Bread in small forms of Lithuanian folklore

Abstract

Bread is one of the oldest human-made foods. With the emergence of agriculture, it became a daily meal and so began to be appreciated, personalised and deified. The image of bread in small forms of folklore shows that it is the main food, so important that people are ready to work hard for it and even baking bread is considered difficult. The result of all this work is a person whose hunger is satiated, and the same is true of the entire family. Although all work is valuable, that of a plougher or generally of ordinary people is particularly appreciated because it is most strictly connected with bread and land. Considerable attention is paid to the quality of bread: it not only has to look nice but also be tasty. Bread allows one to differentiate one’s folk from strangers; it reminds one of home and motherland, functions as a symbol of stability and harmony in the family. Data from folklore highlight mutual relationships between bread and people: bread protects people from misfortunes, it heals and warns them of danger. Therefore, people protect and respect it and attribute magical qualities to it.

This understanding of bread was typical of our ancestors. However, given that the data from folklore used in this study come from the 19th and early 20th c., the contemporary understanding of bread may be different.