First Volume in the Series “Index of Types and Motifs of Latvian Legends” Published

The publishing house of the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art has released the first volume in the series Index of Types and Motifs of Latvian Legends, which provides an overview of folklore sources on witches preserved in the Archives of Latvian Folklore. The author of the edition is Dr. philol. Sandis Laime, a leading researcher at UL ILFA and the author of several studies and a monograph on witchcraft.

“How many different kinds of witches can be found in Latvian folklore? Many! If Latvian witch folklore had to be compared to a vegetable, it would certainly be a cabbage. Witch folklore is that multilayered and diverse. In this book, I have sought to untangle and understand the various traditions of witches, spīganas, and laumas — to reveal their regional, chronological, and typological differences by analyzing a specially prepared corpus of witch-related texts from the Archives of Latvian Folklore,” says Sandis Laime.

The introductory chapters offer an insight into the history of collecting, publishing, and classifying Latvian legends, as well as an overview of the historical typology of Latvian witch traditions, characterizing folklore sources related to night witches, milk witches, and demonic witches.

The appendices contain interconnected indexes of legend types and motifs, providing extensive opportunities for further research. They enable more precise studies on the historical development and chronology of Latvian witch beliefs, the migration paths and adaptation mechanisms of specific international legend types within local tradition, as well as the hybridization of traditions and the interaction between demonological and popular discourse on witches during the witch-hunt period.

The book is a valuable resource for the study of Latvian witch beliefs and for comparative legend research. To ensure broader accessibility, it includes a full English translation of the text.

Future volumes in the Index of Types and Motifs of Latvian Legends series are planned on Wizards and Werewolves.

The monograph was prepared as part of the European Regional Development Fund postdoctoral project “Exploration of Latvian Folk Narratives: Development of a Mapping Tool and Online Index of Legend Motifs and Types” (No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/1/16/193), and published with the support of the State Culture Capital Foundation and the budget subprogram 05.04.00 “Krišjānis Barons Dainu Cabinet” of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia.

Price: EUR 15.00
Available for purchase at UL ILFA (Mūkusalas iela 3) or by email: apgads@lulfmi.lv