FOLKLORE AND IDENTITY: THE SITUATION OF LATVIA
Aldis Putelis
I will start with the statement that my own self-awareness is a divided one -
on one hand it is that of an average Latvian, knowledgeable of the origins,
history and culture of his nation, on the other - that of a scholar,
scrutinising and doubting all the same concepts. So I can serve as an object
of study for myself. But the study of the Latvian folklore involves not only
scholarly aspects - there is an age-old tradition of using folklore in forming
and creating phenomena of social and political sphere. Gradually a kind of
secondary folklore is developed - a set of ideas based on interpretation of
original material, with these ideas replacing the original ones.
This is the question of folklore and fakelore as Richard Dorson has put it.
Notions like folklore, myth and mythology are extremely
difficult to define, as both the phenomenon to be defined and the
understanding of what are the features to be described by a definition change
in the course of time. What could be looked upon as a "faked
folklore" before, becomes just a "recent variant" in some time
- depending on the prevailing understanding of the standards a folklore item
should comply with. This involves all the complexity of defining the group
folklore belongs to or is carried by. Latvians still believe it to be nation
as a whole - beyond any doubt.
As I once described that - the people in Latvia are much more fond of
beautiful legends than scholarly study which cannot provide them with such; in
fact depriving them of those legends as ungrounded. The whole field of
folklore studies in Latvia is still to some extent subject to the ideal task
of providing the nation with the proof of its ancient culture and
strengthening its national consciousness. This task has been assigned to
Latvian folkloristics since the moment of its emergence. Thus to an average
Latvian it would sound strange that there are neither celebrations of the
sesquicentennial of the term "folklore" nor widely known folklorists
in England - the country were the notion originated, therefore supposedly
having a strong tradition. On the other hand one might also say that folklore
study in Latvia follows principles that were dominating the field in Europe at
least several decades ago. Such an evaluation would have been true, but there
is also an explanation for this rooted in the political and demographic
situation in Latvia. With the language and culture of Latvians being under
threat of assimilation for centuries, with the social and cultural life in
Latvia having been dominated by foreigners - in one form or another - folklore
has been the only indigenously Latvian cultural source, turned into the
backbone of Latvian modern culture.
Actually, this could be the point to end a description of Latvian
folkloristics and identity making process, as that is all what can be said in
general and the task of explaining a nation's consciousness to people
belonging to a different nation is a Sisyphean task. And I apologise in
advance as the necessity to just mention at least all the important issues
might leave too little space for explanation and analysis.
At the end of the XII century first German missionaries appeared on the soil
of the modern-day Latvia. Soon afterwards they were followed by crusaders,
and baptising of the pagans by use of sword and fire - as it is referred to
in the Latvian tradition - began. The locals were fighting the intruders, but
also rather frequently - their own neighbours (in alliance with the German
knights), so the tribes which later formed modern Latvians were never united.
Therefore pretty soon the fight was over in favour of conquerors who had
better military skills and techniques. Thus the Latvians have never had a
great king of their own ruling a united country or any greater part of it as
the Lithuanians have. But the fight is remembered as a heroic one, with all
the available evidence of the battles won being extracted from the ancient
chronicles and cherished. Also the unsuccessful attempts are remembered -
like that of kursi - the tribe from (modern) Western Latvia - coming
in their boats to destroy the German stone-built town of Rìga.
Kursi had some experience of such warfare at that time as it is
obvious from the chronicles and recorded prayers of the Nordic people -
the Vikings. Allegedly there is a prayer for deliverance from fire, storm
and kursi. And sometimes I, as a descendant of this tribe, am rather
proud of my ancestors having been threat to the warriors of such
well-established fame.
Here the notion of myth is to be mentioned once again. In Latvia this
notion has mostly preserved the original meaning of a story narrating the
origins of the world and the deities. But here we confront myths in the
more modern sense - as some narrative or idea used to back a particular
social phenomenon, based on history, but created for the purpose and
therefore non-verifiable, but depending on public credibility. For this
pre-German period is believed to be the golden age of Latvians, with
general prosperity, freedom and unspoiled, i.e. uninfluenced culture being
the main ideal features. At the same time the paganism of Latvians was
a political myth created and maintained by the intruders, as in the Western
Latvia the Christianity was introduced by Danes in the X century, but by the
time of German invasion many chieftains of Vidzeme - 'Midlands' - were
subjects of Russian duchies and at least nominally christianised. And this is
just one example of the complexity of the issue.
