From Tradition to Data The Case of Estonian Runosong Mari Sarv and Janika Oras Abstract Runosong was a prevalent poetic–musical tradition among several Finnic ethnic groups in premodern times. Since its establishment in 1927 the Estonian Folklore Archives has aimed to gather and preserve all the knowledge we have about Estonian tradition, and as part of this effort started to compile a database of Estonian runosongs in 2003. That database is currently approaching completion, i.e. all the runosong texts collected and recorded in Estonia thus far will be available to researchers as well as for public use. Although it has taken a great deal of effort, not to mention time to build the system, to scan, tag, proofread and edit all the texts, the compilation of the database has been possible only through a serendipitous sequence of wise decisions and the constant work of previous generations of folklorists for over a hundred years. At the present moment the database provides access to approximately two-thirds of the runosong texts at the Estonian Folklore Archives, enabling researchers to query, map and download texts either in plain mode or with xml tags. Together with the database of runosongs created by the Finnish Literature Society, the databases cover the whole area of runosong tra- dition, and most of the texts ever recorded. Compiled according to the same principles, the two databases are easily usable next to each other. Further plans include reviewing the classifca- tion and typology of songs, adding tools for linguistic analysis, and integrating the sister data- base of runosong melodies that is currently being reorganized into a web-accessible format. Keywords: folklore, runosong, database, Estonia, archives What is Runosong? Runosong (in Estonian regilaul) is a shared tradition among some Finnic eth- nic groups of the Finnish Gulf area, i.e. Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Ingrians and Votians. Runosong is thought to be formed on the basis of previous tradi- tion(s) during the last phase of Finnic affnity (Late Proto-Finnic) in the frst centuries of the Common Era, when the prosodic system of language proved to be suitable for the development of a syllabic meter with additional stress and quantity regulations. At around the same time signifcant changes in way of life also took place in Estonia and neighbouring areas – the establishment of permanent settlements can be traced to this period along with the adoption of continuous agriculture (Korhonen 1994; Rüütel 1998).