Note 1210 — Chapter XX · THE WORSHIP OF THE OAK

According to Prof. H. Hirt, the name Perkunas means “the oak-god,” being derived from the same root querq, which appears in the Latin quercus “oak,” the Hercynian forest, the Norse god and goddess Fjörygn, and the Indian Parjanya, the Vedic god of thunder and rain. See H. Hirt, “Die Urheimat der Indogermanen,” Indogermanische Forschungen, i. (1892) pp. 479 sqq.; id., Die Indogermanen (Strasburg, 1905-1907), ii. 507; P. Kretschmer, Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache, pp. 81 sq. The identity of the names Perkunas and Parjanya had been maintained long before by G. Bühler, though he did not connect the words with quercus. See his article, “On the Hindu god Parjanya,” Transactions of the (London) Philological Society, 1859, pp. 154-168. As to Parjanya, see below, pp. 368 sq.