I often get asked questions about the origin of Lithuanian language and the culture itself. Here are some interesting facts about the Balts, or the Baltic peoples, who live by the Baltic Sea.
- The Baltic peoples who still exist are Latvians, Lithuanians, and Latgalians. The Prussians, Yotvingias, and Galindians are already extinct. The cultures of the Lithuanians and Latgalians/Latvians who survived became the ancestors of the populations of the modern countries of Latvia and Lithuania.
- We speak the Baltic languages, which is a branch of Indo-European family. (No, we do not speak Russian).
- Lithuanian mythology is originally pagan and explains the universe through nature and its laws and natural processes such as change of seasons, the sun (the mother), the moon (the father) and the stars (the sisters of human). Lithuanians became Christianized in 14-15th c., though pagan beliefs are still present among people, within fairy tales, and our cultural traditions.
- Thousands of lakes and swamps in the area contributed to the Balts’ geographical isolation. Therefore, the Baltic languages retain a number of conservative or archaic features. The language including the folklore has survived in a pure state and ancient cultural traits have not been adulterated or destroyed.
- Lithuanian is the most archaic of all living Indo-European languages. Sanskrit and Baltic are two linguistic poles for Indo-European languages.
Here is one of the most beautiful Lithuanian folk tales - Eglė žalčių karalienė – Eglė, the Queen of Serpents. It very well reflects the traditional Lithuanian graphic style and the true melancholic and timid Lithuanian character:
You can compare and see the similarities with the Latvian character:
More Information:
- Balts – Wikipedia
- The Lithuanian Language — Past and Present
- We, the Balts
- Menuo Juodaragis – independent post-folk & alternative music culture festival.
- Atalyja – “Gervele” - music video for the song “Gervele” (“The Crane”), performed by the Lithuanian folk rock band Atalyja.
- Skyle - another post-folk Lithuanian band with amazing Aiste’s voice. [version w/ music]