indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Other Forms FormsBezelea (the form used by Narbutt); Bežlėja (the reconstructed form)
Meaning & History
The name of an alleged Lithuanian goddess of the evening.The form Bezlea was first recorded by Polish historian and theologian Jan Łasicki in his treatise on idolatry De diis Samagitarum caeterorumque Sarmatarum et falsorum Christianorum, written ca. 1582 and published in 1615, while Polish historian Theodor Narbutt referred to her as Bezelea in his work Dzieje starożytne narodu litewskiego, written between 1835 and 1841.
Both forms are Latinizations; the original form, if there ever was one, is lost, however a Lithuanian form has since been reconstructed: Bežlėja.
It has been suggested that Bežlėja might be derived from Lithuanian blista "to darken; to get dark".Since neither Łasicki nor Narbutt were intimately familiar with Lithuanian culture or language, the academic opinion on the value of their documents ranges from a valuable resource to a practical joke.
Both forms are Latinizations; the original form, if there ever was one, is lost, however a Lithuanian form has since been reconstructed: Bežlėja.
It has been suggested that Bežlėja might be derived from Lithuanian blista "to darken; to get dark".Since neither Łasicki nor Narbutt were intimately familiar with Lithuanian culture or language, the academic opinion on the value of their documents ranges from a valuable resource to a practical joke.