Gummitummen is a nonsense book by the Swedish comedian Hasse Alfredson. It got a lukewarm reception when it was first published in 1966, and it is still not considered any of his best works. However, when I discovered it in my teens, I loved it, and I still think it in many parts is a masterpiece.
Kalevala is a Finnish national epic. It was compiled from older tales by Elias Lönnrot in 1835.
At the end of Gummitummen, the narrator describes how someone has written something on the wall of his house. The currently available epub version of the book incorrectly renders this as:
mäster ilma kom med gäd hu
smeden rinen igen vud.
However, the original text in the paper version makes it clearer:
Mästersmeden Ilmarinen kom igen med gäddans huvud.This is a reference to a giant pike (gädda) which the blacksmith Ilmarinen and the wise old bard Väinämöinen encounter in the epic Kalevala. Ilmarinen hands the head of the pike to his friend, who uses its jaw to make a kantele, a musical instrument that is similar to a zither.
Why Hasse Alfredson makes this reference is anyone's guess. The book is after all nonsense from beginning to end.
Why I took the time to write a blog post about this may also seem strange. The reason is simply that nobody has done it before.
Väinämöinen playing his kantele. Painting by Robert Ekman.
Maritime scene from Gummitummen.
