According to legend, Namejs was the leader of the Semigallian tribes in Latvia during the invasion of German crusaders at the beginning of the 13th century. He was one of the last warriors fighting against foreign invasion at that time. During the battles Namejs was forced to retreat to Lithuania. Before leaving, he gave his ring to his son to help recognize him after his return. Germans found out about this and began to search for the boy. They wanted to kidnap his son and force Namej's tribe to accept Christianity. To protect Namejs and his son almost all Semigallian boys and men made similar rings. Since that time this has been the most popular Latvian ring. This ring helps Latvians all over the world to recognize each other. Another story tells us that after losing the battle against German knights Namejs was forced to retreat to Lithuania together with his family and tribe. There Namejs ordered those rings to be made and gave them to his closest people as a symbol of friendship and trust. The four close braids of the ring express the solidarity of the Latvian nation. Only few historical sources about Namejs have survived, but people can tell us many legends about him. In the 13th century Namejs was one of the most powerful leaders in Latvia and he controlled almost the whole Semigallian region. He was among those Latvian leaders who signed a peace treaty with the Livonian Order, as payment he was forced to pay taxes three times a year. Once one of the tax collectors offended Namejs and even hit him. As a result, Namejs decided to enter into an alliance with a Lithuanian leader - Treiden and attack the Livonian Order. He succeeded and occupied Tervetes castle, which became Namej's residence. In association with Treiden, Namejs freed almost all the Semigallian region. Unfortunately their attempt to occupy Riga failed. Namejs and the Livonian Orden signed another treaty, but Germans weren't satisfied with it, so they organized festivity for Semigallian leaders, during which they craftily killed them. Namejs managed to escape and went to Lithuania to make new plans.
Item number: SVI1.031
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