Pikne is the god

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 of lightning

Lightning

Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...

 in Estonian mythology

Estonian mythology

Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology.Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in ecclesiastical registers...

.

Legend

In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, the pagan

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

 priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

s made animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...

s to Pikne. The most famous priest of Pikne (literally: thunder priest) was the seventeenth-century Jürgen of Wihtla, who uttered the following prayer:

Take it Pikne,

the bull we are offering

with two horns

and four hooves

for ploughing and harvesting

Pikne was protector of the holy river Võhandu in Võru County

Võru County

Võrumaa or Võru maakond officially, is a county in Southern Estonia. It is bordered to the north by the Põlva County and the Lake Pihkva; to the west by Valga County; to the south by Latvia; and to the east by the Russian Federation....

, and punished people who built mills there by sending them no rain. The incident along with the prayer was recorded by the pastor Johann Gutslaff in his work Kurtzer Bericht und Unterricht Von der Falsch-heilig genandten Bäche in Lieffland Wöhhanda (published in Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

, 1644).

This prayer has been used by the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis

Veljo Tormis

Veljo Tormis is an Estonian composer, regarded to be one of the greatest living choral composers and one of the most important composers of the 20th century in Estonia. Internationally, his fame arises chiefly from his extensive body of choral music, which exceeds 500 individual choral songs, most...

 in his 1974 choral work Litany to Thunder (text rendered into the Võro

Võro

Võro may refer to:* Võro people, an ethnic group of Estonia* Võro language, a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages of Estonia* Võro Institute, the governing organization of the Võro languageVoro may refer to:...

 dialect of contemporary Southern Estonian

South Estonian language

South Estonian emerged in the 17th century as a distinct language in Swedish Livonia aside the North Estonian language spoken in Swedish Estonia.The first South Estonian grammar was compiled by Johann Gutslaff in 1648....

 and developed by the writer Ain Kaalep).

According to the myths collected by Matthias Johann Eisen

Matthias Johann Eisen

Matthias Johann Eisen was an Estonian folklorist and in 1920—1927 served as the Professor of Folk Poetry at University of Tartu....

, Pikne is the brother of Kõu

Kou

Kou may refer to*Kou, Burkina Faso, a village in Burkina Faso*Kou, Laiwu , town in Laicheng District, Laiwu, Shandong, China*Kou Uraki, a character in the fictional Gundam universe*Kou , a tree species...

 and the son of Uku. The evil underworld god Vanatühi

Vanatühi

In Estonian mythology, Vanatühi is a/the devil or god of the underworld, a giant farmer who is more stupid than malevolent. He is outwitted by his servant Kaval Ants . He is also the worst enemy of Toell the Great, hero of Oesel, who is decapitated during a battle with Vanatühi's forces...

 stole his whistle or bagpipes. Without blowing it, the gods couldn't help the farmers who were praying for rain. Uku was angered and sent Pikne back to Earth, where he worked as a farmhand. He visited a wedding

Wedding

A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...

, where he pretended to be a musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 and regained his magic instrument (compare the Eddaic

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

 myth of Trymskvida).