[Latvian] Dievs ("god") is the supreme deity of the Latvians, with the same position Zeus has in Greek religion. The word was later also used to denote the highest Christian deity and the main question is that of Christian influences included in Dievs' image. The Finno-Ugric (Finnish and Estonian) loan words derived from the Baltic mean "sky" or "heaven" (compare: Finnish and Estonian taivas, taevas and Old Prussian deiwas). For the first time as a Latvian (i.e. non-Christian) deity Dievs is mentioned in Stenders' Lexicon (1783). It is likely that the previous authors simply overlooked this deity not willing to contaminate the Christian notion. Dievs is the most frequently mentioned Latvian deity (counting all the usage of the word), and a sky and fertility god. In some cases he is the suitor of Saule. There is no explicit hint to his wife, only his sons -- Dieva deli -- are mentioned frequently (they in fact are the most frequent counterparts of Saules meitas). The main concept of Dievs's app...
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