Emergence Of Baltic Pagan Culture

(April 22, 2025)

The feudal system in the lands which would become the Grand Duchy of Lithuania seems to have started developing by 1000 CE. During this time, most people were free farmers who worked for so-called “good people” who would eventually become nobles. Castles, manors and systems of defense were established during this time. Little documentation actually exists from this period.

The first official king was Mindaugas who was crowned on July 6, 1253. Seeking to enhance his power further relative to the nobles he claimed to convert to Catholic Christianity. This only resulted in internal conflict and increasing brutality. Ultimately, a conspiracy was formed against him and he was assassinated in 1263 along with his two sons. Still after this time state institutions were formed, the Teutonic Order was resisted on the north, and territory expanded into the lands of Rus on the south.  Stability returned with the rule of Grand Duke Gediminas (1275-1341) who established a long line of kings.

Wanting to keep his Greek Orthodox territories (Ruthenia) against the growing power of the Rus he allied himself with Catholic Poland. He invited members of religious orders to come to the Grand Duchy and announced his loyalty to the Pope. Gediminas’ political skills in diverting aggression are revealed in a series of letters written to Rome. In 1322 letter to Pope John XXII, he claimed that his predecessors, including Mindaugas, had been open to Christianity, but had been betrayed by the Teutonic Knights.  

“Holy and honorable Father!,” he wrote, “We are fighting with the Christians not so that we could destroy the Catholic faith, but in order to resist the harm done to us…”

His grandson, Jogaila, became king in 1377 but due to his youth he initially had a joint rule with his uncle Kestutis. Under pressure from the Teutonic Knights Jogaila chose union with the Poles, solidified in the 1385 Act of Kreva in which Jogaila promised "to merge his lands of Lithuania and the Rus (Ruthenia) to the crown of Poland forever" in return for becoming king of Poland. This also required him to become Roman Catholic and marry Polish princess, Jadwiga (or Hedwig, born in 1373 or 1374). Consequently, he was elected king of Poland on Feb. 2, 1386, was baptized as a Roman Catholic on February 15 taking the name Władysław II, married Jadwiga on February 18, and was crowned king on March 4 in Cracow.

This merger provided immediate benefits to Poland's and Lithuania's fight with the Teutonic order. July of 1410 a combined Lithuanian-Polish army invaded the territory of the Order in and fought what would be called the Battle of Žalgiris (Grunwald).  Their combined forces of 39,000 swiftly defeated the Order, killing almost half of its men, including the Grand Master, and taking 14,000 prisoners for ransom. The victory was decisive, and the military power of the Order was effectively destroyed.  

Yet by preserving his territory Jogaila gave up his ancestral culture which was the goal of the Teutonic order anyway. He began at once to convert Lithuania to Roman Catholicism. He was the king who allowed Christian professor and free-thinker Jan Huss (1369–1415) to be burned at the stake at the urging of the Catholic church.

References

(April 30, 2025) The world for "sacred grove" in Lithuanian is Alko and Alka (Vaitkevičius 2016)

1. Alko is the Druid Akkadian phrase AL.K' meaning "Alu's prodding place" where Alu is the life source god of the Druid pantheon and "prodding" is the use of emotional-energy to cause movement. An alternative spelling is Alkos and Alkas from the phrase AL.K'.S meaning "Alu's prodding from Su" where Su the the dark new moon and eye pupil god who is the source of all motion powers. He is the main deity involved with astrology-magic.

In Latvian, Alko is Elko from the Druid Akkadian phrase EK.K' meaning "The High-powers prodding place." 

Alu is also the source for Islamic "Allah" meaning "power of Alu" and Biblical 'elohim meaning "the powers of Alu." 'Elohim is simply translated as "God" in the English Christian Old Testament. 

Reference

Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

(April  18, 2025) Hill forts are scattered throughout Europe and not all are forts and these hills seem to have had a variety of functions (not just being forts). This cluster of hillforts has preserved the local name for the flattest central hill and that name is "Alka" meaning it was some sort of sacred site.

