Alka (Baltic religion)

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

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]

References

1. 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.
2. Vaitkevičius, Vykintas (2003). "Alkai: A study on Baltic sacred places" (PDF). Retrieved January 20, 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)