List of Proto-Indo-European deities
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This is a list of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European deities in Proto-Indo-European mythology. Not all scholars agree on the existence of these deities, but these ones are widely reconstructed using the comparative method. For information on the ways each deity was reconstructed, see their individual articles.
| Name | Description | Possible descendants |
|---|---|---|
| Dyḗws | daylight sky personified as a male deity.[1] | Hittite Šiwat, Luwian Tiwaz; Ancient Greek Zeus; Roman Jupiter, Dis pater and Dius Fidius; Vedic Dyáuṣ; Albanian Zojz; Baltic Dievas; Norse Týr, etc. |
| Dʰéǵʰōm | the deified Earth, personified as a mother goddess. She is paired with *Dyḗws, who is her main consort.[1][2] Also known by the epithet *Pl̥th₂éwih₂[3][4] | The etymological and semantic descendants of *Dʰéǵʰōm are found in every Indo-European culture. Examples are Hittite Dankuiš Daganzipaš, Greek Chthonia and Demeter, Roman Terra, Vedic Prithvi and Bhūmi, Slavic Mat Zemlya, Lithuanian Žemyna, Norse Jörð, etc. |
| Divine twins | two sons of *Dyḗws, twin deities of fertility, protectors of oaths, providers of divine aid in battle, magic healers, saviors at sea, specifically associated with horses.[3] | Vedic Ashvins; Lithuanian Ašvieniai; Greek Castor and Pollux. Possibly Slavic Lel and Polel, Irish Fír and Fial, Armenian Sanasar and Bałdasar, Germanic Alcis, etc. |
| Mitra-Varuna | a pair of gods associated with law.[5] | see Mitra-Varuna (Indo European)#Correspondences |
| Perkʷunos | god of weather and thunder.[1] | Luwian Tarḫunz, Slavic Perun, Baltic Perkūnas, Vedic Parjanya, Norse Fjörgynn, later Thor; Albanian Perëndi, etc. |
| H₂éwsōs (*Bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂) | goddess of dawn, bringer of the light. Daughter of *Dyḗws.[1] | Vedic Ushas (Bṛhatī), Greek Eos, Roman Aurora, Armenian Ayg, Norse Aurvandill, Lithuanian Aušrinė, Slavic Zorya, Celtic Brigantia, etc. |
| Seh₂ul, Sóh₂wl̥, Sh₂wélyos, or H₂rewis | a solar deity, eye of Dyḗws.[4] | Vedic Surya (Ravi), Zoroastrian Hvare-khshaeta, Greek Helios, Roman Sol Invictus, Armenian Arev, Germanic Sól (Sunna), Baltic Saulė, Albanian Diell, etc. |
| Meh₁not, Mḗh₁n̥s | a lunar deity.[4] | Vedic Chandra, Norse Máni, Baltic Mėnuo, Slavic Myesyats, Zoroastrian Mah, Greek Selene, Roman Luna, Welsh Arianrhod, Anatolian Arma, etc. |
| H₁n̥gʷnis | god and personification of fire.[1] | Vedic Agni, Albanian *En, Slavic Svarozhits, Norse Logi. |
| H₂epom Nepōts | an underwater fire god[6] | Roman Neptune, Indo-Iranian Apam Napat, Irish Nechtan, etc. |
| H₂weh₁-yú | a wind god[1] | Vedic Vayu, Zoroastrian Vayu-Vata, Baltic Vėjas; also Slavic Stribog and Norse Kári. |
| Peh₂usōn | a pastoral god guarding roads and herds.[7] | Vedic Pushan, Greek Pan and Roman Faunus. |
| Fates | three primordial sister goddesses in charge of fate and destiny.[4] | Hittite Gulšeš, Greek Moirai, Roman Parcae, Vedic Tridevi, Slavic Rozhanitsy, Norse Norns, Irish Morrígna, the Albanian Fatia, etc. |
| H₂eryo-mén | a god of roads, welfare, and community.[6] | Vedic Aryaman, Zoroastrian Airyaman, Gaulish Ariomanus, Irish Érimón and possibly Germanic Irmin. |
| unreconstructable | a smith god.[4] | Greek Hephaestus, Roman Vulcanus, Vedic Tvashtr, Ossetian Kurdalægon, Germanic Wayland, Slavic Svarog, Baltic Teliavelis, etc. |
| Déh₂nu | a goddess of rivers and fertility. Mother of the *Deh₂newyóes. [1] M.R. Dexter considers them as reflections of an obscure prehistoric tribe, personified as a feminine water deity, who were subdued by the Indo-Europeans. | Multiple hydronyms, such as Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, Don, etc. Vedic Danu, Irish Danu, Anu, Welsh Dôn. |
| PriHyéh₂ | goddess of garden and love[8][1] | Vedic Parvati, Proto-Germanic Frijjō, Czech Příje, Russian Paraskeva Friday, etc. Descendants of her masculine counterpart: Graeco-Roman Priapus, Norse Freyr, possibly also Vedic Vanaspati and Polabian Pripegala. |
| Welnos | god of cattle and livestock[9] | Possibly Slavic Veles, Volos; Baltic Velnias, Celtic Vellaunus, Germanic Ullr (Wuldor), etc. |
| Ḱolyo, Móros, Moreh₂ | goddess of death. She has the power of adding and taking a life from people.[10] | Norse Hel, Greek Calypso, Hindu Śarva, Mṛtyu, and Mara, Zoroastrian Sauruua, Slavic Morana, Morena, Mara, Roman Morta. |
Lesser deities[edit]
This list is not necessarily deities that were less important to the Proto Indo Europeans. Rather it is a list of deities for which there is less evidence of and which are reconstructed less.
