Latvian mythology

Latvian mythology is set of paganic beliefs of Latvian people reconstructed from written evidence and folklore materials. It is closely related to earlier Baltic mythology.

There are few reports of Baltic tribes, the ancestors of modern Latvians, and their mythology until Christianization in the 13th century. Since Christianization, there have been several reports related to local mythology including chronicles, travel reports, visitation records, Jesuit reports and other accounts of pagan practices. These reports are considered secondary sources by researchers because since the authors were not Latvian, they did not speak the local languages and often were biased. These materials are sometimes imprecise and contain errors, fabrications, and distortions stemming from a Christian world view. Despite this, they can often be verified using information from folklore. Most folklore materials have been collected since the mid-19th century.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was assumed that Baltic tribes were originally one nation and thus had the same deities. Early authors trying to reconstruct a Latvian pantheon using data from neighboring regions. This trend was later also adapted by Latvian national romanticists. After the abolition of serfdom, a new national identity was forming and authors sought to prove that Baltic cultural traditions were as deep as those of other nations. It was hoped that a grand epic could be constructed using pieces preserved in folklore. It was also thought that the ancient religion, forgotten during 700 years of oppression, could be reconstructed. However folklore sources proved insufficient for the task. Some attempted to reconstruct pantheons to be as impressive as in Greek mythology, which led to some deities being simply invented. Besides the assumption that deities of other Baltic peoples must be Latvian as well but were simply lost over time, many new deities were modeled after Greek and Roman deities. An example of the trend is the epic poem Lāčplēsis by Andrejs Pumpurs, which features a pantheon of Latvian and Prussian gods and some the author has invented himself. Similarly, works of Juris Alunāns and poet Miķelis Krogzemis feature pantheons of invented deities.

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