Baltic mythology is the body of

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. Baltic mythology ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Baltic region was one of the last regions of Europe to be Christianized, a process that began in the 15th century and continued for at least a century afterward. While no native texts survive detailing the mythology of the Baltic peoples during the pagan period, knowledge of such beliefs may be gained from Russian and German chronicles, from later folklore, from

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

and from the reconstructions of comparative mythology.Puhvel (1989:222-229). While the early chronicles (14th and 15th century) were largely the product of missionaries who sought to eradicate the native paganism of the Baltic peoples, rich material survives into Baltic folklore. This material has been of particular value in

Indo-European studies Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical p ...

as, like the

Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lan ...

, it is considered by scholars to be notably conservative, reflecting elements of Proto-Indo-European religion. The Indo-European

Divine Twins The Divine Twins are youthful horsemen, either gods or demigods, who serve as rescuers and healers in Proto-Indo-European mythology. Like other Proto-Indo-European divinities, the Divine Twins are not directly attested by archaeological or writt ...

are particularly well represented as the '' Dieva dēli'' (Latvian 'sons of god') and ''Dievo sūneliai'' (Lithuanian 'sons of god'). According to folklore, they are the children of ''Dievas'' (Lithuanian and Latvian - see Proto-Indo-European * Dyeus). Associated with the brothers and their father are two goddesses; the personified Sun, '' Saule'' (Latvian 'sun') and ''Saules meita'' (Latvian 'Sun's daughter').Mallory & Adams (1997:163).

Notes

References

* Puhvel, Jaan (1989 987. ''Comparative Mythology''.

Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publ ...

. * Mallory, J. P. Adams, Douglas Q. (Editors) (1997). ''

Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...

''.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Ki ...

* Balode-Anelauskaitė, Laimutė. "Baltic names of deities in the hydronyms of Latvia and Lithuania". In: ''Perspectives of Baltic philology''. 1 / ed. by Jowita Niewulis-Grablunas, Justyna Prusinowska, Ewa Stryczyńska-Hodyl. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Rys, 2008. pp. 21-40. . * Běťáková, Marta Eva; Blažek, Václav. ''Encyklopedie baltské mytologie''. Praha: Libri. 2012. . * * * Calin, Didier.
Indo-European Poetics and the Latvian Folk Songs
'. Riga: 1996. Thesis (expanded version). * Dini P. U., Mikhailov N.
Materiali preliminari per una bibliografia della Mitologia baltica
In: ''Res Balticae'', Nr. 03, 1997. pp. 165-213. * Dini P. U., Mikhailov N.
Materiali preliminari per una bibliografia della Mitologia Baltica. II
In: ''Res Balticae'', Nr. 7, 2001. pp. 101–116. * * Vėlius, Norbertas. ''Senovės baltų pasaulėžiūra: struktūros bruožai'' he World Outlook of the Ancient Balts Vilnius: Mintis, 1983. * Young, Francis. ''Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic: Sixteenth-Century Ethnographic Accounts of Baltic Paganism''. Arc Humanities Press, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781802700213. * Zaroff, Roman. "Some aspects of pre-Christian Baltic religion". In: ''New researches on the religion and mythology of the Pagan Slavs''. Edited by Patrice Lajoye. Paris: Lingva, 2019. pp. 183–219. * ''Lietuvių mitologija''. T. 3. Sudarė N. Vėlius ir G. Beresnevičius. Vilnius: Mintis, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic Mythology

Mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

Indo-European mythology

See also

Notes

References

Further reading