There might be at least some ground for the pride of the Latvians in having
preserved their language and their own ways. The Latvians did not disappear
like the third Baltic nation (?; tribe?) - the Old Prussians. On the other
hand it might be just the result of different historical circumstances beyond
the influence of the would-be Latvians.
As the conquerors considered themselves of higher social status, they did not
merge with the local people who were made serfs. Neither did they show any
interest in their customs and lifestyle. The main aim was to make the serfs
work - and attend church on Sundays. As many examples nowadays show, formal
Christianity is no obstacle for retaining tribes own rituals and traditions,
in fact it takes a long time even to introduce any 'proper Christianity'. So
it is believed that the Christianity had very weak impact on Latvian
traditions, customs and rituals for a rather long period, giving the
opportunity to trace the original unspoiled Latvian ways. The situation
changed with the Reformation, when the need for church services in Latvian
came into being. With that came also the attempts of the Germans to
"enlighten" their subjects, what proves the fact of modern life
having passed them unnoticed. There are brilliant descriptions of the
Latvian festivals, customs and rituals, just with one remark - they are
compiled by German pastors to show how savage the locals are.
The Latvians were not looked upon as a nation, but as a social class instead;
the division in Latvians and Germans was not built on the actual nationality,
but on belonging of a person to the class, as the only available education
higher than primary was German - even as late as the end of the XIX century.
Therefore any educated person was "a German", while the Latvians
were the uneducated. It was extremely difficult for a Latvian to enter the
"Germans". They had to break all relations with the Latvians, even
by trying to enter the better families through marriage. The language a
person spoke was of extreme importance, so they spoke German even at home.
Although hated by the Latvians and designated karkluvaciesi ('willow
Germans') they knew that was the only way to reach a higher social status.
Things changed dramatically in the middle of the XIX century. Feudal system
had outlived its time, still the Germans were content with their position
and suspicious towards the changes in the society, which could affect the
ständische Ordnung. It was the time for the first educated
Latvians to emerge. As it was explained above, at the time the dominating
principle was "born a Latvian, but became a German through
education"(*1).
Curiously enough also these Latvians were sponsored by
their German landlords who could have expected them to turn into
"Germans" later. They were disobedient enough to try the opposite.
If Garlieb Merkel (1769-1850), who wrote a book showing the miserable
situation of the Latvians under their cruel masters, received a tombstone with
an inscription of Garlibs Merkelis, latvis ('A Latvian'), Krisjanis
Valdemars (1825-1891), the leader of the jaunlatviesi movement
('Young Latvians'; parallel to Young Czechs or Young Germans and designated so
by a German - pastor Brasche) dared to indicate his Latvianness on the calling
card on his room door at the Dorpat University. Not to delve into the complex
history of emergence of the jaunlatviesi movement, Valdemars' case can
be taken as an ultimate expression of the change - a Latvian, sponsored by a
German patron, announced that even after acquiring his "German"
education he is a Latvian (a contradictio per se taking into account
the present-day situation of the period). This angered the rulers to such an
extent, that although in private correspondence statements like the following
were made:
Those who know 'our nationals' (unsere Nationale - synonymous to 'barbarian')
have long lost all hope for the Latvian people. It is a stillborn nation. The
Latvians have no national past and no history, they cannot have a future. The
only character traits which distinguish them are their totally backward and
crippled language ... and their blinding hatred for the Germans.
(*2)
This was written in 1860's by the same pastor Georg Brasche in a letter to
the President of Lettisch-Literärische Gesellschaft, of which
Brasche himself was an outstanding representative. This society was made up by
Germans interested in study of Latvian customs and language, as well as in
"enlightenment" of Latvians. On one hand Brasche's statement is
well-grounded - Latvians have no glorious past; the modern culture including
production techniques, towns and urban life, writing and even grammar of the
Latvian language was introduced by the Germans, the Latvian language has
preserved many features similar to those of Latin, therefore out-of-date. On
the other hand - the German rulers were responsible for this state of the
Latvians and that "blinding hatred" was as well-grounded taking
into account just the attitude expressed in the above quote.
