Kosmoloģiskie priekšstati Latvijas klinšu rakstos un sprēslicu ornamentos
Cosmological Ideas in Latvian Rock Carvings and on Distaffs

Summary/Abstract: All the foregoing studies about Latvian mythology have been based mainly on folklore, particularly on Latvian folk songs or dainas. The aim of this article is to present Latvian rock carvings and folk art as another important source for research in the field of mythology and cosmology in particular. The author in this article analyzes four images containing mythical information. Two of them are rock carvings from Rock Virtaka and Rock Krustu (both located in Western Vidzeme and dating back to the 17th—18th centuries), while the other two are engravings on distaffs from Saldus county in Kurland (1882) and Rokiškis district in Aukštaitija (North-East Lithuania, 1822). Although these pictures have been made with different purposes, in different places and times, they all have the same structure and represent the same mythical ideas. They depict both the horizontal and the vertical world model, the distaff from Saldus being the most impressive example of this combination. The horizontal world model is shown in detail. The centre and the four cordial points have been marked there as well as some other elements. The vertical world model is represented by the World Tree, which has three or nine branches and which grows in the centre of the world, and the sky, which in Latvian mythology is imagined as a golden, silver, amber, or stone hill that covers the world. The sun wheel, which goes across the sky, has been depicted on the Saldus distaff as well. Explanation of all these elements is supported by parallels in folklore and archaeology.

• Details
• Contents