In total, Lönnrot made eleven field trips in search of poetry.
His first trip was made in 1828 after his graduation from Turku University, but it was not until 1831 and his second field trip that the real work began.
By that time he had already published three articles entitled Kantele and had significant notes to build upon.
This second trip was not very successful and he was called back to Helsinki to attend to victims of the Second cholera pandemic.

The third field trip was much more successful and led Elias Lönnrot to Viena in east Karelia where he visited the town of Akonlahti, which proved most successful.
This trip yielded over 3,000 verses and copious notes.
In 1833, Lönnrot moved to Kajaani where he was to spend the next 20 years as the district health officer for the region.
His fourth field trip was undertaken in conjunction with his work as a doctor; a 10-day jaunt into Viena.
This trip resulted in 49 poems and almost 3,000 new lines of verse.
It was during this trip that Lönnrot formulated the idea that the poems might represent a wider continuity, when poem entities were performed to him along with comments in normal speech connecting them.

On the fifth field trip, Lönnrot met Arhippa Perttunen who provided a large portion of the verses for the Kalevala.
He met a singer called Matiska in the hamlet of Lonkka on the Russian side of the border.
While this singer had a somewhat poor memory, he did help to fill in many gaps in the work Lönnrot had already catalogued.
This trip resulted in the discovery of almost 300 poems at just over 13,000 verses.

In autumn of 1834, Lönnrot had written the vast majority of the work needed for what was to become the Old Kalevala; all that was required was to tie up some narrative loose ends and complete the work.
His sixth field trip took him into Kuhmo, a municipality in Kainuu to the south of Viena.
There he collected over 4,000 verses and completed the first draft of his work.
He wrote the foreword and published in February of the following year.

With the Old Kalevala well into its first publication run, Lönnrot decided to continue collecting poems to supplement his existing work and to understand the culture more completely.
The seventh field trip took him on a long winding path through the southern and eastern parts of the Viena poem singing region.
He was delayed significantly in Kuhmo because of bad skiing conditions.
By the end of that trip, Lönnrot had collected another 100 poems consisting of over 4,000 verses.
Lönnrot made his eighth field trip to the Russian border town of Lapukka where the great singer Arhippa Perttunen had learned his trade.
In correspondence he notes that he has written down many new poems but is unclear on the quantity.

Elias Lönnrot departed on the first part of his ninth field trip on 16 September 1836.
He was granted a 14-month leave of absence and a sum of travelling expenses from the Finnish Literary Society.
His funds came with some stipulations: he must travel around the Kainuu border regions and then on to the north and finally from Kainuu to the south-east along the border.
For the expedition into the north he was accompanied by Juhana Fredrik Cajan.
The first part of the trip took Lönnrot all the way to Inari in northern Lapland.
The second, southern part of the journey was more successful than the northern part, taking Lönnrot to the Russian town of Sortavala on Lake Ladoga then back up through Savo and eventually back to Kajaani.
Although these trips were long and arduous, they resulted in very little Kalevala material; only 1,000 verses were recovered from the southern half and an unknown quantity from the northern half.

The tenth field trip is a relative unknown.
What is known however, is that Lönnrot intended to gather poems and songs to compile into the upcoming work Kanteletar.
He was accompanied by his friend C. H. Ståhlberg for the majority of the trip.
During that journey the pair met Mateli Kuivalatar in the small border town of Ilomantsi.
Kuivalatar was very important to the development of the Kanteletar.
The eleventh docu
In total, Lönnrot made eleven field trips in search of poetry. His first trip was made in 1828 after his graduation from Turku University, but it was not until 1831 and his second field trip that the real work began. By that time he had already published three articles entitled Kantele and had significant notes to build upon. This second trip was not very successful and he was called back to Helsinki to attend to victims of the Second cholera pandemic.
The third field trip was much more successful and led Elias Lönnrot to Viena in east Karelia where he visited the town of Akonlahti, which proved most successful. This trip yielded over 3,000 verses and copious notes. In 1833, Lönnrot moved to Kajaani where he was to spend the next 20 years as the district health officer for the region. His fourth field trip was undertaken in conjunction with his work as a doctor; a 10-day jaunt into Viena. This trip resulted in 49 poems and almost 3,000 new lines of verse. It was during this trip that Lönnrot formulated the idea that the poems might represent a wider continuity, when poem entities were performed to him along with comments in normal speech connecting them.
On the fifth field trip, Lönnrot met Arhippa Perttunen who provided a large portion of the verses for the Kalevala. He met a singer called Matiska in the hamlet of Lonkka on the Russian side of the border. While this singer had a somewhat poor memory, he did help to fill in many gaps in the work Lönnrot had already catalogued. This trip resulted in the discovery of almost 300 poems at just over 13,000 verses.
In autumn of 1834, Lönnrot had written the vast majority of the work needed for what was to become the Old Kalevala; all that was required was to tie up some narrative loose ends and complete the work. His sixth field trip took him into Kuhmo, a municipality in Kainuu to the south of Viena. There he collected over 4,000 verses and completed the first draft of his work. He wrote the foreword and published in February of the following year.
With the Old Kalevala well into its first publication run, Lönnrot decided to continue collecting poems to supplement his existing work and to understand the culture more completely. The seventh field trip took him on a long winding path through the southern and eastern parts of the Viena poem singing region. He was delayed significantly in Kuhmo because of bad skiing conditions. By the end of that trip, Lönnrot had collected another 100 poems consisting of over 4,000 verses. Lönnrot made his eighth field trip to the Russian border town of Lapukka where the great singer Arhippa Perttunen had learned his trade. In correspondence he notes that he has written down many new poems but is unclear on the quantity.
Elias Lönnrot departed on the first part of his ninth field trip on 16 September 1836. He was granted a 14-month leave of absence and a sum of travelling expenses from the Finnish Literary Society. His funds came with some stipulations: he must travel around the Kainuu border regions and then on to the north and finally from Kainuu to the south-east along the border. For the expedition into the north he was accompanied by Juhana Fredrik Cajan. The first part of the trip took Lönnrot all the way to Inari in northern Lapland. The second, southern part of the journey was more successful than the northern part, taking Lönnrot to the Russian town of Sortavala on Lake Ladoga then back up through Savo and eventually back to Kajaani. Although these trips were long and arduous, they resulted in very little Kalevala material; only 1,000 verses were recovered from the southern half and an unknown quantity from the northern half.
The tenth field trip is a relative unknown. What is known however, is that Lönnrot intended to gather poems and songs to compile into the upcoming work Kanteletar. He was accompanied by his friend C. H. Ståhlberg for the majority of the trip. During that journey the pair met Mateli Kuivalatar in the small border town of Ilomantsi. Kuivalatar was very important to the development of the Kanteletar. The eleventh docu
Kalevala