This complex is located in southwest Lithuania on the western shore of ancient Raudys Lake when it was larger. The following is the history of the tallest mound, the Medvegalis hillock:

• This archaeological complex consists of seven hillocks and valleys. The Medvegalis hillock is said to be the king of the local highlands, standing 234,6 m above sea level. This is the highest point in Žemaitija and the hillock offers a lovely view of the surrounding area. It is said that from the surface, one can spot 14 church towers, countless other hillocks, as well as Šatrija, which is at a distance of 30 km. Archaeological finds have dated the hillfort back to the 1st millennium BC. A wooden castle was first cited in writing in 1316, when it was attacked by Crusaders. Medvegalis was the central and most famous fortress in defending Žemaitija against Crusader raids. The Crusaders burned the castle down in 1329. All told, some 20 raids against Medvegalis have been recorded in history. According to a legend the name is based on two courageous young ladies who knew the back roads of the region and helped to save the defenders of the besieged castle. When it came time to decide who will inform other hillforts about the siege, one of the girls said “Mudvi galiva,” which means “we both will”. Off they went, and that was the origin of the name Medvegalis. https://www.baltukelias.lt/en/sightseeing-places/medvegalis-hillfort/

References

1. Archaeological investigations in independent Lithuania (1990-2010) / edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Vilnius: Society of the Lithuanian Archaeology, 2012. Online at:  https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/50617

(April 24, 2025) Unlike the Norse, Irish, and Welsh, the Balkans did not have a critical mass of competing nobles to support a bardic culture. But due to the lateness of its Christianization we do have a significant number of Christian texts describing the emergence of the native Pagan culture out of Druidry.

In 1199 Pope Innocent III sent bishop Meinhard of Livonia to the to the Baltic region's tribes whom he called a "barbarous people, who pay the honour due to God to brute animals, leafy trees, clear waters, flourishing herbs, and unclean spirits." (BRMS 1:201)

Christian observers in the Baltic lands interpreted Pagan practices through their own paradigm meaning they got it all wrong. According to the Christian view deities were always personified thus interacting with them required they be worshiped, that is, bribed with sacrifices, flattered, praised, and in general manipulated like any vain human in order to gain the god's favor.

The earliest refences made by medieval era Christian authors are just deity names. The most complete list is found in a 1253 complaint by Rus chroniclers writing in the Galacian-Voihynian about the Lithuanian Grand Duke Mindaugus who claimed to have converted to Christianity. They complained he did not really convert:

• His baptism was a mere artifice and he continued to offer sacrifices to his gods in secret: to Nonadej, Teljavel, Diverkis, to the hare god Mejdejn. Whenever he rode into a field and saw a hare running into it, he felt he was not allowed to step into a forest, let alone break a branch there. He sacrificed to his gods, cremated his dead, and openly practiced paganism (BRMS, 1:259-60).

The above deity names are actually Druid Akkadian phrases describing various magical rituals. Hence, these are important in their own right. Their meanings are:

1. Nonadej is the Druid Akkadian phrase N'.N.AD.EG meaning "The emotional-effects for revealing the Instigator's (Su) neglect."
2. Teljavel is the Druid Akkadian phrase T.EL.G.AW.EL meaning "Astrology-magic for the high-life-powers energized by the emotion-powers (Awen) for the high-life-powers."
3. Diverkis is the Druid Akkadian phrase D.IW.ER.K.IS meaning "The life-manifestations redirected by the harbor's involvement with the Woman" where the "woman" is for either the celestial light motion source goddess Selu/Selene or the crescent moon life network editing goddess Ayu.
4. Mejdejn is the Druid Akkadian phrase M.EG.D.E.G.N meaning "The fertility-fluids neglecting life-manifestations by being made ineffective by energy from fate-revelations." Rabbits and hares represented raw chaotic energy corresponding to their running style. So in this culture (and in Germany) an energized rabbit was a harbinger of fate involving life. This would seem to be the source for the Easter bunny as a harbinger of new life.

References

(April 17, 2025) The Christian Catholic order leading the Pagan persecution once political rule was established by the Teutonic order or a Christian king were the Premonstratensians. They were like monks except they did not isolate themselves from the outside world. Instead they engaged with it by doing missionary and pastoral work. They were also known as Norbertines and White Canons. They were founded in 1120 and played a predominant part in the conversion of the Wends and the bringing of Christianity to the territories around the Elbe and the Oder. They continued that work in the Baltic.

During the 1420's one of them named Joh-Jerome came across a sacred grove in Samogitia. He:

• ordered the forest to be set on fire, since the people were plentiful in axes but no one dared touch the sacred wood with iron. Therefore, Jerome took up a double-edged axe first and cut the branches from a certain excellent tree. Then the crowd following, in a quick contest, cut down the forest - some with iron axes, some with pick-axes, some with axes. They came to the middle of the grove, where for some time no-one presumed to cut a very ancient oak, sacred above all were the trees in their religion, which they thought to be a most powerful habitation... (PEMB 41-43)

After more events narrated in the story the oak was eventually cut down.

