Abstract
ABSTRACTThe present article discusses possible survivals of Indo-European poetical language and myth in formulaic entities of Baltic and Slavic lullabies and mythological songs. Though Slavic folklore has only sparse survivals of common Indo-European myth about the Divine Twins, valuable information is furnished by formulaic dictions kept by one of the most concise folklore genres, lullabies. Ukrainian, Russian, Belorussian, Lithuanian and Latvian lullabies about two cats might reflect ancient beliefs, because cat has substituted more ancient mythologically meaningful words. Still, the lullabies represent the last stage of the formula development. Its origins can be traced to solar and lunar mythological songs of the Balts and Slavs. In these songs, etymological and metrical core-formula of the lullabies and their mythological substrates can be found. This study for the first time introduces Slavic folklore material for reconstructing the Indo-European poetical clichés connected with “Dioscurian” beliefs.
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