Perkūnas

Perkūnas (, , , , ) was the common Baltic god of thunder, and the second most important deity in the Baltic pantheon after Dievas. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, fire, war, law, order, fertility, mountains, and oak trees.

Key facts

Deity.type: Baltic
Deity.name: Perkūnas Pērkons
Deity.member_of: triune godhead including Potrimpo and Peckols (allegedly)
Deity.image: Perkunas of Kernavės.jpg
Deity.alt: Perkunas of Kernavės
Deity.caption: Statue possibly depicting Perkūnas
Deity.affiliation: Sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, fire, war, law, order, fertility, mountains, and oak trees
Deity.cult_center: Romuva (allegedly)Vilnius temple (1263-1387)
Deity.weapon: Axe or sledgehammer, stones, a sword, lightning bolts, a bow and arrows.
Deity.symbol: Swastika
Deity.tree: Oak, Rowan
Deity.color: Red, White
Deity.day: Thursday
Deity.Indo european_equivalent: Perkʷūnos
Deity.Slavic_equivalent: Perun
Deity.Norse_equivalent: Thor
Deity.Celtic_equivalent: Taranis
Deity.equivalent1_type: Finnic

via Wikipedia infobox

~16 min read

Encyclopedic overview

18 sections

Contents

Etymology
Proto-Indo-European god ''*Perkʷúh₃nos''
From ''*perkʷ-'' "oak"
From ''*per-'' "to hit"
Slavic borrowing
Perkūnas in written sources
Representation in mythology
Weapons and vehicle
Perkūnas' family relations
Perkūnas and Velnias
Prussian Perkūns
Latvian Pērkons
In modern culture
See also
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

== Etymology == The name of the god is attested as Lithuanian , Latvian , Sudovian . There are also homonymous or similar-sounding words meaning "thunder": Lithuanian , Latvian , , , Old Prussian .

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Perkūnas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.