As late as the early 1700's sacred trees were still a problem for Christian authorities. In 1725 a group of Jeuits cut down cut down no fewer than 37 sacred oak and lime trees and buried the stumps. But locals brought branches from other trees, poured libations on the sites where the stumps were buried and asked permission from the spirit of the tree to infuse the branches with its powers so they could consecrate other trees by touching them with the branches (BRMR 323-324)

References

BRMR: Alisauskas Vytautas (2016) Remains of Baltic Religion and Mythology in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 14th-18th centuries: A collection of sources. Vilnius

Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

(April 18 2025) Christian observers of the Baltic cultures saw everything through their religious paradigm. Everything was about worshiping personified deities which was not the Druid Pagan way. 

An example of incorrect Christian interpretation a 1593 Lithuanian language Catholic catechism by Mikalojus Dauksa (c1527-1613) condemned

• "those who worship the fire, Zemyna, snakes, grass-snakes, Perkunas, trees, groves, Medeina, Kaukai, and other demons." (quoted in Bet'akova and Blazek, Lexicon of Baltic Mythology, pages 96-97).

Snakes are the general ancient representations of fate as being the powers of life and death. The magical Druid concepts mentioned in that quote are:

1. Medeina is the Druid Akkadian phrase M.ED.E.Y.IN.A meaning "The fertility-fluid's motivations resulting from not making ineffective the Moon-eye (Su)" with the /A/ ending being the verb. Su is the dark new moon and eye pupil god of astrological motion and hence the god of fate.
2. Kaukai is the Druid Akkadian phrase K.AW.K.AY meaning "The involvement of emotion-powers (Awen) involving Ayu." where Ayu is the crescent moon goddess who edits the life network.

• the spirits whom the Ruthenians call Uboze; they have little beards, and are as tall as a single open palm. There are notable people who believe they exist; others not at all. They put out food and all kinds of edible things for them. Their opinion is that unless they do this they will thereby lose their good luck, whatever happens. (PEMB 151)

1. Uboze is an Akkadian phrase W.B'.Z.E meaning "The curses making ineffective the nest of the emanation's."

The Latin term "Rutheni" was used in medieval sources to describe all Eastern Slavs of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He continues on talking about barstukai who he claimed were similar to the kauki:

• For these (the Samogitians) put out bread, cheese, butter, and beer in the evening on a table draped with a cloth.  And they do not doubt the arrival fo good fortune if, in the morning, they discover the food consumed. But if any food remains untouched on the table , they are greatly troubled with anxiety, perceiving nothing as not unlucky. 

• The same peoples worship certain visible spirits who are called kobaldy in the Ruthenian language, kobaldoi in the Greek, and Kobolde in German. (Pemb 157-159)

1. Barstukai is the Druid Akkadian phrase B.AR.ST.UK.AY meaning "The nourishments controlling the allocations and involvement of Ayu. 
2. Koboldy is the Druid Akkadian phrase K'.B'.LD.Y meaning "Prodding of network-birds which are not not cultivating."

The eagle-vultures are the network birds here and they also edit the life network's connections like Ayu but the eagle-vultures can also be affected by magic. In a similar vein Mazvydas in 1547 declared that 

• "Those who join their souls to evil arts profess the Aitvarai and Kaukai to be their gods. (PEMB 83)

1. Aitvarai is the Druid Akkadian phrase A.IT.W.AR.AY meaning "The results of the omens about fate-curses controlling Ayu.

Catholic missionary Jerzy Szawinski said this in 1639 that the Aitvarai were:

• "truly nothing other than incubi, evil spirits, sometimes appearing in human form, and many in a foul form, cockerels flying in the woods or having the raised feathers of the peacock. If sparks of fire seem to flash from thetail, it taken sadly as a sign that it will bring neither money nor grain to the worshipper. But if it should appear somewhat dark and obscure, it is thought to return burdened with grain and coins at the rejoicing of the simple people. I have often myself seen it in this form flying late at night, and having made the sign of the cross, I averted it - it suddenly disappeared or plunged itself into the pools. Indeed, I have also uncovered the thefts of the same, devastating barns, granaries and stores of food (Rabikauskas, Relationes status dioecestium, 266)

(April 16, 2025) Emanations are ethereal spiritual powers such as light and heat from a fire or magical powers from rituals. This is unlike expulsions which are things like ash from a fire or rain from the sky. This set of words which were thought to be deities by Christian observers instead seem to be descriptions of various magical rituals. It participants were not sacrificing to some Pagan deity but were generating spiritual powers for a definite purpose.

