Something for the weekend. Today my family is going down to Champaign-Urbana to participate in  Winter War 41 . I have been participating in this wargaming and rpg gaming extravaganza since 1975. The only possible song for this weekend is Finlandia Hymn by Jean Sibelius. The above video is a tribute to the brave Finnish troops who defended their nation against the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-1940 and the Continuation War of 1941-1944.
An English translation of the Finnish lyrics:
O, Finland, behold, your day is dawning,
The threat of night has been banished away,
And the lark of morning in the brightness sings,
As though the very firmament would sing.
The powers of the night are vanquished by the morning light,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth.
 O, rise, Finland, raise up high
Your head, wreathed with great memories.
O, rise, Finland, you showed to the world
That you drove away the slavery,
And that you did not bend under oppression,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth.
 This beautiful music has served as the host for many lyrics as we see below.
Here is the entire magnificent Finlandia, of which the Finlandia Hymn forms a portion:
Thanks for the interesting article Don. Don’t get to hear much about Finland in this part of the world – except, of course, the 1952 Helsinki Olympics where NZ won 1 gold, and 2 bronze medals.
Actually, I thought your Winter War was going to be about fighting that accursed Anthropogenic Global Warming which is giving you such a freezing winter up there. 🙂
I enjoyed Sebelius’ music. Our kids high school music teacher would feature Sebelius’ music often. The teacher was quite a strong Mason who even took several of the music students to see the movie National Treasure and spent some time pointing out symbolism he thought important for them to know. I didn’t know until later that Sebelius was a well known Mason who composed for Masonic ritual.
Ah Don, the highs the next two days in my little town are supposed to -17 and -19 C!
Brrrrrrrr…………Mate – I don’t think I’ve ever been in teperatures that cold.
Meanwhile, high cloud but sunny, a moderate westerly breeze, and 25 C today.
Eat yer heart out ! 😉
anzlyne: I, too, love to hear Sebelius’ music. The music has a life of its own. I ought not say that, for I abhor Wagner.