Lada (goddess)
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OR:

Lada, ''Lyada'', ''Alado''
pl, Łada
russian: Лада and Lado
russian: Ладо are alleged
Slavic deities The pagan Slavs were polytheistic, which means that they worshipped many gods and goddesses. The gods of the Slavs are known primarily from a small number of chronicles and letopises, or not very accurate Christian sermons against paganism. Addi ...
. Lada was first mentioned around 1405-1412 in the sermons of Lucas of Wielki Koźmin, which warned against worshipping Lada and other gods during spring ceremonies and folk performances. They owe their popularity to Długosz, who in one of his sources recognized Lada as a goddess and in another as a god of war, the Polish equivalent of the Roman god
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
, to Aleksandr Faminstyn, who recognized the word ''Lada'' in Russian songs as the goddess of marriage, and to scholar
Boris Rybakov Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti- Normanist vision of Russian history. He is ...
, who insisted on recognizing her historicity. However, the vast majority of religious scholars and Slavists reject the historicity of these deities, believing that they owe their divine status to a misunderstanding of the song refrains by medieval scribes. By some scholars of
Baltic mythology Baltic mythology is the body of mythology of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. Baltic mythology ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Baltic regio ...
, Lada was also worshipped by the
Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...
, but this view is also considered controversial. Planetoid (2832) Lada was named after her.


Sources


Polish

The first source mentioning the theonym ''Lada'' is the '' Gniezno Sermons'', which were written by Lucas of Wielki Koźmin around 1405-1412, without giving any description: Similar cautions, also without any description, are also found in: ''Statua provincialia breviter'' (1420-1422), ''Sermones per circulum anni Cunradi'' (1423), ''Postilla Husitae anonymi'', and in
glosses A gloss is a brief notation, especially a marginal one or an interlinear one, of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text or in the reader's language if that is different. A collection of glosses is a ''g ...
of ''Life of Adalbert of Prague''. The theonyms contained in the ''Gniezno Sermons'' were also repeated by
Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
, who made an ''
interpretatio romana ''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Gr ...
'' and compared Lada to the Roman war god
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
: After Długosz the information about Lada was repeated by
Maciej Miechowita Maciej Miechowita (also known as ''Maciej z Miechowa, Maciej of Miechów, Maciej Karpiga, Matthias de Miechow''; 1457 – 8 September 1523) was a Polish renaissance scholar, professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, chronicler, geogra ...
,
Marcin Kromer Marcin Kromer (Latin: ''Martinus Cromerus''; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. H ...
,
Alexander Guagnini Alexander Guagnini ( pl, Alexander Gwagnin, it, Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni; 1538 in Verona, Republic of Venice – 1614 in Kraków, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Venetian-born Polish writer, military officer, chronicler and his ...
,
Maciej Stryjkowski Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius;Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN. t. 6, 1997 – ) was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of ''Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Rutheni ...
, Marcin and Joachim Bielski, and the priest
Jakub Wujek Jakub Wujek (1541 – 27 April 1597, son of Maciej Wujek) was a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish. He is well-known for his translation of the Bi ...
. Maciej Miechowita, who copied information from Długosz, did not agree with him, however, on the function of Lada and ''corrected'' Długosz' information, comparing her to the Greek Leda and recognising her as the mother of
Lel and Polel Lel and Polel (Latin: Leli, Poleli) are Polish divine twins, first mentioned by Maciej Miechowita in the 16th century where he presents them as equivalents of Castor and Pollux and the sons of the goddess Łada, the equivalent of Leda. There is ...
: Outside the ''Annals'', in ''Insignia seu clenodia Regis et Regni Poloniae'', Długosz also mentions the female deity Lada, worshipped in the village of Łada near the river Łada, from which the Łada family took its name: "Łada took its name from the name of a Polish goddess who was worshipped in Mazovia in the town and village of Łada". She is also mentioned in the : "there was a church of three idols, which were called Lada, Boda, Leli, to which the ordinary people went on the first of May to make prayers to them and to offer them.".


East Slavic

God Lado appears twice in Eastern sources. The first is the '' Hustyn Chronicle'', written in Church Slavonic from the 17th century, with an uncertain exact date of composition and an uncertain author. This source recognizes Lado as the god of marriage and joy, and compares him to the Greek god Bacchus-Dionysus: Similar informations are found in the ''
Kievan Synopsis The ''Synopsis'', also known as the ''Kievan Synopsis'' or ''Kyivan Synopsis'' () is work of history, first published in Kiev in 1674. It interprets history through a Christian conception of time focused on the narratives of creation, fall, and r ...
'' of 1674 by Innocent Gizel, which mentions Lado as a deity of happynest, to whom offerings were made during wedding preparations. Leli and Poleli, and their mother, were also supposed to be worshipped by singing "lado, lado, lado".


