The God Perkūnas of the Ancient Lithuanians is the most thorough and extensive work on the Lithuanian thunder god to date. This book’s nineteen chapters follow the god’s Indo-European origins through the evidence in histories, place names, and diverse forms of folklore, as well as how these relate to archaeological evidence and aspects of material culture.
Nijolė Laurinkienė’s empirically grounded study covers enormous quantities of primary sources in order to offer multidisciplinary perspectives that she situates in both diachronic and synchronic contexts. Laurinkienė considers continuities and reconstructions of the non-Christian religion and elucidates the rich and dynamic variation in the traditions that continued up through the transition into modernity.
The God Perkūnas is a fascinating and valuable work for anyone interested in pre-modern mythologies. The insights offered will be of relevance to researchers in a variety of fields, and the book also presents a wealth of primary sources, many made available in English for the first time, increasing the book’s value as a resource.
