Estonian literature

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Estonian literature (Estonian: eesti kirjandus) is literature written in the Estonian language (c. 1,100,000 speakers) ^[1] Estonia leads the world in book ownership, on average Estonians own 218 books per house, and 35% own 350 books or more (as of 2018).^[2]

The oldest records of written Estonian date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences. The Liber Census Daniae (1241) contains Estonian place and family names.^[3]

The earliest extant samples of connected Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528.^[4] The first known printed book is a bilingual German–Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S.Wanradt and J. Koell (1535). For the use of priests an Estonian grammar was printed in German in 1637.^[5] The New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two dialects were united by Anton Thor Helle in a form based on northern Estonian. Writings in Estonian became more significant and numerous during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840).

The cultural stratum of Estonian was originally characterised by a largely lyrical form of folk poetry based on syllabic quantity. Apart from a few albeit remarkable exceptions, this archaic form has not been much employed in later times. The most outstanding achievements in this field are the national epic Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882); Gustav Suits's ballad Lapse sünd (Birth of a Child); Villem Grünthal-Ridala's (1885–1942) poem Toomas ja Kai (Toomas and Mai) and three poems by August Annist (1899–1972). At a professional level, traditional folk song reached its new heyday during the last quarter of the 20th century, primarily thanks to the work of composer Veljo Tormis.

In modern times A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940), Jaan Kross (1920–2007) and Andrus Kivirähk (born 1970) remain Estonia's best known and most translated writers.