|
Aitvaras
Aitvaras is a nature spirit in Lithuanian mythology. It is also known by other names, such as Atvaras, Damavykas, Pūkis, Sparyžius, Koklikas, Gausinėlis, Žaltvikšas, and Spirukas, and is identical to the Latvian Pūķis. An Aitvaras looks like a white or black rooster with a fiery tail like a meteor. An Aitvaras is said to hatch from an egg of a 9- to 15-year-old rooster. If an Aitvaras dies, it becomes a spark. In many cases, this Lithuanian creature is described as a bird with the appearance of a dragon outdoors. An Aitvaras will lodge itself in a house and most often refuse to leave. It brings both good and bad luck to the inhabitants of the house, providing its adopted home with stolen gold and grain, often getting the household into trouble. See also * Ajatar * Cockatrice References *Algirdas Julius Greimas Algirdas Julien Greimas (; born ; 9 March 1917 – 27 February 1992) was a Lithuanian literary scientist who wrote most of his body of work in French whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraków Parada Smoków 2012-06-03 072
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596, and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status. The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian Mythology
Lithuanian mythology () is the mythology of Lithuanians, Lithuanian polytheism, the religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians. Like other Indo-European studies, Indo-Europeans, Lithuanians (tribe), ancient Lithuanians maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. In pre-Christian Lithuania, mythology was a part of polytheistic religion; after Christianisation mythology survived mostly in folklore, customs and festive rituals. Lithuanian mythology is very close to the mythology of other Balts, Baltic nations such as Old Prussians, Prussians and Latvians, and is considered a part of Baltic mythology. Sources and evidence Early Lithuanian religion and customs were based on oral tradition. Therefore, the very first records about Lithuanian mythology and beliefs were made by travellers, Christian missionaries, chronicle writers and historians. Original Lithuanian oral tradition partially survived in national ritual and festive songs and legends which started to be writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pūķis
Latvian mythology is the collection of myths that have emerged throughout the history of Latvia, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives. These myths, for the most part, likely stem from Proto-Indo-European practices and the later folk traditions of the Latvian people and pre-Christian Baltic mythology. Latvian mythology is used particularly as a tool for reconstructing and analysing the historical pagan beliefs and national identity of Latvia. The minute details of most, if not all of these myths vary per region, and sometimes even per family. History 13th–18th century There are few reports of Baltic tribes, the ancestors of modern Latvians, and their mythology until Christianization in the 13th century. Since Christianization, there have been several reports related to local mythology including chronicles, travel reports, visitation records, Jesuit reports and other accounts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rooster
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and widespread domesticated animals in the world. Chickens are primarily kept for their meat and eggs, though they are also kept as pets. As of 2023, the global chicken population exceeds 26.5 billion, with more than 50 billion birds produced annually for consumption. Specialized breeds such as broilers and laying hens have been developed for meat and egg production, respectively. A hen bred for laying can produce over 300 eggs per year. Chickens are social animals with complex vocalizations and behaviors, and feature prominently in folklore, religion, and literature across many societies. Their economic importance makes them a central component of global animal husbandry and agriculture. Nomenclature Terms for chickens include: * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meteor
A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a streak of light via its rapid motion and sometimes also by shedding glowing material in its wake. Although a meteor may seem to be a few thousand feet from the Earth, meteors typically occur in the mesosphere at altitudes from . The root word ''meteor'' comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek ''meteōros'', meaning "high in the air". Millions of meteors occur in Earth's atmosphere daily. Most meteoroids that cause meteors are about the size of a grain of sand, i.e. they are usually millimeter-sized or smaller. Meteoroid sizes can be calculated from their mass and density which, in turn, can be estimated from the observed meteor trajectory in the upper atmosphere. Meteors may occur in meteor shower, showers, which arise when Earth passes throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Chinese dragon, Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, Snake, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of Reptile, reptilian, mammalian, and Bird, avian features. Etymology The word ''dragon'' entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French , which, in turn, comes from Latin (genitive ), meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from , (genitive , ) "serpent". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ajatar
