Potrimpo (also ''Potrimpus'', ''Autrimpo'', ''Natrimpe'') was a god of seas, earth, grain, and crops in the pagan

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

, and

Prussian mythology The Prussian mythology was a polytheistic religion of the Old Prussians, indigenous peoples of Prussia before the Prussian Crusade waged by the Teutonic Knights. It was closely related to other Baltic faiths, the Lithuanian and Latvian mythol ...

. He was one of the three main gods worshiped by the

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...

. Most of what is known about this god is derived from unreliable 16th-century sources. He was first mentioned (as ''Natrimpe'') in a 1418 memorandum ''Collatio Espiscopi Varmiensis'' sent by the

Bishop of Warmia This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia ( pl, link=no, Diecezja warmińska, la, link=no, Dioecesis Varmiensis, german: link=no, Bistum Ermland), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992. The Bisho ...

to Pope Martin V. The document reminded the Pope that the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

successfully Christianized pagan Prussians, who previously worshipped "demons"

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 ...

, Potrimpo and

Peckols Peckols and Patollo (known under a multitude of different names) were gods in the pagan Prussian mythology who were worshiped by the Old Prussians. Most researchers believe that, despite varying names, Peckols and Patollo were probably the same ...

(and Patollo).

Simon Grunau Simon Grunau (c. 1470 – c. 1530) was the author of ''Preussische Chronik'',Full title: ''Cronika und beschreibung allerlüstlichenn, nützlichsten und waaren historien des namkundigenn landes zu Prewssen'' or ''Chronicle and description of the mos ...

claimed that Potrimpo was a god of grain and together with thunder god

and death god Peckols formed a pagan trinity. He was depicted on the purported Flag of

Widewuto Widewuto (also ''Viduutus'', ''Vidvutus'', ''Witowudi'', ''Waidewut'', ''Vaidevutis'') was a legendary king of the pagan Prussians who ruled along with his elder brother, the high priest (''Kriwe-Kriwajto'') Bruteno in the 6th century AD. They are ...

as a young, merry man wearing a wreath of grain ears. Grunau further claimed that snakes, as creatures of Potrimpo, were worshipped and given milk (cf.

žaltys A žaltys (, literally: ''grass snake'') is a household spirit in Lithuanian mythology. As sacred animal of the sun goddess Saulė, it is a guardian of the home and a symbol of fertility. People used to keep it as a pet by the stove or other spe ...

). The ''

Sudovian Book The so-called ''Sudovian Book'' (german: Sudauer Büchlein, lt, Sūduvių knygelė) was an anonymous work about the customs, religion, and daily life of the Old Prussians from Sambia. The manuscript was written in German in the 16th century. The ...

'' (1520–1530) listed Potrimpo (''Potrimpus'') as god of running water and Autrimpo (''Autrimpus'') as god of the seas. The ''Constitutiones Synodales'', a church ceremony book published in 1530, likened Potrimpo with Pollux and Autrimpo with Castor and Neptune, from

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...

. Later authors copied these descriptions, often merging Potrimpo and Autrimpo into one deity of earth and water. Jan Sandecki Malecki claimed that Prussians would pray to Potrimpo, pour hot wax into water, and predict the future based on the shapes of wax figures.

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 ...

wrote that there was a copper idol (a twisted

) to Potrimpo in the temple of Romuva.

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 ...

described Potrimpo as the god of spring, happiness, abundance, cattle and grain. According to

Kazimieras Būga Kazimieras Būga (; November 6, 1879 – December 2, 1924) was a Lithuanian linguist and philologist. He was a professor of linguistics, who mainly worked on the Lithuanian language. He was born at Pažiegė, near Dusetos, then part of the Russia ...

, the name was derived from the root ''trimp-'', which is related to Lithuanian verb ''trempti'' (to trample, to stomp). Following this research,

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 ...

believed that initially there was a fertility god Trimps, who was later split into two deities. Further researchers speculated that the name could be related to fertility ritual – stomping to scare away evil spirits and to wake the earth in spring.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book, title=Lietuvių ir prūsų dievai, deivės, dvasios: nuo apeigos iki prietaro , first=Rimantas , last=Balsys , publisher= Klaipėdos universitetas , year=2010 , isbn=978-9955-18-462-1 , pages=280–285, language=lt {{cite book , first=Endre , last=Bojtár , title=Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5aoId7nA4bsC&pg=PA304 , publisher=CEU Press , year=1999 , page=304 , isbn=963-9116-42-4 {{cite book , first=Algirdas , last=Matulevičius , title=Baltų religijos ir mitologijos šaltiniai , url=http://www.sarmatija.lt/images/stories/Baltu%20religija.pdf , volume=I , page=475 , publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla , location=Vilnius , year=1996 , isbn=5-420-01353-3, language=lt {{cite book, title=Myth in Indo-European antiquity , first=Jaan , last=Puhvel , chapter=Indo-European Structure of Baltic Pantheon , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsTW-RedBx8C&pg=PA79 , page=79 , publisher=University of California Press , year=1974 , isbn=0-520-02378-1 Prussian gods Baltic gods Fertility gods Sea and river gods Agricultural gods Snake gods