List of Lithuanian gods
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Lithuanian mythology had many different gods and deities. It is hard to reconstruct the full list of names because the sources are scant and contradictory.
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[edit] Names from myths and legends
This section includes the names of gods, divine or demonic beings, and other personages from Lithuanian myths, legends, folklore, and fairy-tales.
[edit] Gods and god-like beings
- Dievas, the Chief God.
- Aušrinė, the Morning Star, a goddess, a daughter of the God ("dievaitė").
- Dalia, goddess of fate and weaving
- Gabija, the foster of the Holy Fire, a goddess, a daughter of the God ("dievaitė").
- Laima, goddess of Fate and Luck
- Mėnulis, the Moon, a son of God ("dievaitis")
- Perkūnas, the Thunder, a son of God ("dievaitis")
- Saulė, the Sun
- Ašvieniai, horses who pulled the chariot of the Sun
- Vakarinė
- Žemyna, goddess, the deified soil.
- Deivės Valdytojos (Lithuanian: managing goddesses), were the goddesses who made garments from human's lives. They were seven sisters: Verpiančioji (who spun the threads of life), Metančioji ( who threw rims of life), Audėja (the weaver), Gadintoja ( who broke the thread), Sergėtoja (who scolded Gadintoja, and instigated war between people), Nukirpėja (who cut the cloth of life), and Išskalbėja (the laundress). They have similarities with the Greek Fates and the Norse Norns. Deivės Valdytojos were associated with Dalia and Laima.
- Žvaigždės (žvaigždė, in singular), stars, having the Sun as their mother and, sometimes, the Moon as their father. One of the most important stars is Aušrinė. Other stars, Aušrinė's sisters, are less important, but they, like Vakarinė (the evening Venus, who makes the bed for the Sun (Saulė), Indraja, Sėlija , Žiezdrė and Vaivora , sometimes appear in mythic stories too.
[edit] Heroes and Heroines
- Pajauta, the legendary princess of Kernavė
[edit] Local and nature spirits
- Ežerinis, a spirit of lakes
- Upinis, a spirit of rivers
- Aušra (Lithuanian for sunrise), the goddess of the morning. She has many similarities with the Greek goddess Eos, and the Roman goddess Aurora
- Auštaras (Auštra), the god of the northeast wind, who stands at the gates of paradise and lights the way for those going to paradise. His function of shining this beacon makes him similar to Aušrinė; some consider him to be her cousin.
- Bangpūtys, the god of the seas and storms
- Javinė, a household god who protects grain in barns.
- Jievaras, a household spirit who protects grain. Sacrifices to Jievaras are made after the rye harvest. While cutting grain, women would leave a few grain tufts uncut, which would later be braided into plaits. They would also leave some bread and salt under the plait, and would say: Davei manei, Žemele, duodame ir tau ([You] gave for us, Mother Earth, we are giving for you too), a request for the land to continue to be fruitful.
- Kupolė, the spirit of springtime vegetation and flowers. The Festival of Kupolė (Kupolinės) was associated with Feast of St. John the Baptist (Joninės). In this festival, women picked sacral herbs, danced and sang songs. Kupolinės is also known as Rasos. Compare this with Ziedu mate in Latvian mythology, Kupala in Polish mythology and Ivan Kupala in Russian mythology
- Laukų dvasios (spirits of fields), spirits, who were running through the fields. When crops in the fields waved in the wind, people saw them as being the actions of spirits. Laukų dvasios include Nuogalis, Kiškis, Meška, Lapė, Katinas, Bubis, Bubas, Bubė, Baubas, Babaužis, Bobas, Maumas, Raudongalvis, Raudongerklis, Žaliaakis, Paplėštakis, Guda, Dizikas, Smauglys, Ruginis, Papiokė, Pypalas, Žebris, Arklys, Vilkas.
[edit] Various lower beings
- Kaukas, spirits similar to trolls.
- Laumė, feminine fairies (pixies).
- Nykštukas, gnomes.
- Vėlė, spirits of dead human beings.
[edit] Demonic beings
- Aitvaras, a household spirit bringing both good and bad luck
- Baubas, an evil spirit with long sear arms, wrinkly fingers, and red eyes. He is harassing people and tearing their hair or stifling.
- Giltinė, the goddess of death. Her sacral bird is owl. Giltinė proclaims disaster. She goes with goddesses of black death (Maro deivės). Sometimes was considered to be a sister of Laima.
- Ragana, godess of night and death.
- Slogutis
- Velnias, devil
- Žiburinis, a scary forest spirit that appears as a phosphorescent skeleton.
[edit] Holy places and things
- Dausos or Dangus, the lodgment of good souls. Dausos is on a high mountain (Latvian Debeskalns, or Norse Valhalla), between two rivers. There are golden apple-trees in the Dausos garden. Day in the garden is perpetual but outside its confines is perpetual night. Master of Dausos is Vėjopatis (Lord of the wind) or Vėjas (Wind) who is also one of the oldest gods in Lithuanian mythology. Vėjas is identical to Vayu of Hinduism. Auštaras and Vėjopatis are keepers of Dausos’s gates (Dausų Vartai). While Auštaras shows the way for good souls, Vėjas (Vėjopatis) blows bad souls into oblivion.