- *Mawōrts, proposed common ancestor of Mars and Maruts.[11] It was likely more cosmological and less linked to war and unrelated to Ares.[12]
- A goddess of the Trifunctional system related to Juno, Anahita,[13] and Athena.[14]
- A decay goddess has also been proposed on the basis of the Vedic Nirṛti and the Roman Lūa Mater. Her names derive from the verbal roots "decay, rot", and they are both associated with the decomposition of human bodies.[15]
- A medical god has been reconstructed based on a thematic comparison between the Indic god Rudra and the Greek Apollo. Both inflict disease from afar thanks to their bows, both are known as healers, and both are specifically associated with rodents: Rudra's animal is the "rat mole" and Apollo was known as a "rat god".[15]
- A wild god named *Rudlos has also been proposed, based on the Vedic Rudrá and the Old Russian Rŭglŭ. Problematic is whether the name derives from *rewd- ("rend, tear apart"; akin to Lat. rullus, "rustic"), or rather from *rew- ("howl").[15]
- Although the name of the divinities are not cognates, a horse goddess portrayed as bearing twins and in connection with fertility and marriage has been proposed based on the Gaulish Epona, Irish Macha and Welsh Rhiannon, with other thematic echos in the Greek and Indic traditions.[16][17].The name of this goddess is reconstructed as *H₁eḱwoneh₂ on the basis of Gaulish Epona and a possible Mycenaean Greek reflex po-]ti-ni-ya i-qe-ya = Potnia Ikkweīa (in the dative), “Mistress of horses”[18][19], confer Epona's epithet Potnia. In Greek mythology, Demeter transformed herself into a mare when she was raped by Poseidon appearing as a stallion, and she gave birth to a daughter and a horse, Areion. Similarly, the Indic tradition tells of Saranyu fleeing from her husband Vivásvat when she assumed the form of a mare. Vivásvat metamorphosed into a stallion and of their intercourse were born the twin horses, the Aśvins. In Norse mythology, Svaðilfari, a stallion that was owned by a jötunn who built the walls of Asgard, fathered Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse by Loki who transformed himself into a mare. The Irish goddess Macha gave birth to twins, a mare and a boy, and the Welsh figure Rhiannon bore a son Pryderi, who was reared along with a horse.[20]
- Some[who?] scholars have proposed a consort goddess named *DiwHōneh₂,[21][22] a spouse of Dyēws with a possible descendant in the Greek goddess Dione. A thematic echo may also occur in Vedic India, as both Indra's wife Indrānī and Zeus's consort Dione display a jealous and quarrelsome disposition under provocation. A second descendant may be found in Dia, a mortal said to unite with Zeus in a Greek myth. The story leads ultimately to the birth of the Centaurs after the mating of Dia's husband Ixion with the phantom of Hera, the spouse of Zeus. The reconstruction is however only attested in those two traditions and therefore not secured.[4] The Greek Hera, the Roman Juno, the Germanic Frigg and the Indic Shakti are often depicted as the protectress of marriage and fertility, or as the bestowal of the gift of prophecy. James P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams note however that "these functions are much too generic to support the supposition of a distinct PIE 'consort goddess' and many of the 'consorts' probably represent assimilations of earlier goddesses who may have had nothing to do with marriage."[23].
Heroes[edit]
- Mónus, the first priest, associated with Mithra.
- YémHos, the first sacrificial victim and possibly God of death, associated with Varuna.
- Tritós, the first warrior. Associated with Perkʷunos.
