Because Finnish literature has the characteristics of orality, collectiveness, variability, direct peopleness, and superior artistry. Finnish literature is a general term for literary works written in Finnish, Swedish and Latin in the Middle Ages. Finnish folk poetry, its oldest form, was passed down orally and was not recorded in writing until the late 18th century. From the mid-12th century to 1809, Finland was ruled by Sweden, so Swedish remained the language of the Finnish upper classes until the end of the 19th century, when a vigorous movement began to restore Finnish as a cultural medium.