Dēkla
Latvian · deity · Latvian traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Dēkla is a Latvian goddess of fate who appears in the dainas as one of a closely linked trio with Laima and Kārta. The three are often interchangeable, but where they are differentiated Dēkla is drawn toward the care and early destiny of the newborn child, so that she and her sisters divide the work of decreeing, nursing and finalising a human life. Because she is named far less often than Laima, scholars have debated whether Dēkla was ever an independent deity or a poetic doubling of the goddess of luck; the songs themselves treat her as a distinct sister within the fate-triad.
Domains
- fate of infants
Powers
- tends the fate and care of the infant
Epithets
- Dēkliņa — dear little DēklaBarons & Wissendorff, Latvju dainas. (primary)
Relations
- sibling: LaimaOne of the three fate-goddesses.Biezais, Die Hauptgöttinnen der alten Letten, 1955. (secondary)
- sibling: KārtaOne of the three fate-goddesses.Biezais, Die Hauptgöttinnen der alten Letten, 1955. (secondary)
Sources
- Dēkla is one of a trio of Latvian fate-goddesses, closely bound to Laima and Kārta and associated with the destiny of the infant.: Biezais, Haralds. Die Hauptgöttinnen der alten Letten. Uppsala, 1955. (secondary); Šmits, Pēteris. Latviešu mītoloģija. Riga, 1926. (secondary)