The 19th century was an era of modernization in Estonia. One aspect of this modernization was interest in the nation’s past, which brought about widespread folklore collecting campaigns in the last decade of the century. These campaigns were organized by two men – Jakob Hurt and Matthias Johann Eisen – who both lived and worked outside the Baltic provinces and used newspapers to build up extensive networks of coworkers. This paper focuses on the campaign led by Eisen. Eisen was a very productive literary author who published more than 300 books on a range of topics including history, folklore, religion and temperance. He became interested in publishing books on folklore when he ended up as a parson in Kronstadt where he did not have access to a proper library. In 1887 he called on the Estonian-speaking public to send him riddles and, as a result, published a book of riddles in 1890. After that he focused on folktales and started publishing compilations of folktales that contained material sent by local collectors. Eisen’s habit of instant publishing was greeted warmly by collectors and the general public but frowned upon by scholars who were afraid that the books would affect the materials collected afterwards. One special trait of Eisen’s folklore collecting campaigns was his habit of sending books to his coworkers. This practice is widely known by scholars but has never been focused upon. My article tries to fill this gap. By doing a close reading of the letters of the collectors I have managed to bring out some of the statistical characteristics of the practice (the authors and topics of the books, the number of books sent to a single collector, books that were sent most often, etc) Delineating three case studies of particular collectors helped to show the variability of personal motivations behind the statistics. We can see that these books were quite an important part of the motivation of Eisen’s coworkers – this practice drew to Eisen’s campaign people who valued books and reading but who did not have access to books (due to lack of money or a geographically marginal position). However, to evaluate the meaning and function of this practice we need to contextualize it. There are two contexts which I find important. First, as an author Eisen did not receive money for his books, but his fee most often consisted of copies of his books or books by other authors published by the same publishing house. In the beginning Eisen used these books as exchange copies to build up his own library. Exchanging books for folklore enabled other people to build up their own libraries. Second, folklore collectors often turned to Hurt and Eisen to request help solving problems that had nothing to do with collecting campaigns. They asked for help finding jobs in Kronstadt (or, in the case of Hurt – St Petersburg), publishing their literary creations, etc. These problems were often connected to the changes brought about by modernization. As the collectors did not have resources to tackle these problems themselves, they tried to use folklore as a resource that could be exchanged for something connected to modernity. The books given by Eisen belong to the same context of modernity:again, collectors could use the exchange value of folklore to position themselves as modern literate persons.
In 1525, a barrel containing Lutheran books was confiscated in Lübeck. According to the chapter register (Actus capitulares) of Johannes Brandes, dean of the cathedral chapter of Lübeck, the shipment included masses in Estonian, Latvian and possibly Livonian. These liturgical prints, the earliest known books printed in the vernacular languages of Livonia, have not survived. This study examines them within the wider context of European and Lutheran book culture and explores their likely content and form. Before 1525, eighteen European vernacular languages, besides the traditional learned languages, had already entered print. These included the major languages of larger states and a few smaller languages whose appearance in print was facilitated by their proximity to important printing centres. The first printed works in the Livonian vernaculars, produced in 1525, broke this pattern. Their emergence was linked to the rapid progress of the Reformation in Livonia. They also belonged to the earliest phase of linguistic diversification within Lutheran print culture. According to the surviving evidence, the vernacular languages of Livonia were the first to enter print specifically as a result of the Lutheran Reformation. They likewise appear to represent the earliest known printed texts of Lutheran worship in any language other than German. From the late 1520s onwards, surviving service books appeared in the Scandinavian languages. Although the Reformation initially spread there only slightly later than in Livonia, stronger support from central authorities subsequently accelerated its institutionalisation and its impact on book production. In every smaller language that saw a substantial output of Lutheran publications before the mid-sixteenth century, this development was driven by a small number of productive authors supported by rulers or patrons. Earlier scholars interpreted the masses in the Livonian vernaculars of 1525 as adaptations of a preliminary version of Luther’s Deutsche Messe, printed only in 1526. Such a view would require remarkably rapid and extensive preparation. Jüri Kivimäe instead suggested that they may have been based on Luther’s shorter liturgical treatise, the Formula missae. While this interpretation is plausible for the German-language books confiscated in Lübeck, it is less convincing for texts in Livonia’s indigenous languages, where a theoretical liturgical treatise would have had limited practical use. Other suggestions have identified the publications as translations of Luther’s messages to Livonia, early Lutheran hymn collections, or Catholic humanist devotional works, but none is strongly supported by the surviving evidence. This study argues instead that by 1525 Lutheran writing and publishing were already firmly established across much of Germany, and that the development of evangelical liturgy in the vernacular had in several places progressed beyond Wittenberg. Before 1525, numerous evangelical liturgical texts had appeared whose titles explicitly used the term mass, just as in Brandes’s account. These were usually short pamphlets of eight to twenty leaves containing only a few key liturgical elements. Their preparation and publication required neither extensive resources nor institutional support. It is therefore likely that the mass prints in the Livonian vernaculars of 1525 were similar in character and scope.
