacius, written by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (in Swedish), and performed first time on May 13, 1848. The original poem has 11 stanzas. It was written in 1846, but printed first in 1848 as prologue to the grand cycle of poems The tales of Ensign Stål, a masterpiece of Romantic nationalism.
The song itself consists of four verses; but the fourth is rarely sung, due to its belligerent and even slightly xenophobic tone.
The tales of Ensign Stål were much appreciated through all of Scandinavia. Up to Finland's independence 1917/18, when the song started to be recognized as specifical for Finland, Pacius' tune and Runeberg's text was often sung also in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The theme of the poem is also suspiciously similar to that of the national anthems of Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria) and Norway (Ja, vi elsker dette landet).
Pacius' tune is used also for the national anthem of Estonia with a similarly themed text (1869): "Mu isamaa" (My Fatherland).
Here are the lyrics of the first verse in Finnish translation, Swedish (original), and English translation:
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2 Vårt land 3 Our Land 4 External links |
Maamme
(translation by Paavo Cajander)
Vårt land
(the original, by Johan Ludvig Runeberg)