Paper short abstract

This paper analyses the sea’s essential role as a dynamic motif in Latvian folktales. It examines the sea as a setting, an inhabited space for mystical entities, and a nexus for magical and heroic events. Also, it posits that the sea symbolises the potent border between the known and unknown worlds.

Paper long abstract

The Latvian nation’s long-standing relationship with the Baltic Sea, forged over many centuries of coastal habitation, gives the sea an undeniable prominence in Latvian cultural narratives. Consequently, the maritime domain is not just a geographical feature, but also a pervasive, dynamic motif woven into Latvian folktales. This paper critically reflects on the diverse and complex ways the sea and the liminal zone of the seashore are depicted in this indigenous folklore, particularly in folktales.

The analysis focuses on three primary dimensions of the sea’s narrative role. First, the paper explores the sea as a transformative and challenging physical setting that reflects human activities such as fishing and travel. Second, it examines, the sea’s nature as an inhabited space, cataloguing the various animals and, importantly, the powerful mystical entities, such as the Sea Mother or the Sea Father, that reside within its depths. Third, the study examines the sea as a nexus of action, detailing significant events, heroic trials, and magical transformations that occur at the water’s edge or on the waves.

Through this examination, the paper argues that the sea in Latvian folktales serves as a potent symbolic border between known and unknown worlds. The sea embodies immense natural resources and untamable elemental power, reflecting a deep cultural respect for one of the central features of the Latvian mythological landscape.