[edit] Names from written sources
This section contains those names of Lithuanian gods or other mythical beings that are mentioned in old treatises on history or philosophy, sometimes accompanied by brief descriptions, and which are known from a few independent sources or from their counterparts under different names in later collections of myths and tales.
[edit] Gods and god-like beings
- Aušautas (an Old Prussian name)(vedic-ashwinis), god of health and medicine
- Aušlavis (an Old Prussian name), the opposing deity of Aušautas in Prussian and Western Lithuanian mythology. He is the god of feeble and valetudinarian people. Sometimes he takes the shape of a snake.
- Patrimpas (an Old Prussian name), the god of spring. Along with Perkūnas and Pikuolis, Patrimpas is part of a trinity of gods. The care of fields, crops and farm animals, as well as the gifts of maturity, peace, happiness and plenty are attributed to Patrimpas.
- Patulas (an Old Prussian name)
- Pergrubrijus (an Old Prussian name)
- Žvaigždikis (an Old Prussian name) the god of stars and/or of the light.
[edit] Local and nature spirits
- Dimstipatis (also known as Žemepates or Žemininkas), is a masculine deity (genius loci). It is a household god, the guardian of houses and caretaker of the hearth. According to the reconstructions, people sacrificed roosters and black hens to the deity. The birds were boiled; later people would gather around the kettle and eat the birds. The bones were burned. Sometimes Dimstipatis is reconstructed as a god of housewives, to whom pigs were sacrificed. Dimstipatis was also seen as a power protecting from fires.
- Laukpatis(hinduism-lokpatis or lokpals), one of the harvest deities, worshipped by people before tilling and sowing.
- Lauksargis, likely alternative name for Laukpatis
- Medeina, godess of wood.
- Puškaitis
- Raugupatis
- Žemėpatis, household god, protector of the family. Worshiped together with Žemyna. Three times a year people sacrificed flour to him, in some locales, roosters, piglets, and oxen were sacrificed.
- Vėjopatis, Lithuanian and Prussian spirit (perhaps anthropomorphic) of wind. He is the father of the winds, usually described as a wrathful, inexorable, evil spirit with a beard, wings and two faces. He is portrayed with a fish in his left hand and a dish in the right hand and a rooster on his head. He had sons: Rytys, Pietys, Šiaurys and Vakaris - correspondingly gods of eastern, southern, northern and western winds. Also he is master of Dausos. Vėjopatis is associated with Bangpūtys, Audrupatis, Gardaitis, Divytis.
[edit] Other
- Dievas Senelis ('God Old Man'), a manifestation of God. According some reconstructions, that not recognize manifestations of God in the primary Lithuanian mythology, he was a separate deity, a teacher of people and checker of their morality. He shows like traveling old beggar. Dievas Senelis is proficient of magic and medicine.
- Indraja, a name of a star (feminine, means the Jupiter planet in many cases ).
- Jūratė and Kastytis are heroes of a Lithuanian legend, which subsequently became popular, mostly because of its modern poetic interpretation by Maironis. The queen of the amber palace Jūratė may be considered a manifestation of the goddess of Sea in this legend.
- Maro deivės, the goddesses of black death. Some sources depict them as women with white clothes and white horses. Maro deivės stoke fire on the hills, and where the smoke spreads begins the black death. Diedievaitė is one of Maro deivės.
- Praamžius, an epithet of the God.
- Sėlija, a name of a star (feminine, means the Saturn planet in many cases ).
- Vaivora, a name of a star (feminine, means the Mercury planet in many cases ).
- Žaltys, grass-snake, sacred pet
- Žiezdrė, , a name of a star (feminine, means the Mars planet in many cases ).
[edit] Unconfirmed names
These are names of gods and other mythical beings that are known from one source only, having no relevant description which allows them to be identified with elements of later myths. Names that were supposed by the authors of older treatises to be the names of Lithuanian gods are also included.
[edit] Theodor Narbutt's reconstruction
The historian Theodor Narbutt (Lith.: Teodoras Narbutas) between 1835 and 1841 wrote the ten volume work History of the Lithuanian Nation (Dzieje starożytne narodu litewskiego), of which the first volume contained a description of Lithuanian mythology. However Narbutt was accused by later historians not only of adopting too speculative an approach, but also of some falsifications. Thus, statements by this author not confirmed by other sources are considered by many scholars to be dubious. On the other hand, there are admirers of Narbutt's ideas who argue that he could have had his own sources, unknown to us.
The following list comprises those names of gods that are known only from Narbutt:
- Butė, goddess of wisdom. She has similarities with Athena, the Greek goddess
- Diedievaitė, one of Maro deivės, a deity of the black death.
- Dirvolira, a goddess of households and fields, for whom people sacrificed pigs.
- Gaila, a spirit of night, which obsessed people and animals in dreams.
