Perkūnas (, , , , ) was the common Baltic god of thunder, and the second most important deity in the Baltic pantheon after Dievas. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, fire, war, law, order, fertility, mountains, and oak trees.
Etymology The name of the god is attested as Lithuanian , Latvian , Sudovian . There are also homonymous or similar-sounding words meaning "thunder": Lithuanian , Latvian , , , Old Prussian .
The etymology of is unclear. Wojciech Smoczyński (2025), analyzing the etymology of the appellative , concludes that the word has no established Baltic etymology. There are several hypotheses about the origin of the word.
Proto-Indo-European god *Perkʷúh₃nos
Some Indo-Europeanists, such as James Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, and historians of religion, such as Peter Jackson (in consultation with Indo-Europeanist ), are attempting to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European god of thunder named *Perkʷúh₃nos using comparative linguistics. The main linguistic evidence is said to be the Baltic god of thunder , the Slavic god of thunder , , mother of Thor, god of thunder in Norse mythology, and, possibly, , the Vedic god of rain and storm, the Albanian god of weather , and Hittite "stone". This theonym is said to derive from the root *per- "to beat" or from root *perkʷ- "oak", and the theonym itself was later given various extensions in different languages. Therefore, the theonym can be literally translated as "the Striker" or "the Lord of Oaks".
Jackson points out that it is impossible to create a single, common protoform from the listed theonyms, and that at least three should be created, but based on the similarity between and , he concludes that *Perkʷúh₃nos is an early formation. According to linguist Guus Kroonen, Proto-Germanic *fergunją "mountain" or "mountainous forest" (from which the goddess's epithet derives) may be related to *ferhwaz "oak" and *furhwǭ "fir", or arose in Germanic and is the feminine form of the word *fergaz "god" (feminine protoform: *perk⁽ʷ⁾-n-yeh₂-), which excludes any connection with . Linguist Riccardo Ginevra notes that herself has no connection with lightning, and derives her name from the root *perḱ- "variegated", "black". The Germanic word itself is often considered a loan from Celtic. The suggested connection with is also criticized. If the Slavic form corresponded to the Baltic one, it would sound like **Perkynъ: the Baltic regularly gives the Slavic , and the Slavic form lacks the element . Aleksander Brückner attempted to resolve this problem by explaining that disappeared under the influence of the verb *pьràti "to beat", and changed to as an analogy to nouns such as *běgunъ "runner". Linguist Norbert Ostrowski rejects Brückner's idea as impossible to prove; linguist Mikołaj Rudnicki stated that such an omission of the middle would be a completely isolated phenomenon. Linguist Michał Łuczyński points out that Baltic and Germanic forms differ in their suffixes, Vedic and Hittite forms have different etymologies, the Albanian theonym arose in Albanian, and the PIE the palatalized -kʷ- does not disappear and regularly changes to in the Proto-Slavic language, as a result of which the Slavic Perun cannot continue PIE *Perkʷúh₃nos. He states that the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European god *Perkʷúh₃nos ~ *Perownos ~ *Perwṇtos is unfounded due to the lack of linguistic material allowing for such reconstructions, and concludes that there is no common Indo-European name for the god of thunder; Philologist Martin L. West also rejects the possibility of reconstructing the name of the Indo-European god of thunder: , , and contain different roots with different meanings and have different formants, which means that these theonyms arose independently of each other.
From *perkʷ- "oak" It has also been suggested that is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *perkʷ- "oak".
Ostrowski, discussing the Baltic appellative, reconstructs the following paradigm of the protoform: Nominative: *pérku-Hō(n) "having an oak tree" Genitive: *perku-Hn-és (instead of expected *pr̥ku-Hn-és as a result of leveling within the paradigm)
According to him, the older form is Latvian , which he derives from the e-grade (nominative), and Lithuanian and Latvian dialectal from the zero-grade (genitive). The suffix *-Hō(n) itself forms possessive adjectives, and he compares to Lithuanian "young" < *h₂yéwh₁n-o-s "having strength" < *h₂yéw- "strength".
From *per- "to hit" Linguist Ernst Fraenkel rejected the etymological connection between and oak. Instead, he adopted an etymology linking it to the verb "to beat, to whip", "to strike (about lightning)" (Proto-Balto-Slavic *pertei). and would have been formed analogously. To explain , he states that was extended by a voiceless velar plosive and compares it to the Vedic , whose name was extended by a voiced velar plosive. Smoczyński considers this explanation doubtful.
To explain , linguist Jan Otrębski reconstructs the verb *per-k(er)- with the inserted root *ker- "to cut" (cf. Ancient Greek "to cut off", Lithuanian "to chop, to cut down").
Ostrowski criticizes this etymology. He notes that the suffix with acute intonation () only appears in the function of forming patronymic names, and that there is no evidence to consider the word a patronymic name. This suffix with a circumflex accent () can form or , but the accent of this suffix does not match the word in question.
Slavic borrowing Smoczyński considers the suffix to be of Rus' origin, which indicates the possibility of borrowing. Smoczyński suggests that the basic form is the dialectal (eastern) word "lightning", which is borrowed from Middle Belarusian "lightning". The word was then extended with and borrowed into other Baltic languages. He points out that there are also proper names corresponding to this word: lake and two placenames Perū̃nai (in the plural).
