Interpretations of Matthaeus Praetorius mythical material on Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda in the works of Lithuanian and Prussian mythology researchers of the 19th-21st centuries
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Matas Pretorijus; Baltų religija ir mitologija; Mokslo istorija; Matthaeus Praetorius; Baltic religion and mythology; History of science.
ENThe present article provides an overview and evaluation of interpretations of Lithuanian and Prussian mythology researchers of the 19th–21st centuries on the following deities, attributable to the Baltic pantheon and associated with the water sphere: Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda (partly Bardoayts) that were described in Matthaeus Praetorius’ (Matthäus Prätorius) work “Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater” (“Deliciae Prussicae, oder Preussische Schaubϋhne”) (the end of the 17th century). The said interpretations, depending on the evaluation of reliability of the mythical material recorded by M. Praetorius, are divided into three groups: a) Praetorius’ mythical data is considered to be the original data; b) it is noted and discussed that the present manuscript, in certain cases, is not the primary source; c) all chronicles of the 16th–17th centuries, including the one by Praetorius, are considered to be authentic and equivalent. The object of the research is mythical material by Matthaeus Praetorius on Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda and its interpretations in the works of Lithuanian and Prussian mythology researchers of the 19th–21st centuries.The purpose is to evaluate the interpretations of mythical material by Matthaeus Praetorius on Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda in the works of Lithuanian and Prussian mythology researchers of the 19th–21st centuries. Tasks: 1) to select Lithuanian mythology researchers of the 19th–21st centuries who in their works purposely used Praetorius’ mythical material on Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda; 2) to distinguish by which researchers of the 19th–21st centuries Matthaeus Praetorius’ mythological material on Perdoytus, Wejopattis, Gardouten, Bangpjtjs, Luobgelda: a) was treated as the primary source; b) was noticed and estimated that the information is not primary; c) and which researchers considered Matthaeus Praetorius’ material and all other sources of the 16th–17th centuries to be authentic-equivalent. Methods: analytical, structured content analysis, hermeneutic interpretive description, comparative. [From the publication]
