Perkūnas

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perk%C5%ABnas

The earliest attestation of Perkūnas seems to be in the Russian translation of "Chronicle" of John Malala (2-nd half of 13 century) where it is spoken about worship "Перкоунови рекше громоу", and "Livonian rhymed chronicle" (ок. 1290) with a mention of idol Perkūnė. Special position borrows Item - Perkuns in a Prussian pantheon. Simon Grunau ("Chronicle", beginning 16 century) In the description of a Prussian banner places Perkūnas, represented in shape angry men of average years with the twisted black beard, topped with a flame, between young man Potrimps and old Patols. The same central position borrows Perkūnas in the description of a sacred oak in sanctuary Romowe; before it burned unextinguishable fire - a symbol of the god. Perkūnas sends a rain, a thunder and a lightning, Old Prussians appeal to it at prayers, it is served by special priests.

In the composition "Constitutiones Synodales" (1530) Perkūnas mention in the list of gods before the god of the hell Pikuls and it is identified with the Roman Jove, as well as in "Sudovian book" where Perkūnas (Parkuns) it is mentioned in connection with ritual of celebration of a goat - animal Item At J.Maletsk and J.Lasitsk (16 century) Perkūnas (Pargnum) - the god of thunders and storms. In a triad of Prussian gods Perkūnas symbolizes the maximum rise of making forces (including vegetative, - compare communication Perkūnas with summer, an oak), courage, success, and also the top world, the sky, a rain, a thunder, heavenly fire (lightning) as cosmological elements, as against Potrimps (the ground, a crop, cereals) and Patols (hell, death). As a heavenly (atmospheric) deity Prussian Perkūnas, apparently, the assistant and the executor of will Dievas‘s – Okopirmas‘s, but surpasses the maximum god on a urgency for the person and concreteness of mythological functions.

