Perkwunos
Encyclopedia
The name of an Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion is the hypothesized religion of the Proto-Indo-European peoples based on the existence of similarities among the deities, religious practices and mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. Reconstruction of the hypotheses below is based on linguistic evidence using the...

 god
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

 of thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...

 and/or the oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 may be reconstructed
Linguistic reconstruction
Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of the unattested ancestor of one or more given languages. There are two kinds of reconstruction. Internal reconstruction uses irregularities in a single language to make inferences about an earlier stage of that language...

 as } or }.

Another name for the thunder god contains an onomatopoeic root }, continued in Gaulish Taranis
Taranis
In Celtic mythology Taranis was the god of thunder worshipped essentially in Gaul, the British Isles, but also in the Rhineland and Danube regions amongst others, and mentioned, along with Esus and Toutatis as part of a sacred triad, by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia as a Celtic...

and Hittite Tarhunt. Germanic *Þunraz
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

(Thor) (Þórr
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

) is from a stem } "thunder".

Derivatives

From IE *perku- "oak-tree":
  • Lithuanian
    Lithuanian language
    Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...

     Perkūnas
    Perkunas
    Perkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...

    , Latvian
    Latvian language
    Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

     Pērkons, Old Prussian
    Old Prussian language
    Prussian is an extinct Baltic language, once spoken by the inhabitants of the original territory of Prussia in an area of what later became East Prussia and eastern parts of...

     Perkūns, the god of thunder
    • Finnish
      Finnish language
      Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

       Perkele
      Perkele
      Perkele is the god associated with thunder in Finnish mythology, like Thor of Norse mythology. In modern Finnish perkele is a common swearword.-Origins:The name is of Indo-European origin...

      , Mordvinic
      Mordvinic languages
      The Mordvinic languages, alternatively Mordvin languages, or Mordvinian languages, are a subgroup of the Uralic languages, comprising the closely related Erzya language and Moksha language.Previously considered a single "Mordvin language",...

       Pur'gine-paz, borrowings from the Baltic languages
      Baltic languages
      The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...

  • possibly root cognate, Sanskrit
    Sanskrit
    Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

     Parjanya
    Parjanya
    Parjanya, according to the 1965 Sanskrit–English dictionary by Shri Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings:* Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general* Rain...

    , the god of rainstorms and thunder
  • Thracian
    Thracian language
    The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times in Southeastern Europe by the Thracians, the northern neighbors of the Ancient Greeks. The Thracian language exhibits satemization: it either belonged to the Satem group of Indo-European languages or it was strongly...

     Περκων/Περκος, (Perkon/Perkos)

And without suffix -k-, from IE *perō(ṷ)nos "thunder, Thunderer", which possibly connect with *perūn(V) "mountain, rock":
  • Slavic
    Slavic languages
    The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

     Perun
    Perun
    In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons and war...

    (Old Russian Перунъ, Belarusian
    Belarusian language
    The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...

     Пярун, Polish
    Polish language
    Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

     Piorun, West Slavic
    West Slavic languages
    The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group that includes Czech, Polish, Slovak, Kashubian and Sorbian.Classification:* Indo-European** Balto-Slavic*** Slavic**** West Slavic***** Czech-Slovak languages****** Czech...

     Parom, Serbian
    Serbian language
    Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

     Перун, Bulgarian
    Bulgarian language
    Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

     Перун), the god of thunder
  • possibly Albanian
    Albanian language
    Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

     Perëndi
    Perendi
    In Albanian, Perëndi is a word for God and the sky, especially invoked in incantations and songs praying for rain. It might be derived from perëndoj "to set ", which might be borrowed from Latin parentare "to bring a sacrifice , to satisfy" or Latin imperantem "ruling" In Albanian, Perëndi is a...

    , the god
  • possibly Hittite
    Hittite language
    Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...

     Pirwa
    Pirwa
    Pirwa is a Hittite deity whose nature is poorly understood. He/she is sometimes referred to as "queen", though archaeologists believe he/she was a male god....

    , "the god on a horse", which associated with a rock

  • unlikely Greek
    Ancient Greek
    Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

     keraunós "thunderbolt"


Perkūnas' wife was named Perkūnija or Perkūnė (Perperuna, Przeginia). Compare also Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic Fjörgyn, (with Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 p → f sound shift
Sound change
Sound change includes any processes of language change that affect pronunciation or sound system structures...

) the mother of Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

, the Norse thunder god.

Etymology

} is reconstructed on the basis of Perkūnas. Parjanya is no exact cognate, see below. The labiovelar is reconstructed due to a Centum word for "oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

", "coniferous tree", or "mountain", "coniferous mountain forest", }. Here also, the labiovelar is non-trivial, and indeed singular in the sequence }, its justification being in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 quercus "oak", the result of an assimilatory Italo-Celtic
Italo-Celtic
In historical linguistics, Italo-Celtic is a grouping of the Italic and Celtic branches of the Indo-European language family on the basis of features shared by these two branches and no others. These are usually considered to be innovations, which are likely to have developed after the breakup of...

 sound law changing } to } (compare quinque, Irish cóic vs. Sanskrit "five", coquo vs. Sanskrit pacati "to cook"). Celtic *Ercunia, if cognate, did not partake in the assimilation, advising towards a cautious reconstruction of }.

