List of Lithuanian gods and mythological figures


The list of Lithuanian gods is based on scarce written sources and late folklore. Many of them were outright invented. Lithuania converted to Christianity in 1387, but elements of Lithuanian mythology survived into the 19th century. The earliest written sources, authored by foreigners and Christians, only briefly mention the Lithuanian gods. Beginning in the 16th century, the pagan religion received more attention from authors, but often their accounts were confused, contradictory, and heavily influenced by various religious agendas. Collection and recording of folklore began in the 19th century, by which time the pagan mythology had become fragmented and mixed with Christian traditions. The cults of old deities transformed into folklore without associated rituals. Because of such difficulties in obtaining data, there is no accepted list of Lithuanian gods. Different authors present wildly contradictory reconstructions of the Lithuanian pantheon.

Names from folklore myths and legends

This section includes the names of gods, divine or demonic beings, and other personages from Lithuanian myths, legends, folklore, and fairy-tales.

Gods and goddesses

  • Ašvieniai, the divine twins who pulled the chariot of the Sun.
  • Aušrinė, the Morning Star, a goddess, a daughter of the God. She was the goddess of the morning. Alternatively her name is given as Aušra. Ushas in Vedic hinduism.
  • Auštaras, the god of the northeast wind, who stands at the gates of paradise and lights the way for those going to paradise. His function of shining this beacon makes him similar to Aušrinė; some consider him to be her cousin.
  • Bangpūtys, the god of the seas and storms ––he is two-faced like the Roman god Janus.
  • Dalia, goddess of fate and weaving.
  • Deivės Valdytojos, were the goddesses who made garments from human's lives. They were seven sisters: Verpiančioji, Metančioji, Audėja, Gadintoja, Sergėtoja, Nukirpėja, and Išskalbėja. They have similarities with the Greek Fates and the Norse Norns. Deivės Valdytojos were associated with Dalia and Laima.
  • Dievas, the supreme deity
  • Dievas Senelis, a teacher of people and judge of their morality. He looks like an old traveling beggar. Dievas Senelis is proficient at magic and medicine. Epithet of Dievas.
  • Gabija, the foster of the Holy Fire, a goddess, a daughter of Dievas .
  • Laima, goddess of Fate and pregnant women.
  • Mėnuo, the Moon, a son of Dievas .
  • Perkūnas, the Thunder, the main god. .
  • Praamžius, Praamžis, Pramšans, Pramžimas, Praamžimas, an epithet of Dievas ; probably of later literary origin.
  • Saulė, the Sun Goddess
  • Vakarinė, goddess of the Evening Star.
  • Vėjopatis, god of the wind and master of Dausos
  • Žemyna, goddess, the deified soil.
  • Žvaigždės, stars. Saulė is their mother and sometimes with the Moon as their father. One of the most important stars is Aušrinė. Other stars, Aušrinė's sisters, are less important, but they sometimes appear in mythic stories too. Especially notable ones are Vakarinė or Vakarė, Indraja , Sėlija , Žiezdrė, and Vaivora.

    Heroes and heroines

  • Pajauta, the legendary princess of Kernavė
  • Jūratė and Kastytis are heroes of a Lithuanian legend, which subsequently became popular, mostly because of its modern poetic interpretation by Maironis. The queen of the amber palace Jūratė may be considered a manifestation of the goddess of Sea in this legend.

    Local and nature spirits

  • Ežerinis, a spirit of lakes
  • Javinė, a household goddess who protects grain in barns.
  • Jievaras, a household spirit who protects grain. Sacrifices to Jievaras are made after the rye harvest. While cutting grain, women would leave a few grain tufts uncut, which would later be braided into plaits. They would also leave some bread and salt under the plait, and would say: Davei manei, Žemele, duodame ir tau, a request for the land to continue to be fruitful.
  • Kupolė, the spirit of springtime vegetation and flowers. The Festival of Kupolė was associated with Feast of St. John the Baptist. In this festival, women picked sacral herbs, danced and sang songs. Kupolinės is also known as Rasos. Compare this with Ziedu māte in Latvian mythology, Kupala in Polish mythology and Ivan Kupala in Russian mythology
  • Laukų dvasios, spirits, who were running through the fields. When crops in the fields waved in the wind, people saw them as being the actions of spirits. Laukų dvasios include Nuogalis, Kiškis, Meška, Lapė, Katinas, Bubis, Bubas, Bubė, Baubas, Babaužis, Bobas, Maumas, Raudongalvis, Raudongerklis, Žaliaakis, Paplėštakis, Guda, Dizikas, Smauglys, Ruginis, Papiokė, Pypalas, Žebris, Arklys, Vilkas.
  • Upinis, a spirit of rivers

    Various lower beings

  • Kaukas, spirits similar to leprechauns.
  • Laumė, a fairy-like female creature. Described as white and blue as the sky itself. Good spirit, very friendly with the Earth and Nature gods. However, if anyone tried to use them for personal gain, their punishment would be severe.
  • Nykštukas, gnomes.
  • Vėlės, spirits of dead human beings.

