Medeina- Baltic GodDeity"Mistress of the Forests"
Also known as: Medeinė
Description
Lithuanian virgin goddess who roamed the forests with a wolf pack at her heels. All the creatures of the woodland belonged to Medeina, and hunters sought her blessing before entering to take game. Those who killed without restraint or gratitude found the forest less generous on their next visit.
Mythology & Lore
The Forest and Its Goddess
Lasickis names Medeina among the Samogitian gods as the deity of the forest. Her name comes from medis, the Lithuanian word for tree. She was unmarried, unbound by hearth or household, and she ran with wolves through the pine and oak woodlands that stretched beyond every Lithuanian village.
To hear wolves howling in the deep woods was to know the goddess was near. Hunters invoked her before entering the forest and offered the first game of the season back to her. She expected restraint. A hunter who took more than was needed, or who killed without gratitude, risked finding the forest empty on his next visit. Her generosity had limits, and her wolves were always close.
The Bychowiec Chronicle names her alongside the chief gods of the Lithuanian pantheon. A goddess of the wild held rank among deities of sky and thunder.