A lot has been written about the myth of the Roman origins of Lithuanians, but the issues of identity construction in its various versions did not receive sufficient attention in scholarship. In this article I will explore the mechanisms... more
A lot has been written about the myth of the Roman origins of Lithuanians, but the issues of identity construction in its various versions did not receive sufficient attention in scholarship. In this article I will explore the mechanisms of identity construction and their ideological implications in the earliest Lithuanian version of the Roman myth contained in the Krasiński and Evreinov manuscripts of the Chronicle of the GDL. [...] I will put a heavy emphasis on the representation of regions in the text, since, as will become clear later, the regional discourse is the dominant form of self-narration in the myth. Such emphasis makes this article a contribution to the under-researched field of regional identities and their narrative dimension in the Middle Ages and early modernity.
The comprehension of paganism in the GDL in the 16th century in the context of the “Roman legend” is considered in this report. The 16th century authors aspired to present the Lithuanian paganism and mythology as directly ancient Roman... more
The comprehension of paganism in the GDL in the 16th century in the context of the “Roman legend” is considered in this report. The 16th century authors aspired to present the Lithuanian paganism and mythology as directly ancient Roman tradition, or as genetically connected with it. The Roman origin of the Lithuanian paganism was an additional argument of truthfulness of the “Roman legend” and a means for formation of the Roman identity of the Lithuanian nobility.
Medeina originally was a deity of forests in Lithuanian mythology, later in the 13 th-14 th centuries she became also a deity of war. The fact that a deity of forests became one of the central deities in the mythology of medieval society... more
Medeina originally was a deity of forests in Lithuanian mythology, later in the 13 th-14 th centuries she became also a deity of war. The fact that a deity of forests became one of the central deities in the mythology of medieval society is rather unique. Also a fact pointing to the archaism of Medeina is her connection with the bear cult. The character of Medeina seems to be a relic of beliefs of a substrate ethnic group. The name of Medeina/Medeinė is derived from Lithuanian words medis "tree" or medė "forest"; which have no reliable Indo-European etymology. The root mede "tree" / "forest" can originate from a language of the Neolithic people of the East European plain, these people spoke a language related to Yeniseian, Caucasian, and Hattic. The root mede "tree" / "forest" correlates with Proto-Northwest Caucasian form *m "pine-tree". The name Medeina/Medeinė originally could sound like Maede/Maedə.
