Lauku māte

"Field mother." The goddess of fields and fertility to whom farmers sacrificed to secure an abundant harvest. One of the māte, "mothers," she may be compared to dieviņi — the minor gods, who still are the immediate rulers of human life.

Lauku māte is one of the few "mothers" listed in Paul Einhorn's Historia Lettica (1649).

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References

Sources

  • Leach, Maria, ed. (1949-1950). Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend. 2 vols. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, p. 2:608.
  • Welsford, Enid. (1925). "Nature (Lettish, Lithuanian, Old Prussian, Slavic)." In ERE, Vol. 9, 240-253, p. 242.