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Beaver-veneration

Source: TW

Wonder where the Iranian counter-religion acquired its appreciation for beavers: killing a beaver is equated with killing a dastur or worshiping daeva-s. Was it from a sense of realization of their importance in wet land ecology: below a recent case of dramatic beaver engineering.

At any rate beavers are also associated with river goddesses in Baltic folk songs. So their exalted character seems to go as far back as the Common IE period.

You got to the essence of what was my subcurrent musing in that twt. However, I’m not sure if this idea goes back to P-Indo-Hittite or even IE proper or even I-Ir+B-Sl common ancestors because:

There is no clearcut evidence for such a special place for beavers in PIE though the animal itself was clearly known – a clear signal for the northern homeland of at least core PIE.
That reference from Baltic which you share is notable in that it seems to have a specific connection to the Ir.

That was related to my open question when did this Iranics get this. I was wondering if this was after a uniquely shared feature of just the Baltics & Iranics who led to the Avestan religion after the Arya-s+rest had broken away from them. If this were so it might be something that just emerged among them & Balts (laterally transferred between them) in a northern region with beavers. There is no prominence for beavers AFAIK in the IA branch (unless some of that was transferred later to the mongoose) & also in other branches of IE that remained in northern latitudes. Hence, my drift was whether it was a limited thing to Balts & iranics but I’m not sure & wanted to wait to say more before investigating it further.