The Song of the Blood-Red Flower

The Song of the Blood-Red Flower
A hardcover of the 1921 English version
AuthorJohannes Linnankoski
Original titleFinnish: Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta
TranslatorW. J. Alexander Worster[1]
LanguageFinnish
Genreromance
PublisherWSOY (Finnish)
Moffat, Yard & Co (English)[1]
Publication date
1905
Publication placeFinland
Published in English
1921[1]
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages240 (Finnish)
256 (English)[1]
OCLC599685

The Song of the Blood-Red Flower (Finnish: Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta) is a romance novel by Finnish writer Johannes Linnankoski, published in 1905; and is considered the author's most famous and personal work. Loosely based on the legend of Don Juan,[2] it tells the story of a young-maid-charming log driver.[3] It was awarded the State Prize for Literature in 1906,[4] and was also given an award by the Finnish Literature Society.[5] An English version was first published in 1921 by Moffat, Yard & Co in New York, with W. J. Alexander Worster as translator.[1]

There are five film adaptations of the story (three Swedish and two Finnish); the earliest is the Swedish silent film The Flame of Life [sv] from 1919, directed by Mauritz Stiller,[6][7][8] and the latest is the 1971 Finnish film adaptation directed by Mikko Niskanen, which is also the only color film version. A huge number of stage plays have also been made based on the novel, such as H. Välisalmi's play by the Estonian Drama Theatre in 1938,[9] and three Finnish plays at the Pyynikki Summer Theatre, Tampere in 1960, 1981 and 2005.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e The song of the blood-red flower – WorldCat
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference linnankoski was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Linnankoski, Johannes. Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta. WSOY 1905, p. 240
  4. ^ Kirjallisuuden valtionpalkinto – Kirjasampo (in Finnish)
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mikkonen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Song Of The Scarlet Flower (1919) Mauritz Stiller, Lars Hanson, Greta Almroth, Lillebil Ibsen
  7. ^ Svenska Filminstitutet – Sången om den eldröda blomman (in Swedish)
  8. ^ MYKKÄELOKUVASIVUSTO – Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (in Finnish)
  9. ^ "Laul tulipunasest lillest" – Postimees (1886-1944), nr. 338, 13 detsember 1938 (in Estonian)
  10. ^ Historia – Pyynikin kesäteatteri (in Finnish)