In Finnish folklore, Ajatar (), also spelled Ajattara , or Aijotar ), is an evil female spirit. Description In Finnish folklore ''Ajatar'' is an evil female spirit. She lives in the woods located at the mountains of Pohjola; she is described as having ''"hair-plait reached to her heels and whose breasts hung down to her knees"'' similar to the Swedish Skogsnufva, Danish 'seawoman', or the wildfraulein of the eifel. Ajatar is the granddaughter of Hiisi (the master of the woods and spreader of disease) and is the master of Lempo and Gnomes. Through her connections with Hiisi and Lempo, she is said to spread disease and pestilence. She is closely associated with serpents, and is often depicted in modern art as a dragon or half-humanoid and serpentine figure. Etymology The word “ajatar” is possibly derived from the Finnish word ''ajattaa'', “to pursue" (also, "to drive"). The feminine suffix ''“-tar-”'' appears in several Finnish names, including a variation of Lou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockatrice
A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or snake, serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", it was featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. They are created by a chicken egg hatched by a toad or snake. Legend Origins The first English mention of the cockatrice was in the 14th-century John Wycliffe translation of the Bible. The word was used for the translation of various Hebrew words for asp and adder in the Book of Isaiah Isaiah 11, 11, Isaiah 14, 14 and Isaiah 59, 59. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives a derivation from Old French , from medieval Latin , a translation of the Greek , meaning tracker. The twelfth-century legend was based on a reference in ''Pliny's Natural History'' that the ichneumon lay in wait for the crocodile to open its jaws for the ''Trochilus (crocodile bird), trochilus'' bird to enter and pick its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algirdas Julius Greimas
Algirdas Julien Greimas (; born ; 9 March 1917 – 27 February 1992) was a Lithuanian literary scientist who wrote most of his body of work in French while living in France. Greimas is known among other things for the Greimas Square (). He is, along with Roland Barthes, considered the most prominent of the French semioticians. With his training in structural linguistics, he added to the theory of signification, plastic semiotics, and laid the foundations for the Parisian school of semiotics. Among Greimas's major contributions to semiotics are the concepts of isotopy, the actantial model, the narrative program, and the semiotics of the natural world. He also researched Lithuanian mythology and Proto-Indo-European religion, and was influential in semiotic literary criticism. Biography Greimas's father, Julius Greimas, 1882–1942, a teacher and later school inspector, was from Liudvinavas in the Suvalkija region of present-day Lithuania. His mother, Konstancija Greimienė, n� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltic Legendary Creatures
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 originating from the Baltic countries *Baltic Germans, historical ethnic German minority in Latvia and Estonia *Baltic Finnic peoples, the Finnic peoples historically inhabiting the area on the northeastern side of the Baltic sea Places Northern Europe * Baltic Sea, in Europe * Baltic region, an ambiguous term referring to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea * Baltic states (also Baltic countries, Baltic nations, Baltics), a geopolitical term, currently referring to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania * Baltic Provinces or governorates, former parts of the Swedish Empire and then Russian Empire (in modern Latvia, Estonia) * Baltic Shield, the exposed Precambrian northwest segment of the East European Craton * Baltic Plate, an ancient tectonic p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian Folklore Characters
Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** Lithuanian cuisine ** Lithuanian culture Other uses * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jews, sometimes used to mean Mitnagdim * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth See also * List of Lithuanians This is a list of Lithuanians, both people of Lithuanian descent and people with the birthplace or citizenship of Lithuania. In a case when a person was born in the territory of former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and not in the territory of moder ... {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds In Mythology
Human uses of birds have, for thousands of years, included both economic uses such as food, and symbolic uses such as art, music, and religion. In terms of economic uses, birds have been hunted for food since Palaeolithic times. They have been captured and bred as poultry to provide meat and eggs since at least the time of ancient Egypt. Some species have been used, too, to help locate or to catch food, as with cormorant fishing and the use of greater honeyguide, honeyguides. Feathers have long been used for bedding, as well as for quill pens and for Fletching, fletching arrows. Today, many species face habitat loss and other threats caused by humans; bird conservation groups work to protect birds and to influence governments to do so. Birds have appeared in the mythologies and religions of many cultures since ancient Sumer. For example, the dove was the symbol of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Athe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
