Poem singing

Poem singing (Finnish: runonlaulanta) is the singing of traditional Finnic poems. The poetic metre was typically a trochaic tetrametre. Poems could've included any kinds of songs: myths or stories of ordinary things such as love (e.g. "Kun mun tuttuni tulisi") or wedding songs and lullabies, but they were also used in spells. Two poem singers competing was called kilpalaulanta. The tradition is thought to be as old as originating from 1000–500 BC.

Poem singing is known to all Finnic peoples except for the Veps. One Estonian style of these kinds of songs is called "regilaul", for example. In fact, nearly half of the themes and stories of Kalevala can also be found from Estonia.