Saulė

The name Saulė/Saule is both the ordinary word for the Sun in Lithuanian and Latvian and the personal name of the solar being; linguistically it descends from Proto-Baltic *Sauliā/*Saulē. Folklore presents multiple variant accounts of Saulė's relations and episodes (for example, narratives in which the Moon is punished or the Sun is briefly captive), but no single canonical cosmogonic origin story is given in the surveyed material. Medieval and folkloric texts preserve episodic tales (such as a medieval account of the Sun being held captive and later restored) presented as variant traditions rather than a unified creation myth.

Folksongs and tales offer multiple, overlapping motifs rather than a single portrait: Saulė is anthropomorphized and richly ornamented — described in variants as wearing garments woven with gold, silver or silk thread, a sparkling crown, golden slippers, belts, ribbons and tassels, or white/silver clothing. Solar imagery includes red (morning), gold and silver colors, and metaphors such as a golden wheel or circle. Vehicles and accoutrements vary by tale: chariots or carriages with golden or copper wheels, a silver or golden boat, horses (sometimes white or described with metallic colors), and in some accounts a small sleigh made of fish-bones. These elements occur across sources as folkloric variants rather than a single canonical outfit.

Saulė functions as the living Sun: she is the solar goddess associated with life and fertility and is described as responsible for earthly life in folk descriptions. Cosmologically she rises, rides across the sky in a vehicle (chariot, carriage, or boat) during the day and sinks or rests at night (variously said to sleep in the bottom of a lake, sail to an island, or dwell in an eastern silver-gated castle). She figures in seasonal cycles and feast days (summer solstice/Rasos, Līgo/Jāņi; winter solstice as Saulė's return). Mythic relationships are important to her actions: she is frequently depicted as wife to Mėnuo/Mēness (the Moon), mother to figures including Aušrinė (the morning star) and other planetary personifications named in Lithuanian lore (Indraja/Jupiter, Sėlija/Saturn, Žiezdrė/Mars, Vaivora/Mercury), and as patroness of the unfortunate (especially orphans). Folktales include episodic motifs — for example, accounts of Saulė being kidnapped and later rescued — presented as variant narrative traditions.