Žaltys

The žaltys is attested in Lithuanian myth and folklore as a household sacred animal rather than as a single founding mythic founder figure. Sources identify the žaltys with the grass snake and as a sacred animal of the sun goddess Saulė; within that cultural frame it functions as a domestic mediator of divine favor. Its origin as a cultic focus appears in practices where people adopt a wild grass snake encountered in the field (giving it milk) to bring it into the house as a protective, fertility-linked presence. (Sources: Wikipedia: Žaltys; Archive lecture references summarized in secondary literature.)

Described in the sources by its Lithuanian name meaning literally 'grass snake', the žaltys is represented in folk belief as the grass snake form — an actual snake kept in or near the household (for example, by the stove or another special place in the house). The supplied materials do not attribute additional anthropomorphic or monstrous features beyond this serpentine form. (Source: Wikipedia: Žaltys.)

In the recorded folklore the žaltys functions primarily as a guardian of the home and a symbol of fertility. Households that kept a žaltys believed it would bring good harvest and wealth; conversely, killing a žaltys was said to bring great misfortunes upon the household. People attempted to befriend grass snakes found in fields by offering them milk so they might become sacred household pets, indicating a reciprocal, protective relationship rather than hostile interaction. No further supernatural powers beyond domestic guardianship, fertility influence, and the capacity to cause misfortune if harmed are detailed in the cited sources. (Source: Wikipedia: Žaltys.)