Minor Heroes[edit]
- *H₂nḗrtos, a hero who overcame the *Deh₂newyóes tribe (children of goddess Deh₂nu) and slain their leader Bel.[24]
- Michael Estell has reconstructed a mythical craftsman named *H₃r̥bʰew based on the Greek Orpheus and the Vedic Ribhus. Both are the son of a cudgel-bearer or an archer, and both are known as "fashioners" (*tetḱ-).[25]
- A mythical hero named *Promāth₂ew has also been proposed, from the Greek hero Prometheus ("the one who steals"), who took the heavenly fire away from the gods to bring it to mankind, and the Vedic Mātariśvan, the mythical bird who "robbed" (found in the myth as pra math-, "to steal") the hidden fire and gave it to the Bhrigus.[26][27]
- *Medʰéwih₂, a legendary princess from a proposed Proto-Indo-European legend of king and the virgin. Her name is reconstructed on the basis of Irish Medb, daughter of king Eochaid and Hindu Mādhāvi, daughter of king Yayati. The legend of the King and Virgin involves a ruler saved by the offspring of his virgin daughter after seeing his future threatened by rebellious sons or male relatives.[28][29] The virginity likely symbolizes in the myth the woman that has no loyalty to any man but her father, and the child is likewise faithful only to his royal grandfather.[30] The legends of the Indic king Yayāti, saved by Mādhāvi; the Roman king Numitor, rescued by his chaste daughter Rhea Silvia; the Irish king Eochaid, father of Medb, and threatened by his sons the findemna; as well as the myth of the Norse virgin goddess Gefjun offering lands to Odin, are generally cited as possible reflexes of an inherited Proto-Indo-European motif.
Creatures[edit]
- Nymphs (Indo-European mythology)
- Ḱérberos, a Hellhound.
- The Primordial Cow, who fed the primordial twins, *Mónus and *YémHos, with her milk. *Mónus, after sacrificing *YémHos, also sacrifices her, and her body becomes the world’s animal life and plants.
- H₂n̥gʷʰis, giant multi-headed water serpent, who was slain by *Tritós.
- In 1855, Adalbert Kuhn suggested that the Proto-Indo-Europeans may have believed in a set of helper deities, whom he reconstructed based on the Germanic elves and the Hindu ribhus.[31] Although this proposal is often mentioned in academic writings, very few scholars actually accept it since the cognate relationship is linguistically difficult to justify.[32][33] While stories of elves, satyrs, goblins and giants show recurrent traits in Indo-European traditions, West notes that "it is difficult to see so coherent an overall pattern as with the nymphs. It is unlikely that the Indo-Europeans had no concept of such creatures, but we cannot define with any sharpness of outline what their conceptions were."[34]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006-08-24). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-928791-8. Search this book on
- ↑ M De Vaan 2008 Etymological Dictionary Of Latin And The Other Italic Languages. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jackson, Peter (2002-01-01). "Light from Distant Asterisks Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage". Numen. 49 (1): 61–102. doi:10.1163/15685270252772777. ISSN 1568-5276.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 West, M. L.; West, Formerly Professor of Greek at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Senior Research Fellow M. L. (2007-05-24). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Mitra-Varuna Georges Dumézil
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5. Search this book on
- ↑ Puhvel, Jaan (1987). Comparative Mythology. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-3413-4. Search this book on
- ↑ "Pria, a Proto-Indo-European Goddess". 2022-04-26. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
- ↑ Jaan Puhvel, Analecta Indoeuropaea, (a collection of articles), publ. by Innsbrucker Beitrage zur Sprachwissenschaft, Innsbruck, 1981
- ↑ Lincoln 1991, p. 78.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 2006, pp. 410–411.
- ↑ York, Michael (1988). "Romulus and Remus, Mars and Quirinus". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 16 (1–2): 153–172. ISSN 0092-2323.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 433.
- ↑ Puhvel 1987, pp. 133–134.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 434.
- ↑ O'Brien, Steven (1982). "Dioscuric elements in Celtic and Germanic mythology". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 10: 117–136.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 279.
- ↑ Dexter 1990a, p. 286.
- ↑ West & 2007 145.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 280.
- ↑ Dunkel, George E. (1988–1990). "Vater Himmels Gattin". Die Sprache. 34: 1–26.
- ↑ Jackson 2002, p. 72–74.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 124.
- ↑ Petrosyan, Armen. "The Indo-European H₂nert-s and the Danu tribe".
- ↑ Jackson 2002, p. 83-84.
- ↑ Jackson 2002, p. 85.
- ↑ Fortson 2004, p. 27.
- ↑ Puhvel 1987, p. 256.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 437.
- ↑ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 331–332.
- ↑ Kuhn, Adalbert (1855). "Die sprachvergleichung und die urgeschichte der indogermanischen völker". Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung. 4., "Zu diesen ṛbhu, alba.. stellt sich nun aber entschieden das ahd. alp, ags. älf, altn . âlfr"
- ↑ Hall, Alaric (2007). Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity (PDF). Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1843832942. Search this book on
- ↑ West 2007, p. 297.
- ↑ West 2007, p. 303.
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