Religion of the Balts

Straipsnyje bus apžvelgta vandenyno (jūros, marių) simbolika vedose – seniausiose indoarijų religinėse giesmėse,
kurios galėjo būti sukurtos apie II tūkstantmečio pr. Kr. vidurį. Vedinė vandenų simbolika jau buvo nagrinėta
pristatant „Rigvedos“ giesmių apie upes („Liaudies kultūra“, 2015, Nr. 4 ) ir Sarasvatę (2015, Nr. 6) vertimus,
tačiau platūs vandenys taip pat pasižymi reikšminga simbolika, kuri, regis, dar išvis nėra tinkamai tyrinėta.
Šiais laikais dažniausiai telkiamasi į „gamtinį“ vedų aiškinimą: vedų tekstuose minimiems vaizdiniams įtemptai
ieškoma daiktiškųjų atitikmenų. Taip aiškindami klaustume, ar senovės indoarijai pažino jūrą, vandenyną
šiuolaikine šio žodžio prasme. Gal įvaizdis atsineštas iš indoeuropiečių prosenovės? O gal buvo įkvėptas vietoje
esančių plačių upių, didelių ežerų? Klasikinėje Vakarų indologijoje plačiau įsigalėjusi nuomonė, kad indoarijai
vandenyno kaip tokio nepažino, o jo vaizdinys bus arba atsineštinis, arba įkvėptas vietinių upių santakų, arba
dargi dangiškojo vandenyno metaforos1. Kita vertus, gausu veikalų, kuriuose įrodinėjama senovės arijus nuo
seno gyvenus prie jūrų2. Apie tai dabar išvis nekalbėsime: mums rūpės įvairių vandens telkinių simbolika.

ANGELS AND DEVILS IN THE TRADITIONAL LITHUANIAN WORLDVIEW: AFFINITIES AND OPPOSITIONS
In the article, I examine the allegedly opposing supernatural beings of the traditional Lithuanian worldview – angels and devils. Primarily, I discuss the ways of depicting the relationship between angels and devils in the Lithuanian folk narratives. The article aims at establishing features of angels and devils revealed in folklore, when both of them perform their activities under similar circumstances. It focuses on mythical common origins of the angels and devils and their activities as human companions.
According to my study, the affinity of the angels and devils is based, first, on their common primeval angelic nature, and on the functions that they perform, including their proximity to humans: following them in the course of their entire life and transporting their souls to another world after death. However, the actions of angels and devils respectively have different motivation, since they obey opposing forces that govern the world, namely, God or Lucifer. In folk narratives, activities of angels and devils are largely related to humans, and the human soul is their main goal; this reflects the important side of the traditional Lithuanian worldview – a constant battle between forces divine and demonic.
KEYWORDS: angels, devils, Lithuanian folklore, traditional worldview, Christian mythology.

From graves to settlements, and from the battlefield to underwater sacrificial sites, weapons dating to the Roman and Migration Period have long been found in an array of contexts throughout the region that forms modern-day Poland. This volume for the first time aims to draw together research into these finds, gathered throughout the author’s career, in a synthetic approach that sees discoveries of swords and other armaments analysed against a broad, comparative background. The work begins with a focus on votive deposits from lakes, here used as a lens for addressing questions about military strategy and war ritual more generally, before moving on to explore the weapons and warriors of the Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures, as well as shedding light on the lives of the Balts. Finally, an in-depth analysis is made of shields from the protohistoric period, exploring the genesis and variability of the forms taken by this protective weapon. Through this approach, this richly illustrated volume sheds new light not only on the typology and chronology of weaponry from the Roman and Migration Periods, but also on the symbolism and functionality that these arms held.

(LT) Tęsiamas 2018 m. pradėtas Pasvalio krašto senųjų vėjo malūnų istorijai, etnografijai ir paveldui skirtas straipsnių ciklas. Šis jau paskutinis ciklo straipsnis, kaip ir ankstesni, paremtas Pasvalio krašto muziejaus ir Vilniaus universiteto Istorijos fakulteto organizuotose ekspedicijose surinkta sakytinės istorijos (žmonių atsiminimų) medžiaga. Viliamasi, kad pu- blikacija padės atkreipti dėmesį į dar kelių išlikusių malūnų liūdnas realijas ar bent jau užfiksuos ir paskleis žmonių liudi- jimus, prisiminimus apie juos.

By applying the internal reconstruction and comparative methods, the article details the ethnological discourse of the 1262 insertion in the 6th-century Chronicle of John Malalas. It also disputes earlier authors’ hypothetical claims about how the meaning markers 9 boar spleens, 9 gates of hell, etc. relate to the referents abundance and the inherent vitality of the defeated enemy or the sun’s annual movement across the heavens and the 9 gates of the city of Rethra, and others. These ethno-mythological symbols are interpreted harnessing factography from the Old and New Testaments, the Christian dogmatism of the deadly sins (9 [→ 8 → 7]), also detailing Evagrius Ponticus’ and Slavic apotropes, such as the spleen (↔ food of the dead) and their ritual tradition of placing food in gates/gateways for the spirits of the deceased.