}, then, is the god of the }, comparable to Germanic *Wodanaz
Wodanaz
or is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of a god of Germanic paganism, known as in Norse mythology, in Old English, or in Old High German and in Lombardic...

being the god of the *wōþuz, by virtue of the same suffix }.

The original meaning of this u-stem appears to be concept of an oak, a coniferous forest, a mountain forest, or a wooded mountain:
  • "oak": Latin
    Latin
    Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

     quercus, Old High German fereheih "oak", Celtic Hercynia silva. The oak is quite a common motif in myths about Perkūnas. Cognates include Sanskrit parkaṭī "fig tree", the Venetian
    Venetian language
    Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...

     and Celtiberian
    Celtiberians
    The Celtiberians were Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group used the Celtic Celtiberian language.Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the Hallstatt culture in what is now north-central Spain...

     ethnonyms Quarquēni and Querquerni, the Ligurian
    Ligurian
    Ligurian may mean:* Ligurian, pertaining to modern Liguria* Ligurian, pertaining to the ancient Ligures* Ligurian , a modern language spoken in parts of Italy, France, Monaco and Argentina...

     Nymphis Percernibus, Old Norse
    Old Norse
    Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

     fjörr "tree", Anglo-Saxon furh (Modern English fir
    Fir
    Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...

    ), Old Norse fura, Old High German forha (Modern German Föhre) "pine tree", Old Norse fyri, Old High German forh-ist (Modern German Forst) "pine forest", Old High German Fergunna (the Erzgebirge), Langobardic Fairkuna. Anglo-Saxon firgen "wooded height", Gothic
    Gothic language
    Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...

     fairguni "mountain".
  • A possibly related word for "rock" or "mountain" is reconstructed from Hittite
    Hittite language
    Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...

     peruna "rock", Sanskrit parvata "mountain" (Parvati
    Parvati
    Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

    , daughter of Himavant), Thracian
    Thracian language
    The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times in Southeastern Europe by the Thracians, the northern neighbors of the Ancient Greeks. The Thracian language exhibits satemization: it either belonged to the Satem group of Indo-European languages or it was strongly...

     per(u) "rock".


Fittingly, there is a sanctuary to Perun
Perun
In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons and war...

 located on a height called Perynь near Novgorod (It is located on the northern shore of Lake Ilmen
Lake Ilmen
Ilmen is a historically important lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia, formerly a vital part of the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod lies six kilometers below the lake's outflow....

 where Volkhov River
Volkhov River
Volkhov is a river in Novgorod Oblast and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia.-Geography:The Volkhov flows out of Lake Ilmen north into Lake Ladoga, the largest lake of Europe. It is the second largest tributary of Lake Ladoga. It is navigable over its whole length. Discharge is highly...

 starts. Nowadays there is a church and a monastery). In south-western Bulgaria is the Pirin
Pirin
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren the highest peak, situated at . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. Most of the range is protected in the Pirin National Park...

 mountain range.

As seen from the cognates above, the name of the thunder god is only to be ascertained in Baltic
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...

 and Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

, but mythological connections of the thunderer with oaks, or wooded mountains may be reconstructed to be associated with the Proto-Indo-European word.

Further etymologization was attempted with reference to a verbal root "to strike", in reference to the thunderbolt
Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt is a discharge of lightning accompanied by a loud thunderclap or its symbolic representation. In its original usage the word may also have been a description of meteors, or, as Plato suggested in Timaeus, of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies,...

 and the violent nature of a thunder god in general.

This is well attested (it survives for example in press). A velar extension is known from Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

  harkanem "felling trees, slaying", Old Irish orcaid "slay" (e.g. in Orgetorix
Orgetorix
Orgetorix was a wealthy aristocrat among the Helvetii, a Celtic-speaking people residing in what is now Switzerland during the consulship of Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic. In 61 BC he convinced the Helvetians to attempt to migrate from Helvetian territory to south-western Gaul...

) and Hittite
Hittite language
Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...

  harganu- "destroy". Parjanya
Parjanya
Parjanya, according to the 1965 Sanskrit–English dictionary by Shri Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings:* Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general* Rain...

 is consistent with such a voiced velar, and rather than being cognate to } appears to be an independent derivation from this root.

A closer relationship of the verbal root to the theonym is not apparent, because of the missing } extension, unknown as an Indo-European suffix, and the semantic distance between "slaying" and "tree" or "mountain".

According to Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...

 (IEW), Russian Perunъ "thunder god" and perun "thunderbolt" which likewise lack the velar element are indeed influenced by the root discussed, the activity of "striking down" being associated with the Balto-Slavic theonym by popular etymology.

See also

  • Parjanya
    Parjanya
    Parjanya, according to the 1965 Sanskrit–English dictionary by Shri Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings:* Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general* Rain...

  • Tarhunt
  • Thor's oak
    Thor's Oak
    The Donar Oak was a legendary oak tree sacred to the Germanic tribe of the Chatti, ancestors of the Hessians, and an important sacred site of the pagan Germanic peoples....

  • Indra
    Indra
    ' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

  • Thunderstone
    Thunderstone (folklore)
    Throughout Europe, Asia, Polynesia, in fact in almost all parts of the world where their use had been forgotten, flint arrowheads and axes turned up by the farmer's plow are considered to have fallen from the sky, are often thought to be thunderbolts and are called "Thunderstones".It was not until...

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