1. Zemyna is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.IN.A meaning "Emanations resulting in supervising the Moon-Eye" where the ending /A/ is the verb.
2. Zemepatis is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.EP.AT.IS meaning "Emanations supervising the baking by the Monitor's (Su) woman (Selu/Selene)
3. Zemininkas is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.IN.IN.K.AS meaning "Emanations supervising the Moon-eye's looniness involving the Celestial-healer (Selu/Selene).
4. Zemepaciai is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.P.AK.Y.AY meaning "Emanations supervising the openings of the emotion-owls without Ayu.
5. Žemaitija - This is the name for the northwest Lithuanian region called Samogitia in Latin texts. It is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.AY.T.IG.A meaning "Emanations resulting from supervising Ayu's astrologic-magic from the eyes-of-fate (heavenly bodies). This phrase apparently describes the main religious characteristic of the tribe living in that region.

This spiritual power of fire was associated with the goddess Gabija in Lithuania which is another Druid concept.

1. Gabija is the Druid Akkadian phrase G.AB.IG.A meaning "Energy from the priest-parents affecting the eye's of fate." 

Priest-Parents were a class of Druid priests/priestesses who integrated life powers with the motion powers by revealing fate which overruled them all. The "eye's of fate" were the stars representing the goddess Selu/Selene.

Later Gabija was also modified to gabieta under Christian influence.

1. Gabieta is the Druid Akkadian phrase G.AB.YE.T.A meaning "Energy from the priest-parents of Yahu affecting astrology-magic" 

This shows the infiltration of Christian influence in which Yahu/Yahweh as a personified god was taking over all divine powers. Similarly, to their south in Prussian lands, a phrase for a futile ritual is found: panicke. 

1. Panicke is the Druid Akkadian phrase P.AN.IK.K.E meaning "Opening considerations for the irrigation-network's involvement of nothing." 

References

https://www.britannica.com/topic/gabija

(April 18, 2025) Thirty rivers with a length rarely more than 5–10 km are called Alka throughout Lithuania. More than fifty rivers with a length ranging roughly from 15 to 25 km are called Šventa throughout Lithuania. The Šventoji (the definite form of the word Šventa, a 249 km long right tributary of the Neris) in East Lithuania and the Šventoji (a 74 km river flowing into the Baltic Sea) in West Lithuania are distinguished by their size.

1. Šventa is the Druid Akkadian phrase ŠW.EN.T.A meaning "Motion-power-offerings resulting in the reassignment of astrology magic" having /A/ as the verb. These motion-power offering are roast offerings of animal remains because animals represented movement in contrast to cake offerings.

So small rivers represented the powers astrology magic pushing the life powers ("Alu's prodding from Su") while large rivers represented the control of astrology-magic itself. 

References

1. Archaeological investigations in independent Lithuania (1990-2010) / edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Vilnius: Society of the Lithuanian Archaeology, 2012. Online at:  https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/50617

2. Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

Ten bogs called Alko and another ten called a Šventa have been recorded in East and West Lithuania. Many of them belong to broader sacred sites and are situated near hills and forests considered sacred. The number of bogs, about which stories characteristic of sacred sites are told, is definitely several fold larger. It should be noted that they are near many groups of East Lithuanian barrows (dating to the 3rd–12th centuries). 

The bogs, which when drained and used for peat extraction or drained under other circumstances, yield various archaeological artefacts. For example, in 1938 the excavation of Šliktinė village refuge near Mikytai Hillfort (Skuodas District) found part of a hoard under a fallen oak tree. In 1971 the rest of the hoard was turned over by an excavator doing rescue work. In 2012 artefacts from the destroyed hoard site were again discovered on the surface of ploughed ground. Museums today hold a total of 447 artefacts characteristic of males from the second half of the 10th–11th centuries: ornaments (mostly penannular brooches with poppy head terminals), weapons (mostly various types of spearheads), some tools, pieces of equestrian gear, a weight from a set of scales, and part of an Arab dirham; some of the artefacts show signs of being in a fire.

References

Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

(April 21, 2025) One class of sacred stones are the "footmark stones" having oval depressions which look like footmarks. They exist over a large geographic area and tended to be both demonized and honored.  They were demonized because Christians interpreted them as footprints of the devil or his demons.

