Some of the foreign residents who have not been here very long may be wondering why the flags are flying today, and what those strange cakes are on sale in all the shops. Today is Runebergin päivä, or Runeberg’s Day.

   

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) is Finland's national poet, for all that he wrote in Swedish. According to the entry on the admirable Pegasos literature resource site maintained by the Kuusankoski public library, "Runeberg's poetry has been compared to that of the great European romantics, such as Hugo, Shelley, Keats, Lermontov and Petöfi. He was the first Finnish writer who achieved a broad national significance and a wide international fame."

   

He was born on February 5th, and hence his birth is traditionally celebrated today with the flags being raised.

   

The cakes are another thing; they are small and cylindrical in shape, with raspberry jam and icing on the top. Runeberg's wife Frederika (1807-1879) was reportedly an economical sort (aside from being a novelist - in the Walter Scott vein - in her own right) and insisted on using old breadcrumbs in the recipe.

   

Whether there is any truth in the story or not, it has been said that Runeberg himself would moisten the cakes with rum, punch, or liqueur, and they still come in "dry" and "wet" varieties. The wet ones are recommended.