Historicity


Sources

The only "independent" source mentioning the deity of Lada/Lado are the ''Gniezno Sermons'', and other sources are dependent on them. The theonyms contained therein were then used and popularized by
Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
in his ''Annals'', where he did ''
interpretatio romana ''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Gr ...
'' and compared Lada to the Roman god of war
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
. Długosz's description was then copied by subsequent Polish authors, such as
Maciej Miechowita Maciej Miechowita (also known as ''Maciej z Miechowa, Maciej of Miechów, Maciej Karpiga, Matthias de Miechow''; 1457 – 8 September 1523) was a Polish renaissance scholar, professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, chronicler, geogra ...
. Długosz and Miechowita together became sources for
Marcin Kromer Marcin Kromer (Latin: ''Martinus Cromerus''; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. H ...
. Długosz, Miechowita and Kromer together became sources for
Maciej Stryjkowski Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius;Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN. t. 6, 1997 – ) was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of ''Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Rutheni ...
, Marcin and Joachim Bielski.
Alexander Guagnini Alexander Guagnini ( pl, Alexander Gwagnin, it, Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni; 1538 in Verona, Republic of Venice – 1614 in Kraków, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Venetian-born Polish writer, military officer, chronicler and his ...
took his information from Stryjkowski and was even accused of plagiarism by him. He differs, however, as to the function of the gods. The information contained in was copied from Maciej Miechowita. Additionally, there is no information about such a cult on Łysa Góra in other sources and it is contradicted by archaeology. East Slavic sources cannot be considered independent sources either. Although the '' Hustyn Chronicle'' contains original content, it is also a compilation of various earlier East Slavic as well as Polish sources. The fragment of ''Chronicle'' mentioning the god Lado copies information from Kromer, Marcin Bielski, and Guagnini. The same problem applies to the '' Synopsis'', which copied information from Kromer and Stryjkowski, as well as from the ''Chronicle''.


