Perkūnas¶

Tautosakos šaltiniai [Istoriniai duomenys]¶

Perkūnas (Latvian Pērkons, Old Prussian Perkūns) is the best-attested Baltic god; his name is also the word for „thunder“. The earliest datable mention is the Lithuanian insert (usually dated c. 1261) in the Ruthenian Malalas chronicle, glossing Perkun as „thunder“. The Volhynian Chronicle’s list of Mindaugas’s gods (1252) does not, as usually read, name him. Later witnesses: Mažvydas (1547), Jan Łasicki’s De diis Samagitarum (c. 1582, printed 1615), Stryjkowski (1582) and Prätorius (1690s).

Treat as later or reconstructed: the oak and thunderstone axes, the chase of Velnias through trees, the cleaving of Mėnuo (songs in Rhesa’s Dainos, 1825) and the shattering of Jūratė’s palace (Jucevičius, 1842). His role as oath-keeper rests on comparison with Slavic Perun, by whom the Rus‘ swore in 944 and 971, and on Gimbutas, Greimas and Vėlius; medieval Lithuanian treaties do not name him.

Perkūnas


Tipas	dievybė
Pastaba	God of thunder, lightning, oak groves, justice, weapons, and warrior oaths.

Sagoje¶

Domain: thunder, oaths, justice, war. Element: none; he cannot be asked. Force-face: Perkūno Rūstybė. He acts only through claims and signs, patronises Priesaika, and feuds with Bangpūtys and Jūratė.

Skirgaila swears the safe-conduct „by Perkūnas“ and breaks it (Book I ch. 1, 2, 8). The god marks Vytautas at Krėva (ch. 10, the mark) and warns him through the cracked window of the false baptism (ch. 19). He audits Vytautas’s oaths at Vorskla (Book II ch. 26), accepts the renewed oath over the rusted sword (Book III ch. 17), is silent in Book IV and thunders at the funeral (Book V ch. 2). In Book VI Kęstutis swears to him over an ox (ch. 13). Weakness: he punishes his own as readily as others, so those he claims can only keep faith.

Aukos ir draudimai¶

Oak groves and lightning-struck trees; the stone axe treated as a thunderbolt (Book VI ch. 1); an ox or goat for oaths, as in Kęstutis’s historical 1351 oath to Louis of Hungary. Thursday as „Perkūno diena“ is later folk reckoning (Book III ch. 26 leaves him bread). Folk taboos: shelter under no tree in a storm, put black cats out, and shut doors so Velnias cannot hide.

Tarimas¶

per-KOO-nahs (IPA [pʲɛrˈkuːnɐs]), stress per-KŪ-nas; never „PER-koo-nas“. Force-face: per-KOO-noh roos-TEE-bay.

Ryšiai

Feud with: Bangpūtys · Jūratė · Mėnuo — Folk: Perkūnas cuts the Moon each month.

Force-faces: Perkūno Rūstybė

Patron of: Priesaika (oath-binding)

Perkūnas

Thunder, oaths, justice · best-attested Baltic god; the oath-keeper role is reconstructed

Domain Thunder, oaths, justice, war

Layer God (Layer I) · hardens into the Force Perkūno Rūstybė after a thousand sworn oaths

Force-face Perkūno Rūstybė

Offerings Oak groves and lightning-struck trees; the stone axe as thunderbolt; an ox or goat for oaths (Kęstutis, 1351); bread left on Thursday (late folk reckoning)

Taboos Sheltering under a tree in a storm; keeping a black cat or dog in the house; leaving doors open, where Velnias can hide. Breaking an oath

Signs Lightning that strikes only banners and oaks; thunder like a traitor's name; dry storms with no cloud; a cracked window; the smell of ozone

Answers

Oaths. Enforces the thunder oath, sworn on an axe or by a struck oak. A precise oath pleases him because exactness pleases him.

Claims and signs. He cannot be asked through Kalba. He acts only by marking a mortal and by signs.

Bound by oath. An oath sworn on a claimed person's name binds the Force too (Grunwald, Book III ch. 17).

Refuses

Mercy. He strikes his own as readily as others. A claimed man can only keep faith.

Velnias. Gives him no shelter. Perkūnas does not stop for whoever stands in front of the guilty.

Bargains. He keeps oaths. That is all he is.

Costs

The oath-keeper pays too. Kęstutis pays for every word since the ox oath (Book VI ch. 28).

Collateral. When Perkūnas hunts, the village burns (legends §8).

Feuds. With Jūratė and Bangpūtys. The old judgment on Jūratė is unfinished, which is why he presses Birutė's son.

Source: Cosmology §2.1, §3.1 · Magic rules §7 · Power systems §2.6, §7 · Legends & songs §1, §7, §8 · Book I ch. 1, 8, 10, 19

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  bangputys["Bangpūtys"]
  jurate["Jūratė"]
  menuo["Mėnuo"]
  perkunas["Perkūnas"]
  perkuno_rustybe["Perkūno Rūstybė"]
  priesaika["Priesaika (oath-binding)"]
  perkunas -->|Feud with| jurate
  perkunas -->|Feud with| bangputys
  perkunas -->|Patron of| priesaika
  perkunas -->|Feud with| menuo
  perkuno_rustybe -->|Force-face of| perkunas
  style perkunas stroke-width:3px