--- In cybalist@..., markodegard@... wrote:
>
> Shouldn't someone comment about the place of those pet green snakes
of
> of the Balts?
>
And the Slavs as well. I suppose they (snakes, not the Balts and
SLavs) were connected to the earth in the minds of their Slavic
worshippers (cf. Slavic *zmIjI 'snake' < *(dH)gYHem- 'earth, ground'
and an underground cave as home of the mythical giant snakes in
Russian folklore). Balts, on the other hand, rather connected snakes
with water (snakes in folklore often live in sea). Lith.
gyva~te. 'snake' is 'vivid, nimble' (*gWi:w-) etymologically.
Sergei