Peckols and Patollo (known under a multitude of different names) were gods in the pagan

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 mytho ...

who were worshiped by the

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians were a Balts, Baltic people that inhabited the Prussia (region), region of Prussia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula Lagoon to the west and the Curonian Lagoon ...

. Most researchers believe that, despite varying names, Peckols and Patollo were probably the same god in charge of the underworld and the dead. It is usually described as an angry, evil spirit similar to the

Lithuanian 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 ** L ...

Velnias Veles, also known as Volos, is a major god of earth, waters, livestock, and the underworld in Slavic paganism. His mythology and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of (among other deities) Odin, Loki, and Hermes. According t ...

. ''Patollu'' was first mentioned in 1418, by

Bishop of Warmia This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia (, , ), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992. The Bishopric was founded in 1243 as the Bishopric of Ermland, one of four bishoprics of Teutonic Prussia ...

in a letter to the Pope. Chronicler

Simon Grunau Simon Grunau () 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 most amusing, useful a ...

(1529) provided more vivid but dubious details about ''Patollo''. According to Grunau, ''Patollo'' was one of the three gods portrayed on the flag and coat of arms of King

Widewuto Widewuto or Videvutis (also ''Viduutus'', ''Vidvutus'', ''Witowudi'', ''Waidewut'', ''Vaidevutis'') was a legendary king of the Prussian mythology, pagan Baltic Prussians who ruled along with his elder brother, the high priest (''Kriwe-Kriwajto'') ...

and worshiped in the temple of Rickoyoto. He was portrayed as an old man with a white beard and a white headdress similar to a turban. He was a frightening and ruthless god of the dead who would haunt and taunt the living if they disobeyed their pagan priests or buried the dead without proper sacrifices to the gods. Many other

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

writers, including

Alexander Guagnini Alexander Guagnini (; ; 1538, in Verona, Republic of Venice – 1614, in Kraków, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian-born Poland, Polish writer, military officer, chronicler and historian of Italy, Italian her ...

and

Lucas David Lucas (or Lukas) David (1503 - April 1583) was a historian, who from ca. 1550 on compiled extensive volumes on Prussian history. Life David was born in Allenstein (Olsztyn), Royal Prussia, Poland, to Gerhard Dönhoff. He studied at the Univer ...

, followed Grunau in their descriptions of ''Patollo''. The '' Sudovian Book'' (1520s), mentioned two beings – ''Peckols'', the god of hell and darkness, and ''Pockols'', the airborne spirit or devil. The same pair is also found in the church decrees of 1530 (''Constitutiones Synodales''). There, ''Pecols'' was identified with the

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the Latin literature, literature and Roman art, visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these ...

of the underworld,

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

and ''Pocols'' with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

deities of anger, the

Furies The Erinyes ( ; , ), also known as the Eumenides (, the "Gracious ones"), are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take v ...

. Jan Sandecki Malecki followed the Sudovian Book and wrote about ''Pocclum'' and ''Poccollum''.

Jonas Bretkūnas Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann(es) Bretke, also known as Bretkus (born 1536 in Bammeln near Friedland – 1602 Königsberg was a Lutheran pastor and was one of the best known developers of the written Lithuanian language. He translated the Bible into Li ...

Caspar Hennenberger Caspar Hennenberger (also Kaspar, Henneberger, Hennenberg, or Henneberg) (1529 – 29 February 1600) was a German Lutheran pastor, historian and cartographer. Hennenberger was born in a Franconian place given as Erlich ( Erlichhausen, or Ehr ...

, and later authors attempted to reconcile the accounts provided by Grunau and the Sudovian Book. In the 17th century

Christoph Hartknoch Christoph Hartknoch (1644–1687) was a Prussian historian and educator. Biography Hartknoch was born in Jablonken (Jabłonka) near Ortelsburg (Szczytno) in the Duchy of Prussia. In 1650 the family moved to Passenheim (Pasym) and there witn ...

and

Matthäus Prätorius Matthäus Prätorius (, ; ) was a Protestant pastor in the Duchy of Prussia and later a Roman Catholic priest in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is best known as the author of ''Deliciae Prussicae, oder Preussische Schaubühne'' (Prussia ...

testified that people still believed in ''Picolli'' and ''Pykullis''.

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=223–231, language=lt Death gods Prussian gods Lithuanian gods Baltic gods Underworld gods