Boris Ravilyevich Akbulatov is a graphic artist, painter, and book illustrator. He was born in the historic village of Ladva, although in his childhood and adolescence he lived in the city of Petrozavodsk. Upon returning from military service, Boris Akbulatov became an active member of the Petrozavodsk artistic community.

The artist began working on illustrations for the Karelian and Finnish epic poem in 1985 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its first publication. In an interview, the artist described this period of his creative process as follows,

In the past, a wedding was a significant event that involved the entire community. Each guest attending the wedding always received both food and drink.

The wedding in Pohyola is being organized by the hostess, Louhi. There will be a large number of guests at the celebration. In order to feed everyone, it is necessary to cook a whole ox. Louhi selects an ox that is neither large nor small: it has horns measuring almost a hundred fathoms; it takes a swallow one day to fly from one horn to the other; a weasel can run around its neck in seven days; while a squirrel, starting at the ox’s head, has to travel an entire month to reach its tail. One thousand brave men bring this ox to Pohyola. The ox grazes in a meadow and feeds on grass, touching the ground with its snout and the clouds with its back.