Ašvieniai

File:Nida ThomasMann cottage.jpg

Ašvieniai, commonly called the little horses, on the rooftop of a house in Nida

Ašvieniai are divine twins in the Lithuanian mythology, identical to Latvian Dieva dēli and the Baltic counterparts of Vedic Ashvins.<ref name=hamac/> Both names derive from the same Proto-Indo-European root for the horse – *ék̂wos: Old Lithuanian ašva and Sanskrit ashva mean "horse".<ref name="etymo" /> Like the Greek Dioscuri Castor and Pollux, they are reflexes of a common Indo-European mytheme, the Divine Twins.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Ašvieniai are represented as pulling a carriage of Saulė (the Sun) through the sky.<ref name="hamac" /> Ašvieniai, depicted as žirgeliai or little horses, are common motifs on Lithuanian rooftops,<ref name="hamac" /><ref>Tumėnas, Vytautas. ""Žirgelių" ornamento semantinis laukas" [Semantic field of „žirgeliai“ (gable decoration resembling horse’s head)]. In: Liaudies kultūra, 1997, Nr. 2 (53). pp. 22–35.</ref> placed for protection of the house.<ref name="dundu" /> Similar motifs can also be found on beehives, harnesses, bed frames, and other household objects.<ref name="arklio" /> Ašvieniai are related to Lithuanian Ūsinis and Latvian Ūsiņš (cf. Vedic Ushas), gods of horses.<ref name="leem" /> Usins, one of the Ašvieniai, is described as driving a solar chariot pulled across the sky by a pair of white horses.<ref name="hamac" />

See also

• Hengist and Horsa
• Thracian horseman
• List of Lithuanian gods and mythological figures
• Proto-Indo-European mythology
• Baltic mythology
• Prussian mythology
• Lithuanian mythology

References

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