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Pikne (also Piken or Pikker ) was possibly the god of lightning and weather god in pagan Estonian mythology .

Lore

The tradition about Pikne is sketchy and speculative. It is based primarily on reports from medieval Estonian folk beliefs .

Thereafter, Pikne ( Estonian "lightning") was the protector of the Võhandu River in Võru County, among others . He is said to have punished the owners of water mills in particular by withdrawing the rain. Pagan priests are said to have made animal sacrifices to him. The Lutheran pastor Johann Gutslaff dealt in detail with Pikne in his Kurtzer report and teaching , published in Tartu in 1644, From the False-Holy Creeks in Lieffland Wöhhanda .

According to myths that the Estonian folklorist Matthias Johann Eisen (1857–1934) collected and worked on, Pikne is said to be the brother of Kõu and the son of Uku . A legend tells that the evil underworld god Vanapagan Pikne stole a magical flute without which the god could no longer bring rain. Angry, Uku sent Pikne to earth. At a wedding, he disguised himself as a minstrel and stole the instrument from Vanapagan. A similar motif can be found in the Eddic Þrymskviða .

The veneration of Piknes is also proven in other Finno-Ugric peoples like the Woten .

aftermath

The composer Veljo Tormis and the writer Ain Kaalep processed an alleged prayer to Pikne that Johann Gutslaff had recorded in the Litany of Lightning ("Pikse litaania") published in 1974 .

literature

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