The article is dedicated to the history of Rambynas, one of
the most famous sacred sites of the Baltic religion. In 1811, at the
initiative of the miller of Bardėnai village, the sacred stone
was destroyed on the hill, and in 1835 and 1878, the slopes of
the hill, its shores washed by the Nemunas river, were destroyed. Readers should note the possibility of reconstruction of the appearance of this sanctuary, using numerous historical sources from the 14th−18th centuries and the data published in 19th-century authors’ articles and books.

The Padievaitis at Kvėdarna (Šilalė district) is one of the most
interesting monuments of Lithuanian archaeology, mythology,
and history studied by archaeologists from Klaipėda University, Gintautas Zabiela and Vykintas Vaitkevičius, in recent years. In 1971, Vytautas Urbanavičius did archaeological research at the Padievaitis stone throne. He concluded that it was one of the oldest sanctuaries known in Lithuania, and it was destroyed in February 1329, along with the castle standing
on the Padievaitis mound.

The article is dedicated to the sacred pine trees that grow or used to grow in Viekšniai environs (Mažeikiai, Akmenė, and Telšiai districts). It is the most significant part of the local tradition of ancient sacred sites, which is still alive. The importance of its research transcends the boundaries of
Samogitia and provides important data for the researchers of sacred sites of all Lithuania and the neighbouring countries.
The results of field research carried out in 2010–11, as well as the analysis of archival data and publications, shows that the tradition of sacred
pines is derived from Baltic (Lithuanian and Latvian) mythology, which has the image of the Sun as a pine tree, or the crown of a pine tree. This image is very close to the belief that a pine tree is a mythical chair, the place here the Sun goes to sleep at night – the red rays of the sun descending (into the chair) glow in the crown of a pine tree, lighting up a branch or a space between the branches.

This article talks about the latest discoveries in Karšuva Forest,
located between Jurbarkas and Tauragė. In January 2022, with
the help of local residents, the path called Krivultakis, a few
hundred meters long, leading to an area of the Eičiai forest
called Krivulės, was localised. This news about a location of ancient meetings in a secluded part of Karšuva Forest is extremely rare and valuable (people were invited to the meetings by the elder sending out crooked or intentionally twisted
sticks − krivulės, Fig. 5).
A unique fact is that next to Krivuliai is a place in the same forest called Meškos ausis [Bear ear], originating from the old Lithuanian expression “Living as in a bear’s ear” [i.e. living a rich, calm, comfortable life]. This gives reason to believe that the Eičiai forest meeting place was directly related to a sanctuary of the old religion. The meetings of our ancestors
could have been held in the sacred forest.

The first part of the article examines data about the little-known Lenkaičiai oak on the bank of the Gedikos stream (Medingėnai c., Rietavas d.). Until its fall in the autumn of 1967, it contended with the Stelmužė oak in girth of the trunk (about 8.44−8.98 m.), height (about 27 m.) and volume (about
67−75 m3). This research prompted us to continue to gather facts about the old Lithuanian oak trees and to raise the question of how they survived when the forest was harvested and sold throughout the country for the past 600 years. This initial investigation is covered by the second part of the article.
Analysis of the data on the 40 thickest and, supposedly, oldest oak trees in Lithuania led to the conclusion that the least number of such trees remained in forests (2 cases), most − in manors and folwarks (9), villages and single-homestead settlements (14). 8 oaks were recorded as located in the forest, fields, pastures, river bends, i.e. in the spaces between the forest and the settlements; the rest grow by churches (3) and in
cemeteries (4).
Most oaks from this list were not cut down as a result of the highest spiritual value – the felt and/or experienced sacredness of the tree, the deep tradition of the Baltic sanctuaries that were there and still remain, which in the 19th and 20th c. meant respect and certain safeguards, and the old holidays and rites turned into gatherings of social and cultural significance, for the entertainment of young people. With reservations, this
conclusion applies also to old oaks in manor and folwark parks
as well their other spaces.

This article summarises the data collected over nearly three
decades on about 231 footprint stones in 32 of the 60 municipalities in Lithuania; four dozen footprint stones are today protected as objects of archaeological and/or mythological value.

Jan Dlugosz (1415–1480), the historian to the estate of Casimir IV Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, provided data about the fact that Grand Duke Algirdas (1345–1377), dressed in purple clothing sparkling with gold edging and a coat bound with a gilded silver belt, was cremated together with his best charger, which was covered with blanket woven with pearls and precious stones, in one of the special forests, in which Lithuanian families had created special hearths to cremate the bodies of the dead

Knygoje pirmą kartą sutelktos žinios apie baltų religijos šventvietes istorinės Dainavos žemės dalyje, kuri apima Varėnos rajoną ir Druskininkų savivaldybę. Leidinio įvade apžvelgiami su šventvietėmis, jų tyrinėjimų
istorija ir apsauga susiję klausimai. Toliau aprašomos 199 Varėnos r. ir 46 Druskininkų sav. šventvietės, skelbiamos jų geografinės padėties koordinatės, matmenys, daugelis archeologinių, istorinių, kalbinių,
tautosakinių ir etnologinių duomenų, XVIII–XX a. žemėlapių iškarpos, schemos, piešiniai ir nuotraukos.

