Perkūnas (Thunderer) is the Baltic God of thunder, lightning, storms, rain, fire, war, law, order, fertility, mountains and oak trees. As a Sky God he dwells in the divine mountain realm. Regularly he battles the forces of Chaos.
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In folklore Perkūnas (Perkunas; Latvian: Pērkons, Old Prussian: Perkūns, Perkunos) is best known from songs, legends and fairy tales. Many are collected late in the 19th century and published in 1889 by Scottish poet and scholar Andrew Lang (1844-1912).
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Because of a long and often localized history, Lithuanian Perkūnas the Thunderer has a number of alternative names. They include Dundulis, Dindutis, Dūdų senis, Tarškulis, Tarškutis and Blizgulis.
The name of storm god Perkūnas comes from Proto-Indo-European Perkwunos, equivalent to perkwus, a word for "oak", "fir" or "wooded mountain". Like the linden the oak is a strong symbol of Baltic lore. Fir would be silver fir (Abies alba or Ger. Tannenbaum).
According to legend, in antiquity Perkūnas is worshiped beneath the Stelmužė Oak in Lithuania, a tree almost 2000 years old. Now, the oak has been damaged during its long reign and branches are breaking. Acorns of the oak are planted in a protected forest.
The tree is also commemorated on a 2-litai coin.
In language, etymologists have successfully reconstructed the Proto-Baltic name *Perkūnas. Good work etymologists. Slavic Perun is considered related but not a sure match. In a Middle Ages text c.1530 Perkūnas is with others before the god of hell Pikuls.
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He's identified with Roman Jupiter. In the Sudovian Book (16th century German) Perkūnas (Parkuns) is mentioned in connection with a goat ritual. In Christian compositions, Perkūnas is a malicious spirit or demon.
As god of lightning, thunder and storms, in a triad or trinity of deities Perkūnas symbolizes creative powers, courage, success, the peak and sky. He's patron of rain, thunder, heavenly fire (lightning) and celestial forces.
He's often in a triad with Potrimpo and Velnias (Latvian: Velnis). Potrimpo (also Potrimpus, Autrimpo, Natrimpe) is God of mariners, the seas, earth, crops and grains in pagan Baltic and Old Prussian mythology.
Velnias is the deity of death and the concept of hell. He's god of the Lithuanian vėles or Latvian velis (zombies), the “phantoms of the dead.” Sometimes shown with one eye, he's a prophetic trickster able to raise whirlwinds and lead a host of the dead through the skies.
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Seen as representative of the divine will of Sky Father God Dievs, Perkunas often blends into similar functions, as in the Latvian dainas, or poems and folk songs. Pērkons is called Pērkona tēvs ('Father or God of Thunder') or Dieviņš, a diminutive form of Dievs.
Armed with axe and arrows, Perkūnas rides a two-wheeled chariot harnessed to goats, comparable to Norse Storm God Thor or Celtic Taranis. The Balts have a strong horse culture and the chariot of Perkunas may be drawn by blazing horses.
On his divine chariot Perkūnas might appear as a gray-haired man with an enormous billowing beard of many colors. He wears black and white, and has a goat on a rope in one hand, a horn or axe in the other. The constellation Ursa Major symbolizes his chariot.
In Samogitian (East Baltic) lore, Perkūnas rides a fiery steed. Perkūnas pursues God of Death Velnias, who acts in the role of his nemesis. The cycles of their battles pertain to the Chaoskampf, the eternal strife between chaos and order.
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Perkūnas has many weapons at his disposal including axe or sledgehammer, stones, a sword, lightning bolts, bow and arrows, club, and an iron knife. Perkūnas is the creator of the weapons, or he's helped by the divine smith Televelis (Kalvelis).
As god of the underworld and death, Velnias becomes equated with the Christian devil.
Perkūnas is after Velnias, for trickery and evildoing such as cattle theft. Velnias hides in trees, under stones, or turns into a black cat, dog, pig, goat, lamb, pike, cow or person.
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When Perkunas catches Velnias, as surely he will, the hunt culminates in a tremendous thunderstorm. The storm clears away evil, returns stolen cattle or restores property. The theme of a perpetual hunt or raging host occurs throughout Europe in the Wild Hunt.
The Old Prussians, a Baltic speaking group of coastal West Balts c. 1250, also worship pre-Christian deities. The Flag of Prussian King Widewuto features the Prussian Perkūns in middle, flanked by a young Patrimpas (Potrimpo) and old Patulas (Velnias).