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Prussian mythology is the account of what is known of thepolytheistic religion of theOld Prussians, indigenous peoples ofPrussia before thePrussian Crusade waged by theTeutonic Knights. This archaic Indo-European religion was closely related to otherBaltic faiths, namely those of theLithuanians andLatvians. Its myths and legends did not survive because the Old Prussian people became Germanized and their culture became extinct in the early 18th century. Fragmentary information on gods and rituals can be found in various medieval chronicles, but most of this is unreliable. No sources document pagan religion before the forcedChristianization in the 13th century. Most of what is known about Prussian religion has been recovered from dubious 16th-century sources (Sudovian Book andSimon Grunau).
TheTeutonic Order, a crusadingmilitary order, began thePrussian Crusade in the 1220s. Their goal was to conquer and convert pagan Prussians to Christianity. The Knights built log and stone fortresses, which proved to be impregnable to the Prussians. Despite fivePrussian uprisings, the conquest of Prussia was complete by the 1280s.German,Lithuanian,Latvian, andPolish colonists repopulated the decimated region. It is estimated that by around the year 1400 the (Old) Prussians numbered 100,000 and comprised only about half the total population of Prussia. The Prussians were subject toGermanization andassimilation and eventually became extinct sometime after the 16th century. The Knights regarded paganism as evil and therefore unworthy of study, deserving, in their eyes, onlycomplete eradication. For this reason they showed no interest in local customs and produced no detailed accounts of Prussian mythology. Reliable, (but, alas, accidental and fragmentary) references to gods and traditions can be found in official Teutonic documents and chronicles, such as the 1248Treaty of Christburg, the Chronicle ofPeter von Dusburg, and correspondence with the Pope.
Affected by theProtestant Reformation, the former Catholic stronghold theMonastic State of the Teutonic Knights was transformed into the LutheranDuchy of Prussia in 1525. Religious disputes kindled a new interest in the pagan Prussian religion, two fundamental studies of Prussian culture being produced at that time, namely theSudovian Book and Chronicle ofSimon Grunau. There is considerable academic debate on the authorship, dating, and reliability of theSudovian Book. Most modern Lithuanian scholars followWilhelm Mannhardt in treating it as a reliable and independent source, which was used to prepareConstitutiones Synodales, a book of ceremonies prepared by a churchsynod and published in 1530.[1] However, another school of thought holds that it is, in fact, nothing of the kind, theSudovian Book being claimed to be a distorted copy ofSynodales, which in turn was based on Grunau - and consequently that all three sources should be rejected as mere "invention" and "forgery".[2]
Simon Grunau (died ca. 1530) is much criticised for his use of dubious and falsified sources and frequent eking-out of whatever meagre data he may have possessed with the products of his own imagination. Modern scholars often dismiss the chronicle as a work of fiction, though Lithuanian researchers tend to be more careful and attempt to find in it redeeming qualities. The work is responsible for the introduction and popularization of several major legends: 6th-century KingWidewuto, thetemple of Romuva, the pagan trinity (Peckols,Potrimpo, andPerkūnas), the pagan high priest (Kriwe-Kriwajto), and femalewaidelinns (similar to Romanvestales).
Various later authors simply copied information from Grunau and theSudovian Book adding no or very little new information.
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The 1249Treaty of Christburg mentioned Curche, an idol worshiped during harvest festivals. Scholars were unable to positively determine its gender, function, or etymology. Various suggested functions include god of food (Simon Grunau), smithing god (similar to SlavicSvarog and GreekHephaestus), god creator (derived from related Lithuanian wordkurti – to create), god of harvest and grain, evil spirit, god of fire. Some even doubted whether it was a god at all and suggested that it was a name given to acorn dolly.
Another reliable source is a 1418 memorandum (Collato Episcopi Varmiensis) written byBishop of Warmia toPope Martin V. The letter reminded the Pope about the Teutonic achievements in Christianizing Prussians, who no longer worshipedPatollu andNatrimpe. Most scholars interpret this as two different gods, butpatollu could also be an adjective (evil, hellish) to describeNatrimpe.[3] Based on later works,patollu is usually identified asPeckols, angry god of theunderworld, andNatrimpe asPotrimpo, god of seas or grain.
In addition to the trinity of Peckols, Potrimpo, andPerkūnas, Grunau mentioned three minor gods: Wurschayto or Borszkayto and Szwaybrotto were personifications of Widewuto and Bruteno, and Curcho was god of food (borrowed from theTreaty of Christburg).
Constitutiones lists ten Prussian deities and also provides their classicalRoman equivalents. Note that none of these are goddesses and furthermore that Curche is missing from the list. This list is closely mirrored in theSudovian Book.
| Constitutiones Synodales[2] | Sudovian Book[4] | Function[4] | Roman equivalent[2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occopirmus | Ockopirmus | Chief sky god | Saturnus |
| Suaixtix | Becker | God of light | Sol |
| Ausschauts | Auschauts | God of the sick | Aesculapius |
| Autrympus | Autrimpus | God of seas | Castor |
| Potrympus | Potrimpus | God of running water | Pollux |
| Bardoyas | Bardoayts | God of ships | Neptune |
| Pergrubrius | God of plants | ||
| Piluuytus | Pilnitis | God of abundance | Ceres |
| Parcuns | Parkuns | God of thunder | Jupiter |
| Pecols and Pocols | Peckols and Pockols | God of hell, evil spirit | Pluto,Furies |
| Puschkayts | God of earth | ||
| Barstucke and Markopole | Servants of Puschkayts |
Suaixtix (alternate spelling:Suaixtis,Swaystix,Schwaytestix,Swaikticks,Sweigtigx,Szweigsdukks,[5]Šwaigzdunks,Sweigsdunka,Žvaigždzuks)[6][a] is described as a "god of light" (Gott des Lichts) in historical sources,[10] or a god of stars.[11] His name has been proposed to be cognate to the word forstar inSlavic languages, reconstructed as*zvězda.[b] He also appears to be connected to words for "star" inBaltic languages:Lithžvaigždė andLatvzvaigzne.[13][c] The deity's name seems to contain aPrussian stem-swaigst-, present inswaigst-an (perhaps related toGermanSchein, "light") and verber-schwaigstinai ("[it] illuminates").[12]
On the other hand, still aligned with the interpretation as god of light, Roman Zaroff postulates thatSuaixtix might have been a solar deity, basing his contention on ethnographical and folkloric data from the other Baltic languages.[15]