Genesis

Originally, the authenticity of the deity/deities was not denied and they appeared in the Slavic Romantics. Their authenticity was also assumed by early 18th and 19th century authors, such as Mikhail Popov, Mikhail Chulkov and Andrey Kaisarov, who assumed the authenticity of the ''Synopsis''. The value of the ''Chronicle'' was also recognized by the Russian musicologist and composer Aleksandr Faminstyn in his work ''Bozhestva drevnikh slavyan'' (1884). According to him, in the 17th century, in
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, a song to the "holy god Lado" sung by girls dancing around a bonfire was recorded: Additionally, he analyzed songs from all over the Slavdom, the existence of which was to prove the existence of the goddess Lada, wife of Lado. He believed that the theonyms should be translated as "consent", and connected them with the Roman goddess of concord and harmony Concordia, whose name also translates as "consent", and further with the goddess
Bona Dea Bona Dea (; 'Good Goddess') was a goddess in ancient Roman religion. She was associated with chastity and fertility in Roman women, healing, and the protection of the state and people of Rome. According to Roman literary sources, she was brought ...
. However, starting in the 19th century, critical voices began to appear in the scientific community about the authenticity of the deities. One of the first and most influential was ethnographer and linguist Alexander Potebnja. After analyzing the source material, mainly song fragments, he came to the conclusion that ''lada'' appears in spring, summer and wedding songs, and that there are no grounds to consider this word as a remnant of the old goddess. This position was later upheld by linguists Gregor Kreka and
Aleksander Brückner Aleksander Brückner (; 29 January 1856 – 24 May 1939) was a Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literatures (Slavistics), philologist, lexicographer and historian of literature. He is among the most notable Slavicists of the late 19th ...
, as well as
Max Vasmer Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; russian: Максимилиан Романович Фа́смер, translit=Maksimilian Romanovič Fásmer; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russo-German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in I ...
and
Oleg Trubachyov Oleg Nikolayevich Trubachyov (also transliterated as Trubachev or Trubačev, russian: Оле́г Никола́евич Трубачёв; 23 October 1930, in Stalingrad – 9 March 2002, in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian linguist. A re ...
. Contemporary scholars overwhelmingly reject the authenticity of the deities Lada and Lado, believing, as in the case of Jesza, that the word ''lada'', incomprehensible to the scribe, found in folk songs, was mistakenly considered a theonym, and then its attributes were added. This view is shared by scholars who consider at least part of Długosz's mythological account to be valuable, such as
Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Po ...
, Andrzej Szyjewski, or Vyacheslav Ivanov and
Vladimir Toporov Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Топоро́в; 5 July 1928 in Moscow5 December 2005 in Moscow) was a leading Russian philologist associated with the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school. His wife was ...
. The last influential scholar to insist on recognizing the historicity of Lada was
Boris Rybakov Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti- Normanist vision of Russian history. He is ...
. In his work, ''Yazychestvo drevnikh slavyan'' (1981), he hypothesized an Indo-European origin for the goddess Lada and compared her to the Greek Leda and Demeter. In addition, he considered another alleged goddess, Lelya, to be her daughter, and considered them both to be identical with the Rozhanitse, and to be important deities in the Slavic pantheon before the rise of the "
Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
's pantheon". According to him, Lada and Lelya ruled over spring nature and agricultural work, fertility, love and marriage. However, he negatively referred to the male god Lado claiming that ''lado'' is a
vocative case In grammar, the vocative case ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and nume ...
from ''lada''. The word ''lada'' means "wife, female lover, consort", and "husband, male lover, consort" – it is a two-gender noun and was used for women as well as men; in this respect Brückner compares it to the Polish word ''sługa''. The word occurs, for example, in Old East Slavic as лада, ''lada'' "husband" (e.g. in ''
The Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campai ...
'', the longing wife calls out: "bring my ''husband'' (''lada'') to me"),
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
''lada'' "beloved" or "maiden, girl" (e.g. in : "Oh, what a wonder has happened, Jesus Christ, over your ''beloved'' (''lada'')"), Ukrainian ла́до, ''lado'' "husband", ла́да, ''lada'' "wife",
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
ла̏да ''lada'' "wife", or Bulgarian ла́да, ''lada'' "the second daughter in the family who goes for water during the ''laduvane'' (ладу́ване – wedding tradition)". knows the Polish word ''łada'' only from sermons speaking about deity, so probably the word was no longer functioning in living language in the 15th century. The form ''Alado'' appearing in ''Postilla Husitae anonymi'' is probably the result of an attempt to adapt the word to
Italian phonology The phonology of Italian describes the sound system—the phonology and phonetics—of Standard Italian and its geographical variants. Consonants Notes: * Between two vowels, or between a vowel and an approximant () or a liquid (), co ...
. The form ''lado'' is not a separate word, but a
vocative case In grammar, the vocative case ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and nume ...
from the word ''lada''. From
Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...
the word was borrowed into Baltic languages e.g. as ''lado'', ''laduto'' etc. Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak tried to read the Długosz's theonym ''Lyada'' differently from other researchers. According to him, the Latin ''Lyada'' corresponds to the Old Polish form ''*Lęda'' because the consonant ⟨l⟩ in medieval Latin in Poland was written as ''ly'' or ''li'', and he considers that the reading ''*Łada'' is unjustified and represents a folk etymology. He believed that ''*Lęda'' was supposed to be a pagan theonym that had been demonized, and he refers here to the Russian dialectical words ляд, ''lyad'', and ляда, ''lyada'' meaning "unclean spirit, devil". However, as Michał Łuczyński notes, the assumption that the ''ly'' notation corresponds to the vowel ⟨l⟩ justifies the reading of the Latin name as ''*Lada'' rather than ''*Lęda''. In addition, an analysis of Długosz's personal spelling features shows that the ''ly'' notation also served him for the consonant ⟨ł⟩, e.g: ''Lyassza Gora'' " Łysa Góra", or ''Lyeba'' " Łeba". Therefore, it should be assumed that Długosz's ''Lyada'' corresponds to the old Polish form ''*Łada'', as it is interpreted traditionally.


Further etymology

The
Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
form of ''lada'' is reconstructed as ''*lada''. Further etymology is unclear; it is generally believed that ''*lada'' is etymologically related to the Proto-Slavic noun and root ''*ladъ'' (, ) meaning "harmony, order". According to Brückner, the word derives from the verb ''ładzić'' "to concur, agree" (Proto-Slavic ''*laditi'') → "concurring, agreeing couple" → "husband, wife" or "lovers". The etymology of the word ''*ladъ'' is also unclear, and an kinship with Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (''letan'' "to let") has been suggested, or some relation to the word ''*lagoda'' "gentleness" – according to Brückner and Nikolay Shanskiy ''lad'' contains the decayed root ''la-'' "over" found in ''lagoda'' expanded with the suffix ''-d'' (cf. зад ''zad'', под ''pod''). According to Shanskiy ''lad'' originally meant "top, peak", as opposed to ''pod'' "bottom, pit". He also points to the word сладить, ''sladit "to win (over) someone" and suggests the following shift in meaning: "to win" → "to bring order" → ''*laditi'' "to live in harmony" → ''*ladъ'' "harmony, order".