So the Latvians had to prove their rights as a nation, the existence of their
identity, their particular features, which could not be denied. But national
identity is an international idea, a general scheme to be filled with
particular contents suitable for this idea. The time when Young Latvians faced
their task was the time of 'epic nations' and the ideas of antiquity
revisited. So on one hand jaunlatviesi had to and continued propagating
the ideas of the modern age among their nation - to help them achieve the same
cultural level as that of the established nations (a similar task was
undertaken before by the Germans, with the aim to replace the 'savage' ways of
the Latvians).
On the other hand they became extremely interested in Latvian oral culture as
the only indigenously Latvian source. The Latvian customs and songs had been
recorded for already more than two hundred years, as the first Latvian
folksong - both the characteristic stanza of four octosyllabic lines and the
melody - was published by Fredericus Menius in his work De origine
Livonorum in 1632. (The same poetical structure is still alive and can be
observed and collected nowadays, so - supposedly - it was much more abundant
one and a half centuries ago.) The interest of the local educated men -
practically only of German origin - had been strengthened by Johann Gottfried
Herder, of whose working in Rìga for 5 years the Latvians are also
proud, supposing that the Latvian singing traditions influenced the
development of Herder's views. Actually Herder can be looked upon as the
founder of the folkloristics as we know it as the idea of the voice of a
nation expressed in its songs belongs to him as well.
By mid XIX century the first published Latvian folksong stanza and a couple of
sentences in Latvian to be found in guild registers and the documents of witch
trials were complemented by several collections of 'the best Latvian
folksongs' arranged by the German pastors. The collection work was now taken
over by the Latvians themselves. Thus the first inherent contradiction
appeared, as in words of the German scholar Otto Böckel 'Reading is the
enemy of singing'. The historical situation demanded to overcome this
contradiction and achieve the two goals at the same time - to bring the
knowledge of modern culture to the Latvians and to cultivate and collect the
oral culture material. As a proof of rights it was of enormous importance for
the nation-to-be although it could be looked upon also as a proof of an
out-dated way of life. But there was already the Finnish example of
Kalevala. Although the Finns are proud of having never been serfs, in
many aspects the situation was very similar to that in Latvia.
It soon turned out that the Latvian oral tradition does not contain material
useful for the arrangement into the form of an epic. But after the Finns and
the Germans themselves had epics of their own being 'an epic nation' was a
historical imperative. While searching for the explanation of this lack, the
Young Latvian poets started creating a Latvian Olympus in their poetry, using
every material available, mostly that of the German chronicles. The result
was an impressive amount of false deities introduced, but in its deeper sense
this attempt was the same as that of Juris Alunans (1832-1864),
expressed in his Dziesmizas ('The Poems'). This book contained poetry
of world authors translated and localised to show the very possibility of the
Latvian language to express emotions and ideas the same as the well-known
languages. To prove the existence of a golden age, it was at least useful to
provide the evidence in the form of mythology as sophisticated as that of
ancient Greece and Rome.
The man to be mentioned especially in the connection with the collection of
the Latvian folksongs is Krisjanis Barons (1835-1923). An astronomer
and mathematician by education, friend of the mentioned above Valdemars,
active participant of the movement he took over the material previously
collected by another Young Latvian Fricis Brivzemnieks-Treuland. Later
designated as "the cornerstone of the Latvian philology" the edition
Latvju Dainas (*3) compiled and arranged
by Barons is extremely demonstrative.
The image of Barons nowadays is that of a wise old man with grey hair and
beard - very similar to that of the Finnish singer of runes or that of Latvian
supreme God. Entitled 'Father of Songs' Barons is occupying a significant
place also in the modern Latvian culture and honoured for his ingenious
principle of text arrangement in the edition as well as his careful editorial
work having supposedly changed nothing in the texts originally received.
Sometimes in some poetic exaggeration even the collection of the whole
material published is attributed to him. In a poll organised a year ago in
order to establish the 33 books considered by the Latvians as most important
for them, Latvju Dainas occupied the 4th position. Folksongs are taught
at school as a part of literature curriculum; everybody to any extent involved
in the folklore studies knows the 'sacred number' of 217,996 - the number
given by Barons of folksongs included in the edition, as well as the fact
that "every Latvian has a folksong of his own" - the number of the
currently collected folksongs texts is approximately the same as that of the
living Latvians (ca. 1,300,000). Dainas are used in different studies
of the Latvian antiquity as well as in modern poetry. The main qualities of
the ancient Latvian have been established from them and namely: ancient
Latvian has been diligent and modest, has understood and obeyed the laws of
nature, honoured the live beings and plants around him, his most favoured
colour being that of cleanliness in every sense - white. The manuscript of
Latvju Dainas in the form of a special cupboard designed by Barons
himself has also achieved the status of a national symbol.
