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.

Contents

[edit] Names from folklore 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.
  • Dievas Senelis ('God Old Man'), a manifestation of God. According some reconstructions, that do not recognize manifestations of God in the primary Lithuanian mythology, he was a separate deity, a teacher of people and judge of their morality. He looks like an old traveling beggar. Dievas Senelis is proficient at magic and medicine.
  • Praamžius, an epithet of 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 or Vakarė (the evening Venus, who makes the bed for the Sun (Saulė), Indraja (Jupiter), Sėlija (Saturn), Žiezdrė (Mars) and Vaivora (Mercury), sometimes appear in mythic stories too.

[edit] Heroes and Heroines

  • Pajauta, the legendary princess of Kernavė
  • 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.

[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. Alternative her name is Aušrinė.
  • 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 (hare), Meška (bear), Lapė (fox), Katinas (tomcat), Bubis, Bubas, Bubė, Baubas, Babaužis, Bobas, Maumas (bugaboo), Raudongalvis (red-headed), Raudongerklis (red-throated), Žaliaakis (green-eyed), Paplėštakis, Guda, Dizikas, Smauglys (boa), Ruginis (spirit of rye), Papiokė, Pypalas, Žebris, Arklys (horse), Vilkas (wolf).

[edit] Various lower 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 harasses people and tears their hair or stifles.
  • Giltinė, the goddess of death. Her sacral bird is the owl. Giltinė proclaims disaster. She goes with the goddesses of black death (Maro deivės). Sometimes she was considered to be a sister of Laima.
  • Ragana, a witch, bad woman, usually a wizard known from folk tales.
  • Slogutis
  • Velnias, devil
  • Žiburinis, a scary forest spirit that appears as a phosphorescent skeleton.
  • 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, the black death begins. Diedievaitė is one of the Maro deivės.

[edit] Holy places and things

  • Dausos or Dangus, the home 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 various written sources

Here are mentioned names of deities mentioned in various sources from 13th to 19th centuries. Some of these deities are not comfirmed by other sources (like most deities of T. Narbutt).

[edit] Russian chronicles

Some names from Lithuanian mythology are also found in Russian chronicles of the 13th century. These deities were worshiped by Lithuanian king Mindaugas secretly after baptizing. Russian chronicles is the best source of information about ancient Lithuanian pantheon worshiped by feodals and military.

  • Sovijus in 13th century Russian chronicles was a person who started new pagan custom to burn bodies after death.

There was a myth, telling about how Sovijus caught a boar. He cut out nine spleens of the boars and gave them to his sons to bake. But the sons ate the spleens. Sovijus got angry and went to the hell. He had to enter nine gates. Sovijus entered eight gates but entering the ninth ones was problematic. One of his sons helped him. Other brothers got to know this and said him to find the father in the hell. The son came to the hell, found the father and had a dinner with him. After dinner he buried him below ground. The following morning the son asked Sovijus if he slept well. Sovijus said that worms ate him. Then the son put the body of Sovijus to a tree (or box of tree). Following morning Sovijus said that his rest was terrible because bees ate him. Then the son burned the body of Sovijus on the stake. Following morning father said that his rest was perfect.

The mediaeval chronicles tells that this custom is very old and was called Sovica. Sovica was practicated not only by Lithuanians but also by other pagan tribes (Livonians, Estonians and others).

  • Žvoruna was an euphemism of the hunting and forest godess like Roman Diana. Her name is connected with wild animals. There was mentioned in chronicle that she is a bitch, it means that her zoomorphic shape is female dog.
  • Medeina (Medeinė) is other euphemism of the hunting and forest godess. Medeina also was mentioned in 16th century by J. Lasicki. She was worshiped by peasants.
  • Teliavelis (Televelis) was a powerful smith who made the sun and threw it to the sky. This myth survived in folk tales in the beginning of 20th century. Some scholars, like K. Būga tried to prove that Televelis is incorrectly written Kalvelis (smith diminutive in Lithuanian). Teliavelis has connections with Finnish Ilmarinen.
  • Andajus (Andajas, Andojas and etc...) was mentioned in medieval chronicles as supreme deity. It may be euphemism of Dievas. There was mentioned in chronicle that warriors invoke Andajus in battle.
  • Nonadievis (Nunadievis, by some scholars etimologized as Numadievis) is incorrectly written name of supreme god or jus another euphemism.
  • Perkūnas was the god of thunder, one of the most powerful deities. Perkūnas survived in people faith and folk tales till the 20th century.
  • Diviriks is thought to be one of Perkūnas euphemisms, meaning leader of gods.