Dida and Dido

Based on the Did-Lada refrain, uncritical and romantic old researchers, in addition to inventing Lada, also invented the god Dido and the goddess Dida. Faminstyn considered these words as borrowed from the Baltic languages and pointed to the Lithuanian ''didis'' "big, great". However, the attested fragment from the Slovak songs ''Didi-Jane, Didi-Jene'' "o St. John" sung on Saint John day may indicate to the native origins of these words (Proto-Slavic ''*did-'' "big, great"). The Proto-Slavic form may be continued by the Polish ''*dzidzi'', which is most likely found in another theonym mentioned by Długosz: Dzidzilela.


Lada as Baltic goddess

There is also a view among Baltic Romantics and some scholars that Lada was also worshipped by the
Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...
. The word ''lada'', and its various derivatives, appear in the refrains of
sutartinės Lithuanian folk songs (in Lithuanian: "liaudies dainos") are often noted for not only their mythological content but also their relating historical events. Lithuanian folk music includes romantic songs, wedding songs, as well as work songs and ...
, Lithuanian
polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
songs, in various combinations, such as ''Lado tatato'' / ''Laduto, laduto'' / ''Loduta, loduta'' / ''Liadeli, liadeli'' / ''Ladutela, laduta'', and others. Zenonas Slaviūnas grouped these songs as follows: workers' songs, wedding songs, military songs, family songs, dance songs, and songs about nature. Similarly, but more precisely, Vanda Misevičienė classified them, moving the songs about crane to the groups of rye-gathering songs and the songs about fir tree to the groups of family songs. According to Norbertas Vėlius, although the songs belong to different groups, they all have much in common. For example, in the sutartinės about the conifer, the image about the maturation of young people is poetically represented by a conifer tree that outgrows all the trees in the forest. In another song, a crane is called upon to fly into the garden, pick flowers and make a
wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle . In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...
– this motif evokes the idea that a bride-to-be should start making a wreath to join the ranks of adults. In another sutartinės the shooter kills a crane, which is supposed to mean a girl taken by a boy, and in yet another song the crane is asked to feed "his children". The songs ''Kad mes buvom'' and ''Selagij viteli rikavo'' are openly wedding songs and tell of courtship. Also, the song ''Išjos brolis'', which has a military character, is sung on behalf of a sister who talks about her feelings. Finally, the song ''Laduto, laduto'' tells about the bad relationship between daughter-in-law and father-in-law. According to Vėlius, all songs with these refrains refer to young people, especially girls who have reached adulthood. Thus, it should be considered that if the word ''Lado'' occurring in these refrains had any meaning, it should be associated primarily with young people. In his search for the origin of these words, Vėlius points to Stryjowski's ''Chronicle'', where he describes the custom of dancing and singing ''Lado, lado ir mano lado'' in honor of "Liada or Ladona – the mother of Castor and Pollux". In another place of his ''Chronicle'' dedicated to Lithuania and
Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
, he writes that Lithuanians worshipped the god ''Dzidzis Lado'', in whose honor they sang ''Lado, lado, lado didis mūsų dieve''. He also mentions Kromer's ''Chronicle'' and the ''Kievan Synopsis''. He notes, however, that the reliability of these sources is low and cites the opinions of Lithuanian researchers, such as Simonas Stanevičius, who believed that the god Lado was invented by Stryjkowski on the basis of a folk songs,
Simonas Daukantas Simonas Daukantas ( pl, Szymon Dowkont; 28 October 1793 – 6 December 1864) was a Lithuanian/Samogitian historian, writer, and ethnographer. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, he is credited as the author of the first book o ...
, who regarded the god ''Dzidzis Lado'' as a distorted form of ''Titis leido'' referring to
Perkūnas Perkūnas ( lt, Perkūnas, lv, Pērkons, Old Prussian: ''Perkūns'', ''Perkunos'', Yotvingian: ''Parkuns'', Latgalian: ''Pārkiuņs'') was the common Baltic god of thunder, and the second most important deity in the Baltic pantheon after Di ...
,
Mikalojus Akelaitis Mikalojus Akelaitis ( pl, Mikołaj Akielewicz, also known by pen-name ''Juras Varnelis''; 1829–1887) was a prominent Lithuanian writer, publicist and amateur linguist, one of the early figures of the Lithuanian National Revival and participant ...
