Theodora Elucubrare

Not that I really like tripartation or anything. But if you're looking for it, and you're not trying to gloss over things that don't fit your theory, like some famous Indo-Europeanists whose name I will not mention, then you can find it.

It helps that there's three main characters. Väinämöinen is pretty obviously first function, especially since you could draw parallels between him and Odin (I refuse to spell it Othinn). He's a magician, and at the end he's the king of something.

Lemminkäinen is a Heracles figure, and is thus second function, in that he uses strength to protect, where V. would use spells.

Finally, Ilmarinen the craftsman is third function - he creates the Sampa, which brings eternal wealth and all that.


There's problems, of course, partly because there's problems with the Kalevala - like Elias Lönnrot making some of it up, and the contamination (wrong word, but whatever) of the Finnish culture by others, Indo-European and non, and the fact that it's from the nineteenth century.

There's also that the heroes aren't gods, but I think, especially in light of the last story, which is a barely veiled version of the Christ story, than they are euhemerized, like Mebd and Fergus in the Táin. (although there are gods - they're just more like nature spirits.)

In any case, I don't think you can say that there's no tripartation in the Kalevala, which Dumézil does.