The lower reaches of the Daugava in the Mesolithic and Neolithic were sparsely populated until the second half of the Early Bronze Age (1800–1100 BC). The situation began to change from the 14th century BC, when the process of Neolithisation was over, and the local communities switched completely to animal husbandry and agriculture. In terms of social and economic relations, the area reached its highest level of development in the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC), which continued, albeit with a downward trend, in the Earliest Iron Age (500–1 BC). The article discusses the conditions that promoted the economic prosperity and social development of societies in the lower reaches of the Daugava in the direction of differentiation. The most important condition for this development was the involvement of lower Daugava societies in the long-distance exchange network between Scandinavia and the Volga-Kama region, where the main object of exchange was bronze, and the related focus on the proces...

A characteristic of the Bronze Age in the area of present-day Latvia was a fairly wide range of bronze, stone and bone weapons. The possibility of military clashes, too, is indicated by the building of fortified residential sites, hill-forts. A whole corpus of evidence testifies to the new way of life adopted by the elite of Bronze Age society, where the ideology of warfare also played a certain role.

Research background.The biodiversity of lakes makesthem important as natural resource fortourism. Lakes all over the world are used as a resource for ecotourism, natural tourism, leisure tourism andtheyattract millions of tourists. The useof lakes for sports, entertainment, swimming, fishing,etc.is of greatimportance to the public.There are 2833 lakes larger than 0.5 ha in Lithuania. Utena County has 35% shareof all Lithuanian lakes larger than 0.5 ha. So this is a very important region of lake tourism development inLithuania.Researchaim.The object of the researchisbigger than 0.5 ha lakes of UtenaCounty, and theresearchaim is to analyse lake tourism development in Utena County.Methods.Scientific literature, web sites, legislation on lake tourism and recreational activities on thelakes and in the lakeshore, ArcGis software programme were used as references for writing the article.There are 1001 lakes, bigger than 0.5 ha, in UtenaCounty. Since thereare a great number of lakes, inorde...

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 0-9545682-5-7 First published in 2008 by The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, MacRobert Building, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 5UA Edited by Ian Russell and Mary Anne Alburger

The River Volkhov, connecting Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga, used to be atransportation line of utmost importance in northern Russia (Fig. 1). As earlyas the 8th–9th century AD, the water route along the Volkhov was masteredby the Slavs – migrants from the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. During theViking epoch, two major townships of northern Russia appeared at the headand the outfall of the Volkhov: they were Ladoga and the predecessor of Novgorod, Rurik’s Township. And in the second quarter of the 10th centuryNovgorod the Great was founded. For the city’s population, the River Volkhovwas not only the basis of their economic life, but also a sacred natural feature.  

This paper summarises the research material of the ongoing global grant project, “Modern Research of Geolinguistics in Lithuania: Optimisation of Network of Points and Interactive Spread of Dialectal Information.” The project aims to collect the most important sociolinguistic data of the entire Lithuanian language area, with the purpose of carrying out a primary analysis of the items found in order to make a record of the Lithuanian language situation at the beginning of the 21st century.In fact, the collecting of toponyms started earlier, especially after the foundation of the Group of Onomastics at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language and Literature in 1958. In the period of 1976–1986, the Institute, in collaboration with the Society of Heritage Protection and Regional Studies, launched 11 major expeditions to several regions of Lithuania. Expeditions on onomastics and dialectology were also organised at the Vilnius University Kaunas Facu...

A well-grounded system of Roadside Rest Areas (RRA) for transit travellers and local inhabitants in Latvia and Lithuania is absent. To select places for the location of RRA on Latvian–Lithuanian cross-border roads space syntax method and GIS-based analysis was used. The aim of this article is to present the developed methodology, results of the performed research and to lead discussion for the further development and applicability of the methodology. The application of space syntax method to nine transit roads in Latvian–Lithuanian border zone reveals that considering both local and regional contexts three roads or their parts could be recommended for the location of RRA. For the more precise location of RRA GIS-based method was developed. This method includes the GIS capabilities of information collection, spatial analysis and multi-criteria (eight criteria were selected) evaluation. The main proposed methodical stages are: creation of the thematic GIS database; formulation of RRA ...

For a long time, folklore researchers from various countries struggled to determine if charms and prayers belonged to the same folklore genre, or two different ones. In Lithuania, this question used to be discussed in somewhat smaller extent, mainly concentrating on the comparison between charms and prayers addressed to the deities of the ancient Lithuanian religion (Žemyna, Gabija, the New Moon, etc.). The goal of this article is clarifying the features that enable establishing affinity between charms and prayers to gods, and what this says regarding the interconnection between these genres. Having discussed the problematic terminology in the 20th century Lithuanian folklore research, the author goes on to analyze the charms that are characterized by direct addressee and peculiar form of communication akin to prayers, namely employing the soft power, i. e. the action strategy based on mutual agreement. Such kind of charms in the article are defined as soft. According to the author’...