Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The paper will explore which natural phenomena were used in creating the narrative of the legendary part of the Lithuanian chronicles. How are they related to humans and how do they shape the relationship between individuals, the community, and the surrounding environment?

Paper long abstract

Medieval chronicles were often collective works that served to shape the imagination about the past and promote a better understanding of oneself. Although chronicles usually had political content, they also contained descriptions of nature that served certain functions.

This paper will analyze the legendary part of Lithuanian chronicles, in which separate functions of nature can be distinguished. Given that the legendary part of Lithuanian chronicles is folkloric in nature, it reveals authentic features of worldview in the context of cultural anthropology. There are four of them in the narrative:

Nature as a provider of food and clothing, or economic function.

Nature as a sphere of defense or military function.

Nature as beauty or aesthetic function.

Relationship with nature through ritual, or the religious function of nature.

This paper will seek to present these four aspects of nature in greater detail, analyzing specific examples and contextualizing them in terms of the features of the identity being constructed.