That is the generally known truth - or myth if you like it that way.
Scholarly facts, which are less legendary as it was suggested above, are
different from those. Of course, Barons has not collected his edition himself,
it is a work of hundreds of collectors, with different attitudes, but still
mainly that of creating the monument to the heritage of the nation, therefore
less valuable material could be omitted. The personality of an informant was
rarely of interest, it simply was not the aim of the work. While transcribing
the collected texts, errors arouse on behalf of the persons employed as
Barons could not do that alone. Barons himself was found to have 'improved'
the texts, sometimes adding a line, sometimes replacing some part of the text,
sometimes separating the sequences of quatrains, sometimes recreating them.
Still, we can argue that he acted like an informant just as one having an
enormous memory. But in his famous "Cupboard of Dainas" with
seventy drawers there is one less known to the general public and even those
engaged in study - it is marked as 'Christian nonsense' and contains thousands
of texts mentioning explicitly Christian notions. These have not been included
in the edition, although they seem to be included in the previously mentioned
'sacred number', thus making it fictitious.
Demonstrative is also the very choice of the title. How it is obvious from the
correspondence of Barons, the word daina, in fact a Lithuanian one for
'song', was suggested by Barons' collaborator Visendorfs, who actually
undertook the fund-raising and did not take any part in editing. This was
intended to show the historical links to the Lithuanians, who have had much
more of glorious past than their Northern neighbours, although there was no
proof of the word ever been used in Latvian.
So Latvju Dainas appeared - published in the period between
1894 and 1915, in six volumes/eight tomes. The main principle according to
which the texts were arranged is the course of the human life from the birth
to the burial rites, as the ritual usage of the texts was the main guideline
for Barons. Whether intentionally or not it makes the wedding song sequence
similar to that of Kalevala.
Barons was the representative of Young Latvians to outlive all of his
friends. In 1890's the ideas widespread among the newly-formed Latvian
intelligentsia had changed as well and become more socialist and
Marxist- oriented. Collection of folklore at that time had already become a
target for ridicule as a backward activity. Although correct from the
perspective of the Böckel's principle mentioned above, this attitude
did not prove appropriate from the historical perspective.
The first National Awakening, as this period of the forming of the very
notion of Latvians as a nation was later entitled, was followed by the
second - when in turmoil after the World War I an independent Latvian state
came into being. The need in Latvian culture was strongly felt; the example
was already there. Barons edition was reprinted (in 1922-1923), in 1924
Latviesu folkloras kratuve (the Archives of Latvian Folklore) was
founded (now the oldest academic institution in Latvia). It collected folklore
from the regions of Latvia, not represented in Latvju Dainas (half of
Latvia`s parishes), organised study and publication of the material collected.
There was no doubt that such an institution is vitally necessary for Latvia.
It was established following the Finnish pattern, with Kaarle Krohn coming
over to lecture on principles applicable in the work of such archives.
The idea of Latvians having preserved the cultural traits dating back to the
period of Indo-European age had become that of general domain. There were
different attempts to prove the past significance of the Latvian tribes for
the rest of the Europe, based on the Latvian folksongs as material less
influenced in the recent centuries because of its strict form. When in
1927-1932 a rival edition to Latvju Dainas was published, it
consisted of about the same texts just differently arranged, but
complemented with articles written by experts of some particular field - like
physicians, civil engineers, etc. - analysing the life of the ancient Latvians
as it is depicted in folksong texts. Still the most illustrative example of
the usage of dainas is the creation of the Latvian national religion
Dievturìba on the material of the song texts. The central
figure in this movement was Ernests Brastins (1892-1940?).
As it is obvious from his works, he was a person of strong national
orientation. He joined the Latvian Army during the fight for the
independence, he was the leader of an archaeological field party studying the
castles and settlements in the whole territory of Latvia (this deed of his is
still appraised by Latvian archaeologists), published studies of Latvian
ornament, compiled an index of mythological notions for the Archives of
Latvian Folklore. The main idea of his activities seems to be expressed in the
most concentrated form in the following quote: "Emphasising the
differences in dresses, furniture, buildings, customs and art inside our
borders we add a step to the great pace of the world's culture. Thus we
justify the borders we have established in the name of our
particularity/difference. We had no other right to do so."
