Ašvieniai
Divine twin horses pulling the sun chariot.
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The Ašvieniai are divine twins in Baltic and Lithuanian mythology, known as Usins and Martins. Their names derive from the Proto-Indo-European root for horse, and they are depicted as pulling the carriage of the Sun goddess Saulė through the sky.
Description and mythology
In Lithuanian mythology, the Ašvieniai are twin divine horses who pull Saules Meitia’s sun chariot across the sky. Sometimes Usins drives alone, or the pair can appear as horses or humans. Usins, with white hair in human form, is linked to spring and summer when horses graze and are ridden, while Martins looks after horses in fall and winter when they are stabled. Both have white hair as horses.
Their father is Dievs, and their mother is either Lada or Saules Meitia. They are also described as the husbands of Surya and Saules Meitia. Martins is celebrated at the Martini festival on November 10th, and Usins at Jurģi on April 23rd.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Ašvieniai (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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