, according to whom Lado is a distorted form from ''laide'' or ''leide'', and Brückner, according to whom Lado was borrowed into Lithuanian songs along with the
Kupala night Kupala Night ( be, Купалле, pl, Noc Kupały, russian: Иван-Купала, uk, Івана Купала, Купайла), also called Ivanа Kupala, is a traditional Slavic holiday that was originally celebrated on the shortest night of ...
, and several other Lithuanian scholars who rejected the deity's authenticity. He also recalls that the Slavic deity Lada/Lado is regarded with distrust by Slavic scholars. He also mentions several Lithuanian and Slavic researchers who accepted the deity's authenticity, but notes that many of them were not mythologists but ethnographers who did not study the deity's authenticity. However, according to him, an argument for the existence of the goddess could be the Bulgarian custom of ''laduvane'', during which the second girl in the family who goes to fetch water is called "lada". The Greek dragon Ladon may also be an argument, assuming that the coincidence of the similarity of words is not accidental, and the Lithuanian words ''ladėti'', ''laduti'' meaning "to reprimand, abuse", "to curse, damn", as well as the Latvian ''lādēt'', and words from the semantic field "to curse", also often have a mythological meaning. Bronislava Kerbelytė argues against the existence of the goddess Lada among the Balts. She states that the Slavic chant ''lada'' generally appears in wedding songs, and she reads the word ''did'' as "'' dziad'', grandfather", which sometimes appears in the names of Slavic ritual objects around the winter solstice, such as ''dednik'' (or '' badnjak'') or '' didukh'', which are associated with the cult of fertility. In
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, the wedding is sometimes called ''rukobitije'' ("crossing of arms"), from which the clapping while singing the refrains of the ''lada'' during children's songs may derive. She further points out the analogy between East Slavic songs with the refrain ''lada'' and songs during Līgo noted by
Eduards Volters Eduards Volters (1856–1941) was a linguist, ethnographer, archaeologist who studied the Baltic languages and culture. He was a long-time professor at the Saint Petersburg University (1886–1918) and Vytautas Magnus University (1922–1934). V ...
. Latvian ''līgt'' meaning "to employ," "to make peace," and ''līgums'' "to agree," along with Lithuanian ''lygti'', ''sulygti'' "to consult, negotiate, agree," correspond to the Slavic word ''lad''. She gives the example of a story about a Gypsy who forced a peasant to exchange horses by jokingly suggesting to the villager that they should go to an inn, shake hands, and shout ''liko''. When they did so, the gypsy took the peasant's horse, taking advantage of the fact that the peasant had forgotten the meaning of shaking hands and the shouting. The symbol of crossed hands was also used during Lithuanian summer solstice celebrations, e.g. a couple would jump over the fire holding hands: if they let go while jumping, they would not get married. Jan Łasicki (16-17th century) mentions god Tavalas in one of his works. Scholars have compared this name to a song written by
Simonas Daukantas Simonas Daukantas ( pl, Szymon Dowkont; 28 October 1793 – 6 December 1864) was a Lithuanian/Samogitian historian, writer, and ethnographer. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, he is credited as the author of the first book o ...
sung by boys dragging a log on Christmas Eve, which was supposed to prove the existence of the god Tabalas: However, an analysis of the song and language shows that ''tabalai'' is derived from the verb ''tabaluoti'' "to dangle". The authenticity of other deities mentioned by Łasicki is also rejected, e.g.: alleged theonym Šluotražis is derived from the word ''šluotražis'' "
broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
" and was a magical and symbolic (related to healing) ritual object, to which it has already been explained by many scholars. Thus, according to Kerbelytė, there are no grounds to consider Tabalas or Lada as Lithuanian deities – these words were only magic words or objects used in rituals and ceremonies. The ''lado'' refrain is also considered a ritual vocabulary by Lithuanian ethnologist Rimantas Balsys, who blames the misunderstanding in the Baltic context on the uncritical use of 16th century sources and the activity of the Romantics, who considered the ritual ''ledų dienos'' ("day of ice") as proof of the existence of the winter goddess Lada. In the case of the historicity of the Slavic deity, he takes a neutral position.


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