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Alka or alkas (Latvian: elks) is the name of a sacred place or a place for burning sacrifices in Baltic religion. In Latvia and Lithuania alka(-s) and elks is the most widespread component in the toponyms for sacred sites. 120 hills, 70 fields and 50 water bodies (lakes, rivers, and wetlands) with such word in their name have been registered.[1]
Etymology[edit]
The words alka(-s) and elks probably derive from the Proto-Indo-European *alku/*elku ("bend, an elbow, turn-like and lift") and may be directly connected with words such as Lithuanian auk(u)oti ("to lift a child") and Latvian auklēt ("to carry the baby on arms and to rock"). Cognates in other languages may include Germanic and Gothic alhs ("temple"), Saxon alah ("temple"), the Anglo-Saxon ealh ("temple") and ealgian ("to guard, to defend"), Belorussian галыконшк ("offering gatherer"), and Greek αλδοζ and αλδιζ ("a sacred enclosure in Olympia").[2]
Cultic practice[edit]
On these "sacred sites of the Balts", "sacred offerings" were made. These sites included bogs ('alka (os)/aukos'), rivers ('alkupiai') and islets ('alkos salos').[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Vaitkevičius, Vykintas (2009). "The Sacred Groves of the Balts: Lost History and Modern Resrarch" (PDF). Folklore. 42: 82. doi:10.7592/FEJF2009.42.vaitkevicius. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ Vaitkevičius, Vykintas (2003). "Alkai: A study on Baltic sacred places" (PDF). Retrieved January 20, 2020.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Bliujienė, Audronė. "The Bog Offerings of the Balts: ‘I Give in Order to Get Back’". In: Archaeologia Baltica, Vol. 14: Underwater Archaeology in the Baltic Region. Dedicated to the 65th Birthday of Prof Habil. Dr Vladas Žulkus. Klaipėda: Klaipėda University Press, 2010. p. 141. ISSN 1392-5520.