Die litauischen mythischen Wesen <em>Laimė</em> und <em>Laumė</em> und die frühe Ontogenese des Menschen<br>Litovski mitološki lik <em>laimė</em> in <em>laumė</em> in zgodnja ontogeneza ljudi</br>

Authors

  • Bernd Gliwa
  • Daiva Šeškauskaitė Kaunas College of Forestry and Environmental Engineering, Department of Social and Humanities Science, Liepu 1-111, Girionys, LT-53101, Lithuania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v6i0.1786

Abstract

The article deals with the processes around procreation, childbearing and birth as they are described in Lithuanian tales, legends and customs. It asks the question at which moment the fetus or child aquires a soul. Mythic beings related to the early ontogenesis are laimė ‘fortuna’ and laumė ‘fairy’, who have been often mixed. It is shown that the changeling brought by laumė refers to the custom of making a doll and exchanging it with the newly born or baptized child. Thus, laumė is heavily involved in the process of delivering and may be responsible for getting a soul. Contrarily, laimė begins to act only after the delivering, she may be similar to a God mother of the child. An explanation is offered off the changeling as a result of belief in metempsychosis which should ensure the passing of a soul from the tree to the child.

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Published

2015-05-05

How to Cite

Gliwa, B., & Šeškauskaitė, D. (2015). Die litauischen mythischen Wesen <em>Laimė</em> und <em>Laumė</em> und die frühe Ontogenese des Menschen<br>Litovski mitološki lik <em>laimė</em> in <em>laumė</em> in zgodnja ontogeneza ljudi</br>. Studia Mythologica Slavica, 6, 267–285. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v6i0.1786

Issue

Section

SEMIOTIČNE INTERPRETACIJE LJUDSKEGA IZROČILA / SEMIOTIC INTERPRETATIONS OF LANGUAGE AND TRADITION