Review in progress

Aino Kallas nee Krohn (1878-1956) was born into a Finnish folklorist family and joined an Estonian one when she married folklore scholar and later diplomat Oskar Kallas in 1900. Her fiction of novellas and short stories based on Estonian history and folklore was written early (primarily before 1930) and later works were primarily her diaries and memoirs in several volumes.

"The White Ship" in this 2006 facsimile edition from Pomona Press is the only one of the English language translation collections of her work that is economically available as of early 2018. I call it a "facsimile edition" since, based on the font used, it seems to be a reprint of the original 1924 edition by Alex Matson (e.g. there is a characteristic archaic version of the combined lower-case letters "st" which joins them together with a cap between the tops of the 2 letters). Copies of the other translation originals such as "Eros the Slayer" (1927) and reprints such as "Three Novels" (1975) seem to go for phenomenal prices of 3 to 4 figures on sites such as Alibris.

The only other easily available English language translation is what I call the "happy-ending" edit of her best known story, the Hiiumaa Island werewolf novella "Sudenmorsian" (The Wolf's Bride) (1928) contained in the "The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy" (2006).

"The White Ship" contains many (though not all) of Kallas' short stories which are primarily historical fiction situated in the 18th-19th century era of Estonian serfdom under Baltic landowners in the then-ruling Tsarist Empire. The title story is based on an actual historic event which was also written about in "Prohvet Maltsvet" (The Prophet Maltsvet) (1908) by Estonian writer Eduard Vilde. The circumstances somewhat prefigure the late 20th century "Heaven's Gate" UFO cult, as the followers of Maltsvet (actually Juhan Leinberg (1812-1885)) waited on the Estonian northern seacoast for 2 months in 1861 for a white ship which their prophet was to use to bring them to the promised land (which was apparently located in the Crimea). Although not having quite as tragic an end as that of the UFO cult, the Maltsvetians were nevertheless disappointed by a no-show. ( )