Description: The oral traditions of Estonia have a history that dates back millennia. The most remarkable of them is the archaic folk song, regilaul. While cross-currents from East to West have left their traces in Estonia, the folk song preserves its ancient meter and its archaic language. Ilomaile, compiled and commented upon by Juhan Kurrik, was first published in 1985 in Toronto (publisher Vello Salo/Maarjamaa). The book is an excellent source for making the Estonian (and Setu) regilaul texts accessible outside the Estonian language space. This is also the reason why a new edition of the book (hard cover) has been published for the international readership. The anthology embraces a wide range of songs providing a comprehensive overview of the Estonian treasury of regilaul from both a thematic and geographic perspective. The current edition offers a supplement by Madis Arukask about the present state of research and further readings on regilaul.