(*4) There is also another expression by
Brastins: "Let's be cautious with Europe! Let's admire it, but not be
too enthusiastic! "(*5)
Together with some other educated Latvians, Brastins, an artist himself, in
1920's came to a conclusion that religion plays an extremely significant part
in the consciousness-forming of a nation, although overlooking the actually
international character of the religions observed. On the contrary he
stresses the internationality of the Christianity, which - more to it - was
forcibly introduced by conquerors using it as an excuse for the invasion. As
a result of this a "national Latvian religion"
Dievturìba appeared. First publication - a small booklet
entitled Latvju dievestìbas atjaunosana ('Restoration of the
Latvian religion') appeared in 1925, soon afterwards the first 'parish' was
organised. Its name could be translated as 'possession of God; honouring God'.
In the preface to the most elaborate compilation of its ideas Dievturu
cerokslis (1932) Brastiðs wrote: "My nation! You are the
luckiest among all nations! You still have a religion of your own, which is
the best in the world. Its truth has thousands of years of age, but it is
eternal... We have to chose between two alternatives: either to perish as a
nation or to become Latvian again. We have no other way... It is true that
Dievturìba destroys something of Europe's. But those are not the
values of Europe, on the contrary, those are its deepest delusions. The great
duty of our nation with which we are entrusted by God is to reintroduce the
Aryan-Latvian religion, for it to be returned to Aryan Europe."
(*6) The
exaggerations might have been deliberate in order to achieve publicity.
Whether 'Aryan Europe' had any notorious connotations cannot be proved.
Dievturiba in fact is a free arrangement of ideas found in different
song texts, freely chosen from the corpus of Latvju Dainas. To a great
extent it is just the Christian framework filled with different contents or
the same ideas declared having actually originated in pre-Christian times and
later included in the Christianity. To demonstrate their primarity
dievturi introduced their own calendar by adding ten thousand years
(or just one digit) to the existing one. The teaching contains internal
contradictions, what is inevitable for such a short period of development, but
those are of less importance as vision of Latvian folksongs as a source for a
religious consciousness leaves enough space for every particular individual to
create his own vision.
Still, some particular traits are always present and strong, with the first
being the hostility to the Christianity. Secondly, Dievturiba claims to
be a reasonable, nearly scholarly built system. To a great extent the idea of
the importance of dainas as the only indigenous source as well as
their great age was cultivated by Dievturiba, so was also the set of
the basic features of a Latvian. Although the number of dievturi was
not big and their beliefs did not reach the position of the state religion in
Latvia, the influence of their ideas is much greater.
Whatever the number of adherents and the social importance of Dievturiba,
in 1940, with the ruling powers changing as Latvia was incorporated in the
Soviet Union, Brastins simply disappeared. His exact death date has not been
certified. It is just one more proof that ideology occupied an important place
in the policies of the Soviet Union.
Latviesu folkloras kratuve functioned until 1944. The actual archive
was evacuated from Riga, but fortunately enough the attempt to transport it to
a seemingly more secure location overseas was just thought of. A number of
former staff members were also still in Latvia, so the work was restarted
under a different name in 1945. Although the traditional Latvian folklore
was declared in the better case 'pre-soviet', in the worst
'bourgeois-nationalist', it could not be denied its existence. With the
emphasis on the songs (and other material) on social relations and work, the
study was still carried on. We might announce the soviet folklorists to be
the first to discover the contemporary folklore as demand to collect either
revolutionary or "soviet folklore" was in the first place, but the
traditional folklore remained in at least partial rights. So it lead to such
amazing examples as the most ancient singing style (still alive) to be
combined with the texts where the word novads 'the district; the
farmland belonging to or cultivated by one farmstead' is substituted by
kolhozs 'the collective farm'.
To show the world the happiness and well-being of the soviet nations the
rulers had to allow the traditions to carry on. So was the case of
Kalevala festivities in Karelia, so the song festivals in the Baltics.
