Myths establish a link to immutable principal events in the past and in doing so establish a social whole united by notions of common origin. They have the uncanny power of self-definition and are therefore suitable for political uses. Myths have played and still play an important role in social movements attempting to create group unity on national or ethnic grounds. Myths address both cultural and existential questions. Therefore, research into mythical traditions has been vital in analysing both the shaping of our common European history as well as the construction of national identities. The former explains the extent of classical mythology studies (see Detienne 1981), while the latter led, among other things, to the compilation of the Kalevala and ensuing research on its underlying source
materials (Honko 1990). The study of myths has played a special role in establishing a common background for the Finno-Ugric peoples even if interest in this project had waned by the middle of this century. Since the 1980s, the study of mythical traditions has again grown in importance due mainly to the establishment of the European Union and the subsequent need to strengthen European identity. In the United States the new wave of myth research has been inspired by the ethnonationalism of the postcolonial era. Similar tendencies can be observed in the field of the Uralic mythologies: new interests both in historical and field based studies of myth are evident in different countries.