Myths of Kulautuva, Lithuania

The legend about The Stone of Jonučiai Princess

About this stone there is a legend that in ancient times lived the king of Žemaičiai in Kulautuva. Once the land was attacked by cruel enemies. They were burning farmhouses, killing people and robbing their property. All women and men, even children, went to defend their land against the enemies. Just the princess of Jonučiai with her beloved boy secretly ran away and hid in the forest.

When the king learnt about that, he became very angry and started to ask his powerful gods by saying:

-The daughter who does not appreciate her country is unhappy. By the name of the gods I forsake her and curse her forever. The Mighty Thunder, punish her!

At the same time in the forest next to the spring of Narėpai was standing the princess and she turned into the stone. She stayed there reminding that everybody has to protect their country.

This stone is also amazing, because people who sometimes walk in the forest clearly can see that The Stone of the Princess is really there. But sometimes the stone disappears and it is impossible to find it.

The Stream of Narėpai

Photos from Germany (May and June)

 People: Best Friends (Marie Bütterhoff)

 People: Crazy (Marie Tenbeitel)

 Landscape: Rain (Marie Tenbeitel)

 Light and texture: Girl in Sun ( Marie Tenbeitel)

 Light and texture: Windmill (Ramona Nattebrede)

Landscape: Rye (Ramona Nattebrede)

Myths Lithuania

Origin of the name Kulautuva

 

Local residents link the name of the town with the word beetle (lith. kultuvė). It is said that in ancient times there were no permanent residents in Kulautuva, just from the neighbouring villages were coming women to wash their clothes next to the Nemunas River. They were beating the beetles so loudly that the sound was spreading widely. Even the people who lived on the other side of the Nemunas River heard it. They used to say: “The beetles are washing the clothes again”. From that came the name of the settlement – Kulautuva.

 




The sculpture “Kultuvė” (eng. “Beetle”) close to Kulautuva region (the author – Ž.Karkauskas

Some of the researchers think that the name of the town came from the surname of the noblemen – Kolotauskai - who lived there in the 18^th –the beginning of the 19^th centuries.

The others think that the name of the settlement came from a Lithuanian verb „kūlauti“ which means to catch fishes under the ice beating them with the poles.