    "Demonic" beings

  • Aitvaras, a household spirit bringing both good and bad luck
  • ', an evil spirit with long lean arms, wrinkly fingers and red eyes. He harasses people and tears their hair or stifles them. To children, he is the equivalent of the boogeyman of the English-speaking countries. A misbehaving child could be told by the parents: "Behave, or baubas will come and get you". Also it could be described as a dark or black creature living under the carpet or in some dark spot of the house.
  • ' – goddess of death, also The Reaper. Other names include Kaulinyčia, Maras, Maro mergos, Kolera, Pavietrė, Kapinių žmogus. Her sacred bird is the owl. Sometimes she was considered to be a sister of Laima.
  • ', Lithuanian and Latvian word for witch.
  • Slogutis means pain, misery or nightmare. Also can mean fear or bad feelings.
  • Pinčiukas or Pinčukas; the word literally means "inhabitant of Pinsk" in Lithuanian. Bronislava Kerbelytė, in her work on classification of "devilish" beings in Lithuanian folklore remarks that often a stranger was seen as an evil being; on particular, "pinchuks" from Belarus were seen as strangers. She writes that in one East Lithuanian legend a pinčiukas is portrayed as a mischievous being. The devil Pinčiukas was popularized by the novel Baltaragis's Mill by Kazys Boruta, especially when it was turned into the first Soviet rock opera and musical film Devil's Bride. There Pinčiukas is a comic character: lazy, easily deceived, vengeful.
  • ', a scary forest spirit that appears as a phosphorescent skeleton.

    Holy places and things

  • or Dangus, the home of good souls. Dausos is on a high mountain, between two rivers. Like the Greek Garden of the Hesperides, the garden of Dausos contains trees which bear golden apples. Day in the garden is perpetual but outside its confines lies perpetual night. Master of Dausos is Vėjopatis or Vėjas who is also one of the oldest gods in Lithuanian mythology. Vėjas is identical to Vayu of Hinduism. Auštaras and Vėjopatis are the gatekeepers of Dausos. While Auštaras acts as the psychopomp of good souls, Vėjas blows bad souls into oblivion.

    Names by written sources

Earliest Rus' chronicles

Some names from Lithuanian mythology are also found in Kievan Rus' chronicles of the 13th century. These deities were secretly worshiped by King of Lithuania Mindaugas after his baptism. Rus' chronicles are considered the best source of information about the ancient Lithuanian pantheon worshiped by nobles and the military.
  • Sovijus in 13th-century Rus' chronicles was a person who introduced the pagan custom of burning bodies after death, according to studies by Gintaras Beresnevičius.
  • Žvoruna was a euphemism for the hunting and forest goddess like Roman Diana. Her name is connected with wild animals. There was mentioned in chronicle that she is a bitch, it means that her zoomorphic shape is female dog.
  • Medeina is another euphemism of the hunting and forest goddess. Medeina also was mentioned in the 16th century by J. Lasicki. She was worshiped by King Mindaugas and represented military interest of warriors.
  • Teliavelis was a powerful smith who made the sun and threw it to the sky. This myth survived in folk tales in the beginning of the 20th century. Some scholars, like K. Būga, tried to prove that Televelis is incorrectly written Kalvelis. Teliavelis has connections with Finnish Ilmarinen.
  • Andajus was mentioned in medieval chronicles as the supreme deity. It may be euphemism for Dievas. It is mentioned in chronicle that warriors invoke Andajus in battle.
  • Nonadievis is an incorrectly written name of the supreme god or just another euphemism.
  • Perkūnas was the god of thunder, one of the most powerful deities. Perkūnas survived in popular belief and folk tales until the 20th century.
  • Diviriks is thought to be one of Perkūnas' euphemisms, meaning "leader of gods".

    Martynas Mažvydas

in his Latin introduction to Catechismusa Prasty Szadei urged the people to abandon their pagan ways and mentioned the following gods:
  • Perkūnas – god of thunder
  • Laukosargas – god of grains and other agricultural plants
  • Žemėpatis – god of cattle and other farm animals
  • Aitvaras and kaukas – evil spirits

    Maciej Stryjkowski

– Polish–Lithuanian historian and author of Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all Russia. In this work, Stryjkowski provided two lists of gods, one Old Prussian and another Lithuanian. He listed 16 Lithuanian gods:
  1. Prakorimas – the supreme deity. Stryjkowski elaborated that people used to sacrifice white cocks to Prakorimas. Their flesh was divided into three pieces: one for peasants, another for pagan priests, and a third for burning. Stryjkowski pointed out that Prakorimas was similar to the Prussian supreme god Okopirmas.
  2. Rūgutis – god of fermentation and fermented foods
  3. Žemininkas – god of land and agriculture. The cult of the žaltys is associated with the cult of Žemininkas.
  4. Krūminė – deity of ears, provider of crops
  5. Lietuvonis – god of rain
  6. Kauriraris – deity of war and warhorses. The name etymology is unclear. Vladimir Toporov suggested that it is derived from the Lithuanian word kaurai, while Wilhelm Mannhardt argued it stems from karas.
  7. Sutvaras – god of all cattle
  8. Šeimos dievas – god of family
  9. Upinis dievas – god of rivers
  10. Bubilas – god of honey and bees
  11. Didis Lado – the great god. Festivities, songs, and dances in his honor lasted from May 25 to June 25. There are doubts whether this represents an actual god.
  12. Gulbis – the good spirit of every human, guardian angel
  13. Ganiklis – god of herds and shepherds
  14. Šventpaukštinis – god of all domesticated and wild birds. People did not offer sacrifices to him as he was a free spirit.
  15. Kelių dievas – god of roads, trade and travel
  16. Pušaitis or Puškaitis – deity of land, dwelling in elder bushes and commanding chthonic dwarfs