Laume
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Laumė in Lithuanian mythology is a lower spirit, nymph or fairy. Laumės (plural) interestingly enough have birds’ claws for feet. They usually appear in groups of three. They are able to do women’s work perfectly, and are especially skilled in weaving and spinning. They love children, respect industriousness and help those in need. They punish those who ridicule them, and those who are lazy. Following are two example folk tales featuring Laumės:
The Laumės (Fairies) and the Babe
One time a woman was harvesting a (flower?) bed and had taken her child with her. She was so busy with her work that the child slept the day through.
The woman went home at the end of the day, completely forgetting her baby. She milked the cows, made dinner and served her husband. At the table the husband asked, "Where’s my son?" With terror she whispered, "Oi, I forgot." And she ran as fast as she could to the child, hearing "Čiucia liūlia, forgotten child." The mother, from the distance, asked the Laume for her child back. The fairie said, "Come, come, dear woman, take your child, we have done nothing to him. We know that you work very hard, at many jobs, and that you didn’t want to leave your child behind."
The fairies then went on to shower the babe with so much treasure, diapers, everything, that there was enough to raise several children. The mother went home with her precious gifts/baby and was greeted with joy and happiness.
Another woman, hearing of her good fortune, was taken over by jealousy. She took to thinking, "Wait, I shall do the same as her." The next evening, when the sun was beginning her rest, she took her child, left him in the fields and went home. She ate dinner, but still would not go to fetch her child. Then she paused, thinking that it was time to get her treasure. When she approached the field, she heard the fairies, "Ciucia liula, purposely left child." And the child screamed with such great pain, for he was pinched and pinched again. They kept up their torture until the mother came. The fairies the child at her. The child was dead.
The Fairies Fortell A Newborn's Future
A Laumė would come to a window and would yell, "Hundreds born, hundreds died, what of his fate?" Another would answer back, "Birth at night, death at night." And again they would yell and moan at the window. From within another would answer, "This nightly birth is a big lay about, to consume his whole life long." Again, yelling at the window, "Hundreds born, hundreds dead, what of his fate?” Another answer: "Morning time born will be a strong worker". And again, after some time, begins the same questioning. The answer was "Noontime born is a very happy child, full of life and true wealth."