The Mythology of All Races/Volume 3/Slavic/Part 2

by Jan Hanuš Máchal

PART II
THE DEITIES OF THE ELBE SLAVS

THE DEITIES OF THE ELBE SLAVS

THE religion o£ the ancient Slavs was not restricted to a belief in genii, but was further developed into the worship of gods. They made themselves idols, in which they thought their deities were embodied, and they prayed to them.

There are two records which show how the pagan Slavs came to adopt the worship of one chief deity. The Greek historian Procopius writes as follows concerning Slavs and Antae:^[1] "They believe that there is one single god who is the creator of the lightning and the sole lord of all things, and to him they sacrifice cattle and all sorts of animals. . . . They also worship rivers, nymphs, and some other deities; they sacrifice to all and foretell the future in these offerings." A similar account concerning the Elbe Slavs is given by the chronicler Helmold:^[2] "Among the multiform divine powers to whom they ascribe fields, forests, sorrows, and joys they do not deny that one god rules over the others in heaven and that he, pre-eminent in might, cares only for things celestial; whereas the rest, obeying the duties assigned them, have sprung from his blood and enjoy distinction in proportion to their nearness to that god of gods."

The name of the chief god of the Slavs has not come down to us. There is, however, a well-founded belief that it was Svarog, who, in old chronicles, is often identified with Hephaistos;^[3] and we have more certain evidence regarding his sons, one of whom is called Dažbog, and the other Svarožič ("Son of Svarog").^[4] Lack of historical data renders it impossible to say what gods were worshipped by the Slavs while they were still living in their ancient homes;^[5] and our only documents of a really precise character concern solely the religion of the Elbe Slavs and the Russians.

For the idolatry of the former the record of the chronicler Thietmar is of the greatest importance. He says^[6] that in those regions there were as many temples as there were districts, and that these shrines served the worship of their particular demons.

1. PAGE

2. Chapter I.

   Svantovit

   279

3. II.

   Triglav

   284

4. III.

   Svaražic

   286

5. IV.

   Černobog

   288

6. V.

   Other Deities

   289

1. De bello Gothico, iii. 14; for the Antae cf. Krek, Einleitung, pp. 292–96.
2. i. 83.
3. e. g. in the Chronicle of Hypatius (an Old Slavic paraphrase of the Byzantine historian Georgios Hamartolos), cited by Krek, Einleitung, p. 378, note 2.
4. See infra, pp. 297–98.
5. Cf. S. Zaborowski, "Les Origines des Slaves," in Bulletins et mémoires de la société d' anthropologic de Paris, V. v. 671–720 (1904); abridged English translation in Smithsonian Report, 1906, pp. 399–422.
6. vi. 18.