Latvian Mythology - History

History

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 of pagan practices. These reports are considered secondary sources by researchers because since the authors were not Latvian, they did not speak the local languages and often were biased. These materials are sometimes imprecise and contain errors, fabrications, and distortions stemming from a Christian world view. Despite this, they can often be verified using information from folklore. Most folklore materials have been collected since the mid-19th century.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was assumed that Baltic tribes were originally one nation and thus had the same deities. Early authors trying to reconstruct a Latvian pantheon using data from neighbouring regions. This trend was later also adapted by Latvian national romanticists. After the abolition of serfdorm, a new national identity was forming and authors sought to prove that Baltic cultural traditions were as deep as those of other nations. It was hoped that a grand epic could be constructed using pieces preserved in folklore. It was also thought that the ancient religion, forgotten during 700 years of oppression, could be reconstructed. However folklore sources proved insufficient for the task. Some attempted to reconstruct pantheons to be as impressive as in Greek mythology, which led to some deities being simply invented. Besides the assumption that deities of other Baltic peoples must be Latvian as well but were simply lost over time, many new deities were modeled after Greek and Roman deities. An example of the trend is the epic poem Lāčplēsis by Andrejs Pumpurs, which features a pantheon of Latvian and Prussian gods and some the author has invented himself. Similarly, works of Juris Alunāns and poet Miķelis Krogzemis feature pantheons of invented deities.

At the same time some pagan rites were still practiced. And, as Christianity was seen as alien, attempts were made to recreate the ancient religion. The most successful of the neopagan movements was Dievturi, established in late 1920s, which claims that ancient Latvians were monotheistic and the various mythological beings are all aspects of one God. While the notion of needing to remove alien influences to reconstruct Latvian traditions was preserved into later times, the attempts to create an Olympus-like pantheon of pseudo-gods eventually stopped as national romanticism was replaced by realism and came to be criticized in the first half of 20th century. It was also suspected that some of the folklore materials might have been falsified. The research of this time is characterised not only by skepticism, but also with attempts to seek foreign influences.

After the Second World War, under Soviet occupation, research of mythology and especially religious concepts was banned in Latvia. Similarly, members of neopagan groups were persecuted as paganism was considered chauvinistic. Despite this, research was continued by Latvians in exile, who focused on the mythology of folk songs. The songs were already seen as the best source for mythology research during the interwar period. The reason was that since the need to preserve poetic metre and melody limited possible changes, it was thought that ancient notions were better preserved in them than in other genres of folklore. Accordingly, folk songs were the only source for research for long time. This approach has been criticized by modern researchers who have proposed that themes mentioned in other genres, such as fairy tales, legends, and records of folk beliefs and magic practices, might compliment folk songs as each genre contains different themes and might provide only partial insight into mythology.

Although research in Latvia could only restart in the 1980s, the 1970s saw the emergence of a folklore movement with members which could be described as neopagans. These groups were pantheistic, less uniform, less dogmatic, interested in protection of nature and cultural heritage, and more open to the influence of traditions from neighboring nations. Later, marginal movements have explored spirituality in both local traditions and religious and spiritual practices of the world, such as Eastern religions. For example, Pokaiņi forest was announced to be an ancient sacral site by one of these groups in the late 1990s, and it attracts thousands of visitors each season. Dievturi, which resumed operating in Latvia just before restoration of independence in 1990, is the only officially recognized pagan religion and had around 600 followers As of 2001. Given the decreasing influence of the movement, its name is sometimes applied in a broader sense to any modern practice related to folklore.