In Western-Baltic traditions of description Perkūnas as malicious spirit, demon, idol meet in Christian compositions: in "Chronicle" Malala, J.Dlugosh's composition (15 century) where Perkūnas it is identified with the Jove esteemed as a lightning, etc. The Main source of reconstruction of image Perkūnas and the mythological plots connected to it - national songs. On songs about "heavenly wedding" is reconstructed a variant of a myth where the sun changes Perkūnas with a Mėnulis, for what Perkūnas splits month a sword. According to other variants, month leaves the sun after wedding, and Perkūnas punishes it; Perkūnas (or the son of god Dieviņš (Lat.) ) is present on wedding of dawn Aušra or the daughter of the sun; angry Perkūnas on road to wedding breaks an oak of the sun; on trip on its wedding accompanies with the sun with приданым; Perkūnas brings to an oak a gold belt, etc. Sometimes in these plots Perkūnas god Dievas replaces or is mentioned together with thunder dancing (on wedding?), And also sons of Dievas - the motive parallel to myths about children or sons of Perkūnas (compare also Perkuna to the aunt - Perkuna tete at Lasick – "aunt Perkūnė", mother of a thunder and a lightning, washing the dusty sun appear before to let out it in the sky next day). It is mentioned four sons of Perkūnas, that, apparently, it is connected with its seasonal periods (compare the Lithuanian formula: "Four Perkūnases: east, western, southern and northern", and it is quite often these Perkūnases seven refer to as brothers), or (nine can correspond with days of week), and it is simple much (compare lith. "Perkūnų yra daug", that precisely corresponds other - other "Perunj estj mnogj"). Besides correlation to four parties of light and seasons Perkūnas it is connected to Thursday, day of Perkūnas (day of the Thunderer in many traditions: compare Polabian Peräune-dǻn, "day of Perun", Lith. Perkūno diena, Correlation the Latvian, ceturdiena, "Thursday", with day of a thunder, in old sources - with the Jove), the middle of week, day of thunder-storms and rains, and also weddings. It agrees to the data of folklore, Perkūnas wanted to marry on Thursday, but features this day has stolen its wife (Vaiva, compare lits. vaiva, "rainbow", or, in reconstruction, Lemin; it is indicative, that some female employment of banning on Thursday to avoid intervention feature). Features (the Latvian, velns, Lith. velnias) in national songs - reduced and Christianization an image of the opponent of the Thunderer, the god of hell and death Vels, Velnias, Velinas. Perkūnas expels for change the wife, and in some variants and children, itself remains in the sky or, on the contrary, Dievas lifts Perkūnas from the ground on the sky. In the sky there are stones of Perkūnas - the motive connected with Indo-European mythology - of the stone sky. The dwelling Perkūnas on the ground is dated to a height, high or stone mountain: compare Lith. toponymy such as Perkūnkalnis, "mountain of Perkūnas", or Griausmo kalnas, "mountain of a thunder". On mountain oak Perkūnas‘s (compare etymological communication of name Perkūnas with mountain and an oak, and also lits is sometimes mentioned. Perkūno ąžuolas, the Latvian Pērkona ozols, "oak of Perkūnas" in a source of 1-st half of 19th century). In an oak it is hidden features, and Perkūnas splits its lightning; in plots under an oak the snake jack (snakes - opponent of Perkūnas) is located . Perkūnas pursues thunders of the opponent - feature, in reconstruction – Vels‘s, Conduct - picaroon, the thief of fertility and cattle. That is hidden in a tree, a stone, turns in various хтонических or demonic animals - a black cat, a dog, a pig, a goat, in zoomorphic representatives of three elements (air, the ground and water) - the pigeon, the lamb and a pike, to the cow (compare the Latvian representations about feature with the cow hoofs) and the person. Perkūnas pursues the opponent on the sky (on stone mountains) on a chariot, stone, fiery (Lith. ugnies rãtai), sometimes iron, red, harnessed in pair (less often the four, the three) horses (goats) red and white (black and white) colours, in haul or in the carriage. (Compare the Lithuanian deity of horses and chariots Ratainyčia - at Lasick‘s Ratainicza, from Lith. ratai "chariot"; mythologized an image of a chariot - the Big She-bear.) It agrees Samogitians to representations, Perkūnas can act and as the horseman on a fiery horse. On heavenly chariot of Perkūnas appears in shape of the gray-haired old man with the big beard (different colors, including copper), in the white and black clothes, holding a goat on a cord in one hand and a horn or an axe - in another. Weapon of Perkūnas - an axe or sledgehammer, stones, a sword, beating lightnings, an onions and arrows, bullets, bat (club), birches (scourges, compare name Perkūnas‘s Dievo rykštė, "a scourge of the god", Diverikjzj, the Russian annals), a knife; it can be stone, iron, copper, fiery. Quarrel of Perkūnas with the opponent can sometimes speak and theft at the Thunderer of the weapon, its shelter under stones. Perkūnas itself acts as the creator of the weapon (Akmeninis kalvis, "the stone smith") or it is helped by heavenly smith Televelis (Kalvelis). On some representations, lightnings are let out by heavenly millstones (compare the general Indo-European root *mel|d | for the Balto-Slavic words with value "lightning", "молот" (sledgehammer), "молотьба" (beating by sledgehammer) ). The opponent of Perkūnas it is hidden in a hollow of a tree, a stone (attributes of Perkūnas); natural boundaries and a lay of land arise during prosecution Perkūnas‘s feature: compare toponymy such as "river of Perkūnas", "mountain of Perkūnas", "lake of Perkūnas", on the one hand, and "a bog feature", "a stone feature", "lake feature" - with another. The culmination moment of prosecution by the Thunderer of the opponent - a thunder-storm; she not only clears the ground of evil spirits and returns the stolen cattle, the weapon, etc., but also means returning to the ground of the fertility growing (instead of covert) riches. With interdictions and the instructions regulating behaviour during a thunder-storm, are connected interdict onomatopoeic names Perkūna‘s - Lith. Dundulis, Dundutis, Dūdų senis, Tarškulis, Tarškutis, Blizgulis, etc. By descriptions of rituals in honour of Perkūnas, the Thunderer took a taking priority place among the Baltic deities in sphere of a cult and was allocated with universal functions, first of all the carrier of fertility. Compare, for example, ritual of calling of a rain in Latvia (a latin source 1610), made on a hill in a grove, with sacrifice of animals of black color, a meal, conections with fire, and relatives Western-Slavic (compare. Dodola, Peperuda) and others Indo-European parallels testifying to the greatest development of the Indo-European cult and mythology of the Thunderer in the Baltic tradition.