[edit] Maciej Stryjkowski's list

Maciej Stryjkowski (1547-1586/1593) was Polish-Lithuanian historian. He printed very valuable book "Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all Russia" in 1582. Paganism belief survived perfectly in ethnic Lithuania till 9th decade of 16th century. Maciej Stryjkowski long time lived in GDL and Samogitia and wrote about pagan Samogitian and Lithuanian customs.

Styjkovski's list of deities worshiped by Lithuanians could be considered as peasant pantheon. As Gintaras Beresnevičiuspointed - all deities are undoubted except Didis Lado who was made by M. Stryjkowski from folk songs onomatopoeic word, refrain common in Baltic and Slavic folklore.

  • Prakorimas - an euphemism of the supreme deity. In folklore he is known as Dievas and Praamžius. In other sources he is mentioned as Aukštėjas, Andajus and etc... According to M. Stryjkowski people used to sacrifice white cocks to Prakorimas by beating them and dividing into three parts. First part was eaten by peasnts, second part was eaten by druids or priests (žynys in Lithuanian) and third part was burned. J. Stryjkowski points that Prakorimas was similar to Prussian supreme god Okopirmas. A. J. Greimas thinks that Prakorimas is connected with honeycombs and giants (titans) similar to Greek Kronos.
  • Rūgutis - a god of fermentation and fermented foods. Other his names in written sources: Raugupatis, Raugo Žemėpatis.
  • Žemininkas - the supreme deity of fertility and agriculture. People used to sacrifice black hens. Also grass-snakes were kept in house and fed with milk for honor of Žemininkas. S. Grunau mentions that grass-snakes were kept for honor of Patrimpas in Rikojoto (Prussian pagan temple).
  • Krūminė, Krūmine pradžių varpų a household deity of brushes, bushes and husbandry and an inventor of agriculture. Also she was protector of new crop. People used to sacrifice hens for Krūminė. Functions of the goddess are similar to spirits of folk-tales Javų Boba (woman of grain) and Kuršis (Curonian). 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.
  • Lietuvonis was the rain deity. Possible euphemism of Perkūnas because it's strange that M. Stryjkowski doesn't mention Perkūnas.
  • Kauriraris - the deity of war and war-horses. The name etimology is unclear. M. Stryjkowski mentioned it as Chaurirari and scientists do not agree about its real name. Vladimir Toporov thinks that it is derived from Lithuanian word kaurai (pelage, fur) and slavic suffix -or-. W. Mannhardt think that it is derived from Lithuanian word karas (war) and real name of the deity was Karorius.
  • Sutvaras was god of all cattle. Similar to Karvaitinis.
  • Šeimos dievas - god of family.
  • Upinis, Upinis dievas was god of rivers. Possible euphemism of Baltic water and fishing deity, similar to Ežerinis, Bangpūtys, Gardaitis or Greek Poseidon.
  • Bubilas - god of bees, he also is confirmed by J. Lasicki.
  • Gulbis similar to Roman Genius or Hebraic angel, the good spirit of every human. His name is connected with "swan" or "help". Women used to sacrifice white hens to Gulbis and men white cocks.
  • Ganiklis - god of herds, similar to Faun and Pan. People used to sacrifice animal testicles to Ganiklis. This ritual means that the god had very big maculine potency. He also could be a god of prolificacy.
  • Šventpaukštinis - god of all birds. People didn't use to sacrifice for him.
  • Kelių dievas - god of roads, trade and travel, similar to Hermes. People used to sacrifice white hens for him.
  • Pušaitis or Puškaitis was protector of chtonic beings (spirits) barstukas' or kaukas' . The god lives in bushes of elder. Vladimir Toporov says that Puškaitis is connected with Lithuanian word puškuoti meaning "to bud", "germinate". It is possible that Puškaitis came into Samogitian cult from neighboring Prussians or just M. Stryjkowski took it from Prussian sources.