North Estonia has the densest concentration on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The majority of the forty stones in Lithuania are situated in fertile flatlands, settlements, and burial sites in river valleys. These date from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age along the major river of the Nemunas, Neris, and Šventoji. Others date to the 1st millennium BCE in west Lithuania, and the first centuries of our era in central and north Lithuania. The archaeological excavations beside stones with cup-marks have not yielded very significant results.

Many of these stones are called Mokas. It is known that people prayed there for advice, barren women for children, and various offerings were made there. Yet simultaneously, local stories consider the Mokas stones to be remembering a cursed family with the father and son surviving on dry ground while the mother was at the bottom of a lake or river.

1. Mokas is the Akkadian phrase M'.K.AS meaning "Pushing involving the Celestial-Healer (Selu/Selene). 

The goddess Selene represents the powers of the heavenly bodies which by this time were generally negatively as fate producers (prior to dualism and deity lordification these powers were seen positively).

Some of these stones were Christianized and coopted and marked with a small chiseled or inset Christian crosses and renamed for Christian saints: John, Peter, Joseph, and Raphael. These Stones are labeled as "Martin stones" and are also common throughout Lithuania. Judging from the stories, they could be connected with the end of shepherding and pasturing on the feast of St Martin (11 November). 

References

Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

(April  18, 2025) The following is a quote summarizing the history of this region:

• The 15th century historian Jan Długosz wrote that the remains of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas was burned according to pagan custom in a sacred grove called Kukavietis near Maišiagala castle and settlement in 1377. Near the Maišiagala Castle and the village of Gudulinė, one individual farm has preserved the name of Kukavietis until this day. Only one place in Lithuania retained such a name. In the historical documents from the 16th – 18th centuries, Kukavietis is mentioned as well as a forest of 17 ha. However, there are no data in the documents that can determine the exact location of this forest – it was somewhere between the villages of Maišiagala and Mešliukai. However, there is no doubt that the individual farm preserving the name of Kukavietis, located 3.5 km from Maišiagala mound is the same place mentioned in historical sources, which in the 15th century was mentioned by the historian Jan Długosz as the place of cremation of the remains of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas. (quote from 1)

References

1. Archaeological investigations in independent Lithuania (1990-2010) / edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Vilnius: Society of the Lithuanian Archaeology, 2012. Online at: https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/50786

(August 1, 2023, Updated September 22, 2024) 

The codex Runicus is the only surviving book written in runes and it has remained untranslated until now. Its title page states that it was found in 1505 and is a copy of an original commissioned in 1190 CE by Danish king Valdemar 1. It has 200 pages in 14 layers. Prior to this first translation it was thought to be a runic version of Danish law like those found in other early Danish books. It seems to have been written by a Wendish/Vendish Druid and is a Druid metaphysical treatise on how to avoid droughts.

The deities it mentions are Druid and not those of the later Nordic tradition. Druid deities are found in all earlier runic texts associated with the Neolithic farmer culture (the first such texts were Minoan from about 1900 BCE). That some specialized priestly class must have existed throughout Europe is shown by the fact that these Akkadian runic texts exist despite all the local spoken languages around them being some mix of Indo-European and Akkadian. Some group was preserving this language and this writing style.

The book claims drought is to be avoided by magically diverting and adjusting the natural divine powers in a way which integrates the two spiritual power classes representing changes in life and motion. Magic should not be used in an attempt to override those powers but only to modify them. Based on tree ring and other physical data, northern European droughts occurred in the years 1080, 1120, and 1180 CE (Ionita, and all 2021).

This text was commissioned by Danish King Valdemar near the end of his life as indicated by the introductory paragraph on page 1. King Valdemar 1 was born January 14, 1131 and died May 12, 1182). He ended the eastern Baltic Wend threat to Danish shipping, won independence from the Holy Roman emperor, and gained church approval for the hereditary rule by his dynasty, the Valdemars. 

He was the son of Knud Lavard, duke of South Jutland, and a great-grandson of the Danish king Sweyn II. Valdemar won a 25 year civil war waged by competing contenders for the throne. 

Initially during this struggle, Valdemar acknowledged the overlordship of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and accepted his antipope Victor IV (or V). This caused Denmark’s chief prelate Eskil, archbishop of Lund, to choose exile rather than oppose Pope Alexander III. After Valdemar and Bishop Absalon changed their mind and  acknowledged Pope Alexander in 1165, Eskil returned to Denmark. There he confirmed the canonization of the king’s father and anointed his son Canute VI as joint king (1170) inaugurating the hereditary rule of the Valdemars.

