Latvian: Lauma, Lithuanian: Laumė is a woodland fae, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate.
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In Latvian mythology Lauma is an assistant at birth, assuring the health and welfare of both mother and child. If the mother does not survive, or gives the child up, she takes on the role of spiritual foster mother for the child. She spins the cloth of life for the child, but weeps at the fate of some. The fact that the cloth can, to a degree, weave itself, indicates a higher power than Lauma.
Over the years, her image has gradually degraded. Accused of baby-snatching by disrespectful husbands (since she is unable to bear children of her own), her looks and sweetness were lost, turning her into an evil old hag. She weeps at her destined fate, hoping for the day when she will return to her former beautiful self.
Laumė in Lithuanian mythology is a lower spirit, nymph or fairy. Laumės usually have birds’ claws for feet. They usually appear in groups of three. Laumės are able to do women’s work perfectly, and are especially skilled in weaving and spinning. They love children, respect industriousness and help those in need. They punish those who ridicule them, and those who are lazy. Following are two example folk tales featuring Laumės:
A woman was harvesting a flower bed and had taken her child with her. She was so busy with her work that the child slept the day through, and she left the little one behind.
The woman went home at the end of the day to milk the cows and make dinner. She served her husband, who asked her "Where’s my son?" With terror she whispered, "I have forgotten him!" She ran as fast as she could to the place in which she left her son, hearing a Laumé speak: "Čiūčia liūlia, forgotten child." The mother, from the distance, asked the Laume for her child back. The fairie said, "Come, come, dear woman, take your child, we have done nothing to him. We know that you work very hard, at many jobs, and that you didn’t want to leave your child behind."
The fairies then went on to shower the babe with much treasure, enough gifts to raise several children upon. The mother went home with her precious baby and with her gifts; she was greeted with great joy.
Another woman, hearing of her good fortune, was taken over by jealousy. She took to thinking, "I shall do the same as her, and also be showered in gifts." The next evening, at dusk, she took her child, left him in the fields and went home. She ate dinner, thoughtlessly, before pausing to think of her child-- and the treasure.
When she approached the field, she heard the fairies, "Čiūčia liūlia, you left your child in greed." And the child screamed with such great pain, for he was pinched and tortured mercilessly. They continued their torture until the mother came. The fairies tossed the child at her feet. The babe was dead.
A Laumė would come to a window and would yell, "Hundreds born, hundreds died, what of his fate?" Another would answer back, "Birth at night, death at night." And again they would yell and moan at the window. From within another would answer, "This nightly birth is a big layabout, to consume his whole life long." Again, yelling at the window, "Hundreds born, hundreds dead, what of his fate?” Another answer: "Morning time born will be a strong worker". And again, after some time, begins the same questioning. The answer was "Noontime born is a very happy child, full of life and true wealth."
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