Perkūnas in written sources Most information about Perkūnas comes from folklore songs, legends, and fairy tales. Because most of them were collected rather late in the 19th century, they represent only some fragments of the whole mythology. Lithuanian Perkūnas has many alternative onomatopoeic names, like Dundulis, Dindutis, Dūdų senis, Tarškulis, Tarškutis, Blizgulis, etc.Gimbutiene, Marija. Baltai priesistoriniais laikais: Etnogeneze, materialiné kultura ir mitologija. Vilnius: Mokslas. 1985. p. 167. (In Lithuanian)
The earliest attestation of Perkūnas seems to be in the Ruthenian translation of the Chronicle of John Malalas (1261) where it speaks about the worship of "Перкоунови рекше громоу", and in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle (around 1290) which mentions the idol Perkūnė.
In the Constitutiones Synodales (1530) Perkūnas is mentioned in a list of gods before the god of hell Pikuls and is identified with the Roman Jove (Jupiter). In the Sudovian Book Perkūnas (Parkuns) is mentioned in connection with a ritual involving a goat. In Christian compositions, Perkūnas is a malicious spirit, a demon, as in the Chronicle of John Malalas or in the 15th century writings of Polish chronicler Jan Długosz.
Representation in mythology
Perkūnas is the god of lightning and thunder and storms. In a triad of gods Perkūnas symbolizes the creative forces (including vegetative), courage, success, the top of the world, the sky, rain, thunder, heavenly fire (lightning) and celestial elements.
In the Latvian dainas, the functions of Pērkons and Dievs can occasionally merge: Pērkons is called Pērkona tēvs ('Father or God of Thunder') or Dieviņš, a diminutive form of Dievs.
Weapons and vehicle Perkūnas is pictured as middle-aged, armed with an axe and arrows, riding a two-wheeled chariot harnessed with goats, like Thor or Celtic Taranis.
In other accounts, the thunder god is described as driving a fiery chariot through the skies with swift horses, or riding a fiery horse.Straižys, Vytautas; Klimka, Libertas. "The Cosmology of the Ancient Balts". In: Journal for the History of Astronomy: Archaeoastronomy Supplement. Vol. 28. Issue 22 (1997): p. S73.
Perkūnas' family relations In songs about a "heavenly wedding" Saulė (the Sun) cheats on Perkūnas with Mėnulis (the Moon); Perkūnas splits Mėnulis in half with a sword. According to another, more popular, version, Mėnulis cheats on the Sun with Aušrinė (the morning star) just after the wedding, and Perkūnas punishes it. However, it does not learn and repeats the adultery and is punished again every month. Other explanations say it is why the Sun shines during the day and the Moon at night. Though divorced, both want to see their daughter Žemyna (the Earth).
In other songs Perkūnas, on the way to the wedding of Aušra (dawn; the daughter of the Sun), strikes a golden oak. The oak is a tree of the thunder god in the Baltic mythology.Klimka, Libertas. "Medžių mitologizavimas tradicinėje lietuvių kultūroje" [Mythicization of the tree in Lithuanian folk culture]. In: Acta humanitarica universitatis Saulensis [Acta humanit. univ. Saulensis (Online)]. 2011, t. 13, pp. 22-25. . References to the "oak of Perkūnas" (in Lithuanian, Perkūno ąžuolas; in Latvian, Pērkona ozols) exist in a source dated to the first half of the 19th century.
Other myths say that Perkūnas and one Laumė by the name of Vaiva (rainbow) were supposed to get married on Thursday, but the bride was kidnapped by Velnias (the devil) and Perkūnas has hunted Velnias ever since.
Some myths mention four sons of Perkūnas (Latvian: Perkona dēli; Lithuanian: Perkūno sūnūs),Dini, Pietro U. Foundations of Baltic Languages. English translation by Milda B. Richardson, Robert E. Richardson. Vilnius: 2014. p. 282. who, apparently, are connected with the four seasons or with the four directions of the world (east, west, south and north). Sometimes there are seven or nine Perkūnai referred to as brothers. It is said in Lithuanian "Perkūnų yra daug" ("there are many thunders").
In some myths Perkūnas expels his wife (and in some cases his children too) and remains in the sky by himself. Some myths offer a very different story: Dievas lifts Perkūnas from the earth into the sky. Perkūnas has stones in the sky (which rumble during storms) - the motive connected to Indo-European mythology. Perkūnas dwells on high hills or mountains: compare Lithuanian toponymy of Perkūnkalnis, "mountain of Perkūnas", or Griausmo kalnas, "mountain of rumble."
In most myths, however, Perkūnas's wife is Žemyna.
Perkūnas and Velnias
An important function of Perkūnas is to fight Velnias (in Latvian, Velns). He is sometimes considered the antithesis of Perkūnas and is the god of the underworld and death. Christianity considers "Velnias" akin to their "devil", though this is not in line with ancient beliefs.
Perkūnas pursues his opponent, Velns, for his theft of fertility and cattle. Velnias hides in trees, under stones, or turns into various animals: a black cat, dog, pig, goat, lamb, pike, cow (compare to the Latvian representations of jods, a creature with cow hoofs) or a person.
Perkūnas pursues an opponent in the sky on a chariot, made from stone and fire (Lithuanian ugnies ratai). Sometimes the chariot is made from red iron. It is harnessed by a pair (less often four or three) of red and white (or black and white) horses (sometimes goats). Compare the Lithuanian deity of horses and chariots Ratainyčia (Ratainicza mentioned in Lasick's works; from Lithuanian ratai - "wheel"). It is a mythologized image of a chariot of Didieji Grįžulo Ratai ("Grand Wheels of Grįžulas" (Ursa Major). It agrees with Samogitian representations, in which Perkūnas is a horseman on a fiery horse. On his heavenly chariot Perkūnas appears in the shape of a gray-haired old man with a big beard of many colors, in white and black clothes, holding a goat on a cord in one hand and a horn or an axe in the other.