John Clark. The Green Children of Woolpit. Cronicles, Fairies and Facts in Medieval England. Exeter: Exeter University Press. 2024. 260 p. For a book introduction by Mare Kõiva in English, see Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore 98: https://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol98/b01.pdf.
Leida Oeselg 18.04.1934–5.10.2025 The eulogy for one of the most noteworthy correspondents of the Estonian Folklore Archives in the era of the reindependent Estonian Republic was written by Eda Kalmre.
Sergey Troitskiy and Mare Kõiva write about the international conference held in Krakow from 28-30 April, entitled “Cultraband: An Actor-Immigrant Is Changing the Environment. How Do We Investigate the Changes and Verify the Data?”
Reet Hiiemäe writes about the third world conference on dialogue and cooperation among religions entitled “Religion and the Contemporary Phase of Globalization: Possibilities and Challenges” held from 23–27 June in Kruševo (North Macedonia).
Nikonova, Maria. Ulon – pityran, siulem – piiala…“: odӥg udmurt kyshnomurtlen daur”em ulon siuresez. [“Life is a Wheel, the Heart is Glass…” The Long Life Journey of an Udmurt Woman] Compiled by Nikolai Anisimov. Tartu: ELM Academic Publishers, 2024. 585 pp. The book is introduced by Larisa Dmitrieva.
Katre Kikas. Modernisation and vernacular literacy: 19th Century folklore collectors on the margins of archive and publics. University of Tartu Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore 2024. 295 pp. Supervisor: Associate Professor Risto Järv. The dissertation is introduced by Marju Kõivupuu.
Lina Gergova’s eulogy for the Bulgarian ethnologist and folklorist, promoter of cooperation between the Balkan and Baltic states.
Risto Järv, Mari-Ann Remmel and Kadri Tamm write about the recipients of the Folklore Award of the President of the Republic of Estonia, presented on 11 April and provide an overview of the work of the archive in the previous year.
Late spring of this year brought the passing of Jawaharlal Handoo (1.07.1945–31.05.2025), promoter of Indian folkloristics and long-time member of the editorial board of the journal Folklore. Electronic Journal of Folklore. His overarching contribution to Indian folkloristics spanned nearly five decades (1975-2025), a real era. As a legendary teacher he changed the academic landscape, making room for India’s oral traditions, so that they might breathe, speak and develop within the walls of universities and research institutions. With his work he developed folkloristics as an academic discipline and affirmed its role as a crucial bearer of Indian cultural identity.
On 25 April the Estonian-Mordvin Association, in cooperation with the Folkloristics Department of the Estonian Literary Museum, organised an international web conference to mark worldwide Ersa and Moksha Language Day (16 April). Natalia Ermakov provides an overview.
From 3–5 October 2025 the sixth conference in the series “The Balkans and the Baltics in a United Europe: religion, history and culture” was held in Sofia. Mila Maeva recalls the conference.
On 31 October 2025 the seventh student humanities conference HUNTS was held at the Estonian National Museum, aimed toward students in grades 8–12 who speak Estonian and other languages. The seven years of the conference are summarised by its organisers, Ave Goršič, Kristiina Punga ja Virve Tuubel.
In the framework of a creative project at Tallinn University, the Mari artist and art teacher Zhanna Toht completed an exhibit devoted to Mari folk culture entitled “What do Mari patterns speak about?” for the Finno-Ugrian Days in 2021. From then on, it was possible to see the exhibit in several places throughout Estonia. In January of this year the exhibit arrived in Tartu at the Estonian Literary Museum and in August it was shown at the Seto Teahouse. At an evening devoted to Mari culture (10 January) Zhanna gave a wonderful presentation entitled “Pattern, Sign and Artist in Traditional Culture”, which inspired us to interview her.
Reflections on the ISFNR conference “Syncretic Elements in the Process of Charming” (24–26 September 2025) are shared by Mare Kõiva.
From 29–31 October 2025 the seventh international research conference “Between the Worlds: crossroads, dialogues and stories” was held at the Ethnology and Folkloristics Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in conjunction with the Ethnographic Museum. An overview is provided by Mare Kõiva, Maris Kuperjanov and Andres Kuperjanov.
On 24 October, a festive seminar in the hall of the Estonian Language Institute marked the 90th birthday of Pille Kippar. Meetings and conversations with her are remembered by colleagues and friends.
From 14 March to 31 August an exhibition entitled “The Mei Sisters: Avant-garde and Ordinary Life” was mounted at KUMU, the Estonian Museum of Art. In the last hours before it closed, it was possible to enjoy the exhibition with the competent guidance of curators Ulrika Jõemägi and Kai Stahl. Also, at the initiation of folklorist Piret Voolaid, a panel discussion took place entitled “A Pencil Sharpened by Laughter: Humour as freedom in the works of the Mei Sisters”, which included curators Eha Komissarov and Kai Stahl and the animator, writer and caricaturist Ave Taavet.