- Kovas, a god of war, identical to the Prussian god Pikuls. Worshippers of Kovas would sacrifice black horses to him. The sacred bird of Kovas is the rook or crow. The word kovas or kovarnis also means 'a rook.'
- Milda, goddess of love.
- Nijolė, wife of Pykuolis, God of the Underworld.
- Praurimė
- Ragutis, god of beer and alcohol.
[edit] Jan Łasicki's lists
A Polish protestant activist of the 16th century, Jan Łasicki wrote a treatise on idolatry in Eastern Europe, where not only vestigial Lithuanian pagans but also contemporary Catholics are described as idolaters. This treatise, About gods of Samogitians, other Sarmatians, and false Christians (De diis Samagitarum caeterorumque Sarmatarum et falsorum Christianorum, 1615), contains a few lists of gods (including Catholic saints), with brief descriptions of every item. However, Łasicki's descriptions were criticised by almost all later scholars as being irrelevant and biased (e.g., he gave as the names of gods words that obviously mean inanimate things, and should have been described at most as sacred utensils).
Lists by Jan Łasicki also include names of mythical creatures that aren't mentioned in any other independent sources.
- Austėja, a household goddess of bees. Later hypothetical reconstructions say, that people were sanctifying grasslands for her. Austėja sometimes goes with Žemyna. They both are goddesses of prolificacy, wedding women, and growing of family. Austėja is wife of Bubilas.
- Beržulis (Biržulis), a household (?) god, whose functions Łasicki failed to know. A god of birches and birch sap, according to reconstruction, that's based on a possible ethymology.
- Brėkšta, a goddess of twilight according to Łasicki. Possible mistake.
- Bubilas, a household god of bees. Later hypothetical reconstructions say, that people sacrificed honey for Bubilas (not reinterptreted originall sources say for God). People believed that doing so would make bees swarm better. Bubilas is the husband of Austėja (interpretation of a reconstruction).
- Dvargantis, a household (?) god, whose functions Łasicki failed to know.
- Gardūnytis
- Gondas, approximately, a (local?) god of domesticity and human sexuality.
- Karvaitis, a household god of calves.
- Keliukis, a deity of paths and roads. Possible associations with Kelio Dievas 'the God in a road' or 'the god of a road', known from other sources.
- Kerpyčius, a forest god, according to Łasicki. The ethymology implies a spirit of lichen rather than a god.
- Kirnis, the word means 'cherry-tree' in Lithuanian, Łasicki considered Kirnis a local god of cherries, but it's his possible mistake.
- Kriukis (Krukis), a household god of pigs (Lasicki).
- Lazdona, a goddess of hazelnuts (Łasicki), the ethymology shows real connection with hazels.
- Pagirnis, a sacred being connected with a cult of grass-snakes. The name literally means "underquerner". See also: Žaltys
- Pyzius
- Šilinytis, a forest god, according to Łasicki. The ethymology implies a spirit of a forest rather than a god.
- Srutis, a god of paint (Łasicki, doubted).
- Vaižgantas, a god of flax, according to Łasicki; perhaps it was a real name of the spirit of flax.
- Veliuona, a goddess of death, according to Łasicki; it's a possible name of the goddess of death (or of the personalized Death), if not a mistaken velionis ('the deceased').
[edit] Maciej Stryjkowski's list
- Karorius, a deity of war and war-horses.
- Krūminė, a household deity of brushes, bushes and husbandry and an inventor of agriculture. The parallel name in Latvian mythology is Krumu mate. According to Theodor Narbutt, Pykuolis, the master of the underworld, kidnapped the daughter of Krūminė, Nijolė. Krūminė was traveling over the earth, looking for her daughter and teaching people about agriculture. Once she found a stone, where Dievas had inscribed the wyrd of Nijolė. Krūminė visited her daughter and when she came back to the earth, she saw that the households of people were better than they were before. Krūminė should be identical to the Greek goddess Demetra. Logically it may also be assumed that Pykuolis and Nijolė parallel the Greek deities Hades and Persephone respectively.
[edit] Russian chronicles
Some names from Lithuanian mythology are also found in Russian chronicles of the 13th and 14th centuries. These names have minimal or no comments, and it's thus difficult to be sure as to what kind of beings are being named in each case:
- Sovijus
- Žvoruna
[edit] Other names
The names, that were more marginal in Lithuanian mythology or less known from existing sources are put here. In fact they denote some spirits or local deities, that don't play the main role in the mythology of Lithuanians.
- Blizgulis, a god of snow. His name means "that who glitters."
- Junda, perhaps a goddess of war. Known merely from its name.
- Baubis, a household god of meat and cattle.
- Divytis, a god-like hero of fishermen legends. Fishermen at the sea were singing songs about Divytis.
- Gabjauja, a household feminine spirit of stack-yards and grain. Women made beer and bread for Gabjauja's feast, which only kin would attend. The head of the family would pour a scoop of beer on the ground and say a prayer. Gabjauja is often associated with Gabija.
- Ganiklis, a household spirit of herds, sheep, and cowboys.
- Gardaitis, a god (a spirit?) of ships and sailors.
- Jagaubis, a household spirit of fire and the furnace.
