The Finnish have a lengthy series of epic poems called the Kalevala, which are historical adventure tales about their past.  This deck is based upon those poems.  The characters in the cards relate to the characters in the epic.  It is apparently one of those Hatfield-McCoy stories, about one tribe versus another in the 1800's.  There are many books available on the subject, none of which I am qualified to judge, but if you go to Amazon you can see a lengthy listing on the subject; just type in "Kalevala" as your search topic.

The analogies are pretty much lost, however, unless one is able to obtain and read a full copy of the Kalevala itself.  I do get the impression that you must read some version of the legend in full in order to comprehend the comparisons between the characters of the epic and their counterparts in the tarot.  Otherwise they are just new names for the traditional tarot figures.  There is a book that is written to go with this tarot deck that explains how the legends relate to the cards, in much greater detail than just the booklet does.

The artwork in the deck appears to be watercolor paintings, with attractive Finnish style borders around them.  The renderings themselves have a childlike, Peter-and-the-Wolf feeling about them which is evocative of legend and really goes well with the concept of an epic deck.  The colors are soft and attractive.  Really pretty overall.  Strength is 8 and Justice 11.

The suits are Staves, Loaves, Vessels and Swords.  The Minor Arcana cards have as fully-developed pictures as the Major Arcana.  The deck itself is standard-sized and shuffles easily.  The symbolism is different from the traditional Rider-Waite but not so far off the beaten path that it can't be figured out, however, without the epic itself a lot of the meaning must be guessed at.  I would definitely recommend this if purchased as the deck and book set.  However, without the book, I'd say it would be difficult to really work well with.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace