Estonian literature

Estonian literature (Estonian: eesti kirjandus) is literature written in the Estonian language (c. 1,100,000 speakers)

The oldest records of written Estonian date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences. The Liber Census Daniae (1241) contains Estonian place and family names. While sporadic Estonian names and words exist within otherwise Latin and Low German documentation of Hanseatic Tallinn, some of the earliest surviving samples of handwritten connected Estonian originate from the Dominican St. Catherine's Monastery, Tallinn during the 15th century. The earliest longer manuscript in Estonian consists of the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528.

With the Reformation and advent of the printing press, the use of written Estonian became more widespread. The first known instance of a printed book in Estonian dates from 1525, while the oldest surviving printed book is a bilingual German–Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism (Wanradt–Koell Catechism) by Simon Wanradt and Johann Koell (1535). For the use of priests an Estonian grammar was printed in German in 1637. The New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two dialects were united by Anton Thor Helle in a form based on northern Estonian. Writings in Estonian became more significant and numerous during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840).

The cultural stratum of Estonian was originally characterised by a largely lyrical form of folk poetry based on syllabic quantity. Apart from a few albeit remarkable exceptions, this archaic form has not been much employed in later times. The most outstanding achievements in this field are the national epic Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882); Gustav Suits's ballad Lapse sünd (Birth of a Child); Villem Grünthal-Ridala's (1885–1942) poem Toomas ja Kai (Toomas and Mai) and three poems by August Annist (1899–1972). At a professional level, traditional folk song reached its new heyday during the last quarter of the 20th century, primarily thanks to the work of composer Veljo Tormis.

In modern times A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940), Jaan Kross (1920–2007), Andrus Kivirähk (born 1970), and Robert Kurvitz (1984) remain Estonia's best known and most translated writers.