Mythology

God of thunder and lightning, war and order – the highest god of the Slavs. Already in the 6th century the Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that the Slavs believe one god, the maker of lightning, is lord of all. In 980 Prince Vladimir placed his idol in Kyiv, with a silver head and a golden moustache, first in his pantheon. Perun rules from the top of the world tree, strikes the serpent Veles with his thunderbolts and brings back the rain. After Christianisation much of his role passed to St Elijah the Thunderer.

God of cattle and wealth, trade, waters and the underworld – Perun’s great opponent. In the treaties with Byzantium (907 and 971) the Rus swore by Perun and by Volos, “the god of cattle”, because cattle meant wealth. In the myth Veles steals Perun’s cattle and hides under a tree or in the water, until Perun strikes him and the rains return. He is also linked to music, magic and the souls of the dead; later St Blaise (Vlasije) took over part of his role.

The heavenly smith, god of fire and craft. A 12th-century Rus chronicle, retelling a Greek chronicle, calls him the father of the sun god Dažbog, says he gave people the law of marriage and taught them to forge iron, and compares him to the Greek Hephaestus.

God of the sun and “the giver of good” – his name means “the god who gives”. He stood in Vladimir’s pantheon, and in The Tale of Igor’s Campaign the Rus people are called “Dažbog’s grandchildren”. In Serbian folklore he survives as Dabog, a mighty ruler on earth set against God in heaven.

Svarog’s son – fire on earth and in the hearth. Around 1015 the German bishop Thietmar of Merseburg described his great temple at Riedegost (Rethra), the main sanctuary of the Lutici, where his idol stood in a helmet and armour and a sacred horse foretold the outcome of wars. Later writers call the god himself Radegast.

God of the winds and the air. He stood in Vladimir’s pantheon, and The Tale of Igor’s Campaign calls the winds “Stribog’s grandchildren”, blowing arrows in from the sea. His name is often explained as “the one who spreads” – the god who carries things across the wide world.

A sun god in Vladimir’s pantheon of 980. In The Tale of Igor’s Campaign Prince Vseslav crosses “the path of great Hors” by night. Many scholars derive the name from the Iranian word for the sun, so Hors may be the sun’s disk itself, beside Dažbog the giver.

The most mysterious god of Vladimir’s pantheon – only his name was written down. He is usually linked to the Iranian Simurgh, a winged dog or bird that guards seeds and plants, and seen as a messenger between heaven and earth.

The only goddess in Vladimir’s pantheon: protector of women, spinning and weaving, childbirth and moist mother earth. Medieval church books asked women whether they had prayed to Mokoš. Her day was Friday, and much of her cult passed to St Paraskeva (Petka). In folk belief she spins the threads of life and fate.

Rod – “kin, birth” – and the Rožanice, the women of fate, appear in medieval sermons condemning people who set out bread, cheese and honey for them. They were linked to ancestors, birth and destiny. The South Slavs keep the same belief in the Suđaje (Sudženice): three women who come on the third night after a birth and decide the child’s fate.

God of spring, youth, fertility and fiery strength – the same root gives the Slavic words for spring crops, heat and fury. Among the Baltic Slavs Jarovit was honoured at Wolgast, where his huge golden shield was carried before the army. In Russian and Belarusian folk custom Jarilo was welcomed in spring and “buried” in summer.

Goddess of winter and death. Across Central and Eastern Europe people still make a straw figure of Morana (Marzanna, Morena) in early spring, carry it out of the village and burn it or throw it into the river – driving winter away and welcoming spring.

The spirit of spring and youth, known from folk songs and customs rather than from old chronicles. Her name is simply the Slavic word for spring, and in Slovenian tradition the vesne are fairies who bring a good year.

Often called the goddess of love, beauty and marriage, from the refrain “lado, lado” in wedding and spring songs. Many modern scholars doubt she was ever a real goddess, but the name lives on in songs – and in the Croatian ladarice, girls who sing at Midsummer.

The goddess of the Polabian Slavs, named “Siwa” by the chronicler Helmold in the 12th century. Her name is usually read as “the living one”, so she is often seen as a goddess of life and fertility – though almost nothing else is known about her.

The four-faced god of Arkona on the island of Rügen, the greatest temple of the Baltic Slavs. Saxo Grammaticus describes a giant idol with four heads looking in every direction, a horn of wine in his hand from which the priest foretold the harvest, and a white horse the god rode at night. The Danes destroyed the temple in 1168.

The three-headed god of Szczecin and Brandenburg. His priests explained that the three heads rule the three realms – sky, earth and underworld – and that his eyes were covered so he would not see people’s sins. A black horse was led over spears to foretell whether a war would succeed. The highest mountain of Slovenia carries the same name.

War god of Karenz (today Garz) on Rügen: an oak idol with seven faces and seven swords at his belt, an eighth in his hand. In nearby temples stood five-headed Porevit, and Porenut with four faces and a fifth on his chest – all described by Saxo Grammaticus.

“The black god” of the Baltic Slavs. Helmold writes that at feasts they passed a bowl around and spoke curses in the name of Zcerneboch, the god of misfortune. From this a “white god”, Belobog, giver of good luck, was later assumed – but he is not named in any old source.

The rain maiden of South Slavic custom. In times of drought a girl dressed only in leaves and grass – the dodola or prporuša – went from house to house with other girls, singing for rain while the women of each house poured water over her. Many scholars link Dodola and Perperuna to Perun, as his wife or helper.