It started in Latvia in 1864 with a festival of local choirs in Vidzeme. In
fact it was created to prove the capability of the Latvians for a European
(=German) cultural activity, and that of the appropriately arranged Latvian
folk tunes to reach a high artistic level. The festival bringing together
thousands of performers, nurturing patriotic, national feelings reached
all-Latvia range and became regular, with participation and attendance
growing especially in the independent Latvia. After the war the patriotic
songs were still there, just they were different songs intended to express
a different kind of patriotism - the soviet one. Propaganda of 'bourgeois
nationalism' was a crime grave enough for serious court sentences, therefore
nobody (or almost) tried to introduce the national symbols at the official
festival. Designation of anything or anybody as "nationalist" had
equally grave consequences as that of "young Latvian" a century
ago. But the very fact of thousands of Latvians being together, whatever
songs they are singing, was an expression of national feelings. Actually
the official performers and audience merged in the public transport while
returning from the festival site. And there are legends told on what was the
singing and dancing like at the places of accommodation of singing groups
from outside Riga.
The tradition of ethnographic ensembles had originated already in the
independent Latvia. In mid 1970's the movement of folklore groups - town
people interested in folklore performance - widened. The ideas of the 'New
Age' together with those of Dievturiba were present there. In the
beginning of 1980's the movement was really widespread, in 1985 came the
sesquicentennial of Barons with wide celebration. With the glasnost
in force and Latvian Popular Front formed, in 1988 the International Folklore
Festival Baltica was to take place in Latvia. The opportunity for
self-expression through folklore performance as well as the fact of
representatives from many countries visiting Latvia just because of a folklore
event fascinated the masses - audience was enormous, streets of the city -
crowded. This was also the event when the Latvian national flag - strictly
banned from any public appearance in any form, including artwork - reappeared
in the streets of Rìga, carried by a member of a folklore group, not a
leader of a political party - maybe it was somewhat the same. Curiously
enough, the song they sang was a localisation of the German Wacht am
Rhein. The third awakening - Atmoda - was gaining force, involving
all of the heritage of the previous two.
The interest in folklore is still significant in Latvia. Dievturiba is
still known among Latvians, both in Latvia, where it has the rights equal to
those of any other religion, and among the Latvians in exile. It could be
understood also as a parallel to the present general interest in antiquity in
the world, e.g. the neo-paganism and groups like Society for Creative
Anachronism. There are still singers in Latvia having learned their songs the
same way as their great-grand parents - from oral tradition. Barons in his
preface to Latvju Dainas wrote that "...our songs are vanishing
together with the old women singing them..." This seems still the
situation, a hundred years later. The Finns are said to have lost their last
rune singers in 1960's. Taking into account that Barons was born in the year
when the first Kalevala was published we might consider an interval of
time equal to the lifespan of one generation to be the difference between the
processes in Latvia and Finland. But it is not likely for Latvian traditional
folklore to see its demise so soon.
Still the existence of the traditional folklore is a peculiar one. With the
actual original circumstances for its functioning being lost long since, the
old songs are recorded from the descendants of those who performed them in
any actual ritual event. Folklore is considered as a valuable heritage of the
past, thus excluding both recent genres and "fakelore" from the
study. E.g. in Latvia study of modern phenomena like contemporary legends is
still looked upon as something not serious and purposeless. It can be done
for amusement like telling jokes or singing songs at a party table, although
most frequently these are not the ancient folksongs but rather the localised
German ones. There is a secondary layer, folklore about folklore, what is of
general availability, many amateurs studying the material in order to prove
either the greatness of the Latvians themselves or their relations to some
great figures of the past like the Druids. It might be said that every
Latvian feels - there is some ancient wisdom, some ancient spirit in the
Latvian folksongs. And although it might take not too great an effort of a
scholar to prove that actually not much of real antiquity is present there,
is it worth that effort?
References
1.Arveds Svabe 1959. Latvijas vesture 1800-1914 (History of
Latvia 1800-1914); Stockholm: Daugava 1959, p. 365; quoted from Janis Arveds
Trapans 1989. Krisjanis Barons. His Life and Times. Linguistics and
poetics of Latvian Folk Songs. McGill-Queen's University Press 1989,
p. 18.
2. ibid, p. 369-370, quoted from Trapans 1989, p. 21.
3. Latvju Dainas 1894-1915, vol. I-VI. Jelgava and St. Petersburg.
4. Brastins, E. 1925. Latvju raksta kompozìcija (The
Composition of the Latvian Ornament). Rìga.
5. Brastins, ibid.
6. Brastins, E. 1932. Dievturu cerokslis jeb Teoforu katekisms, tas ir
senlatviesu dievestìbas apcerejums (The Catechism of the Dievturi).
Riga, (11932), p. 3.