[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. Łasicki's list is a trasure for mythologists. However, Łasicki's descriptions were sometimes criticised by 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). Here are some deities from J. Łasicki's lists.

Deities mentioned by Jan Łasicki:

  • Aukštėjas - an euphemism of the supreme god, connected with Lithuanian word "aukštas" meaning high. Some scholars think that it is euphemism of the Christian God and the highest deity was Perkūnas, but this is not obvious in others sources and folklore.
  • Perkūnas - thunder god. Jan Łasicki also mentions Audros dievas (god of storm), this is a possible euphemism of Perkūnas. Read other topics about Perkūnas.
  • Raugo Žemėpatis - an euphemism of the deity of sourdough, leaven and fermentation. The god was also mentioned by M. Stryjkovski as Rūgutis and M. Pretorius as Raugupatis (the god of fermentation). Raugo žemėpatis should not be confused with Žemėpatis. People sacrificed to Raugo Žemėpatis the first gulp of fresh beer (Nulaidimas) and the first loaf of bread (Tasviržis/Paviržis). Raugo Žemėpatis is similar to Indo-Aryan god Soma as G. Beresnevičius points.
  • Medeina - an euphemism of the forest and hunting deity. Read topic about deities from Russian chronicles.
  • Tavalas - the deity of physical strength. G. Beresnevičius notices that this deity could be the same medieval Teliavelis.
  • Gabija - goddess of home fire, similar to Roman Vesta. J. Łasicki also mentions other fire deities like Tratitas Kibirxtu (Sparker). But it is thought that they were not very important in peasant life.
  • Aušra mentioned as Ausca. It was the goddess of the morning star Venus. Other her name was Aušrinė.
  • Ežerinis mentioned as Ezernim. Probably the spirit or deity of lakes. Ežeras means lake in Lithuanian.

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 fecundity, brides, and growing families. Austėja is the 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 etymology.
  • Brėkšta, a goddess of twilight according to Łasicki. Also it could be an euphemism of Vakarė or just possible mistake.
  • Bubilas, a household god of bees. Later hypothetical reconstructions say that people sacrificed honey for Bubilas (original sources that weren't reinterpreted 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.
  • Karvaitinis, 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 etymology implies a spirit of lichens rather than a god.
  • Kirnis, the word means 'cherry-tree' in Lithuanian; Łasicki considered Kirnis a local god of cherries, but that could be a mistake.
  • Kriukis (Krukis), a household god of pigs (Lasicki).
  • Lazdona, a goddess of hazelnuts (Łasicki); the etymology 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 etymology 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] 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] Other names mentioned in written sources

This section contains those names of Lithuanian and Prussian 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) was a Prussian 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 Patulas, Patrimpas is part of Prussian 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) was Prussian deity of underworld. Alternative his names are Poklius and Pikulas.
  • Pergrubrijus (an Old Prussian name) was Prussian god of agriculture.
  • Žvaigždikis (Swaistix) (an Old Prussian name) the god of stars and/or of the light.

[edit] Local and nature spirits

  • Dimstipatis (probably euphemism of Žemėpatis or Žemininkas), is a masculine deity (genius loci). It is a household god, the guardian of houses and caretaker of the hearth. 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, is one of the harvest deities, worshipped by people before tilling and sowing.
  • Lauksargis, likely alternative name for Laukpatis.
  • Raugupatis, read topics about Raugo žemėpatis and Rūgutis.
  • 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 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 a 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 sea sang 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.
  • Gardaitis, a god (a spirit?) of ships and sailors.
  • Jagaubis, a household spirit of fire and the furnace.


[edit] External links

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[edit] References

http://www.tekstai.lt/metai/20060809/lietdiev.htm

http://viduramziu.lietuvos.net/socium/pagonybe.htm

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