Apparently, as a part of this deal Valdemar agreed to take part in the Northern crusades aimed at suppressing Paganism in the Baltic lands. These only ended in 1185 shortly after his death. Valdemar began a series of expeditions against the Wends aided by his foster brother Absalon whom he made bishop of Roskilde. The Wends were attacked and by 1169 his forces had captured the Wendish stronghold of Rügen (now in Germany), which was then incorporated into the diocese of Roskilde. He also destroyed the Wendish sanctuary at Arcona. A year later he was forced to divide his gains with his ally Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony.

Shortly before his death in 1182 yet after the start of the drought around 1180, Valdemar commissioned the Codex Runicus which was likely written by a surviving Wendish Druid and finished in 1190.

Other surviving books from this time are Danish law books written in the old Norse/Germanic language. These were compiled during the 1200s and represent the bulk of Nordic literature from the period between 1200-1400. The Danish provincial laws consist of the Scanian Law (written between 1202 and 1216), the Jutlandic Law (issued in 1241) along with King Valdemar's Zealandic Law and King Eric's Zealandic Law. 

References

Arild Hauge's scan: https://www.arild-hauge.com/am_28_8vo_codex_runicus.htm

Freeman, Kirk (2007) Baptism or Death: The Wendish Crusade, 1147-1185. Online at:  https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/baptism-or-death-the-wendish-crusade-1147-1185/

Ionita, M., Dima, M., Nagavciuc, V. et al. Past megadroughts in central Europe were longer, more severe and less warm than modern droughts. Commun Earth Environ 2, 61 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00130-w

University of Copenhagen's Interactive Online Scan with Zoom: https://www.e-pages.dk/ku/579/

Wendish Crusade here at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendish_Crusade

(April 15, 2025) More information about some deities were written down during the 1500's, just after the country had been nominally Christianized and numerous literate Christians were living there. After that time, the name past into legend in which many other related attributes were assigned to it by folk custom. The deity Perkunas was the deity most often mentioned in these 1500's documents from Latvia and Lithuania.  

Christian writings often associate Perkunas with lightening and fire. The Christian cleric Jan Malecki wrote this in 1551:

• Among the Samogitians there is a hill situated by the River Nevezis, on whose summit at one time a perpetual fire was kept burning by a priest in honour of the same Perkunas, who is still believed by this superstitious people to be powerful in thunder and tempests (Young 2022)

1. Perkunas is the Druid Akkadian phrase P.ER.K.UN.AṢ meaning "Openings of the harbor involving fate-curse expulsions."

"Expulsions" and "emanations" are differentiated in runic texts. Emanations are ethereal spiritual powers such as light and heat from a fire or magical powers from rituals. This is unlike expulsions which are things like ash from a fire or rain from the sky. Here curses are interpreted to be more like expulsions.

In Druid culture "Harbor" was an epithet for the starry night sky in which the stars were assumed to be openings in the sky shell which let through the fate-powers which triggered the rains. Consequently, perkunas is a concept about combining the rain bringing storm powers (a life class power) with fate (a motion class power).  

This same deity is found as the medieval Slavic god known as Perun/Piorun. "Perun" is the Druid Akkadian phrase  P.ER.UN meaning "Openings for the harbor's expulsions." "Piorun" is the Druid Akkadian phrase P.Y'.R.UN meaning "Openings for Yahu's eagle-vulture expulsions." Eagle-vultures (later griffons) were the editors of the life network often controlled by fate. Here Yahu/Yahweh (mistranslated as Lord in the Old Testament of the Christian church) is expelling those.

References

(April 16, 2025)

Catholic missionary Jerzy Szawinski found Samogitians involved with these owl powers in 1639. The region of Samogitia (Latinization of  is located in the northwest corner of Lithuania. "Samogitia" is a Latinization of the native word for the region with is Žemaitija. 

1. Zemines - This is the Druid Akkadian phrase Z.EM.IN.ES meaning "Emanations supervising the Moon-eye's (Su) spiritual-fluid-filterers (owls)." Owls were the harbingers of fate.
2. Laukines - This is the Druid Akkadian phrase L.AW.K.IN.ES meaning "Avoidance of emotion-powers involving the spiritual-fluid-filterers (owls)
3. Pagirnes - This is the Druid Akkadian phrase P.AG.IR.N.ES meaning "Opening the anger of astrological-fate-powers revealing the spiritual-fluid-filterers. (owls)"

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