Misplaced Pages

Dazhbog: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 02:05, 2 March 2014 editJsp722 (talk | contribs)774 edits Characteristics: Replace biased, inaccurate ”pagan”, with neutral, accurate ”ancestral”.← Previous edit Latest revision as of 15:07, 16 November 2024 edit undo*Diwodh₃rós (talk | contribs)166 edits deleted unsourced informationTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit 
(151 intermediate revisions by 95 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Slavic deity}}{{Distinguish|Dabog}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2009}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2009}}
'''Dažbog''' (]: ],<ref name="ESSJa_4_182f"/> ]: ''Dabog'', ''Daždbog'', ''Dajbog''; {{lang-bg|Даждбог}}, {{lang-pl|Dadźbóg}}, {{lang-rus|Даж(д)ьбог}}, {{lang-uk|Дажбог}}), alternatively '''Dazhbog''', '''Dazbog''', '''Dazhdbog''', or '''Dadzbóg''', was one of the major gods of ], most likely a ] and possibly a ]. He is one of several authentic Slavic gods, mentioned by a number of medieval manuscripts, and one of the few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all ].
] ] altar with depiction of Dazhbog]]
'''Dazhbog''' ({{langx|ru|Дажьбо́г, Дажбо́г}}), alternatively '''Daždźboh''' ({{langx|be|Даждзьбог}}), '''Dazhboh''' ({{langx|uk|Дажбог}}), '''Dažbog''', '''Dazhdbog''', '''Dajbog''', '''Daybog''', '''Dabog''', '''Dazibogu''', or '''Dadźbóg''', was one of the major gods of ], most likely a ] and possibly a ]. He is one of several authentic Slavic gods, mentioned by a number of medieval manuscripts, and one of the few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all ] ].


Dazhbog (or Dazhboh) is mentioned in the '']'', a history of early ] as one of seven gods whose statues Prince ] erected in front of his palace in ] in 980, when he came to the throne. The name is also mentioned in the ], as well as in the medieval Old East Slavic epic ''] .''
==Sources==
Dažbog (or Dažboh) is mentioned in the ], a history of early ] as one of seven gods whose statues Prince ] erected in front of his palace in ] in 980, when he came to the throne. The name is also mentioned in the ], as well as in the medieval Russian epic '']''.

Although these medieval documents come from the ] area, names similar to Dažbog/Dažboh have survived in the folklores of both West and South Slavic populations. Of particular interest is the Serbian Dabog or Dajbog (most modern mythographers take for granted this is the same character as East Slavic Dažbog/Dažboh), also known as Hromi Daba (meaning "Daba the Lame"), described in folklore as a lame "shepherd of wolves", an ugly demon-lord who rules the underworld and travels through the world of men. Though not always evil in folk stories, Dabog/Dažboh is often presented as an enemy of the Christian ] or heavenly saints. While one may conjecture this is the result of satanization which the Slavic solar deity underwent after ], there are some pretty good indications that even the original, pre-Christian Dabog/Daboh or Dažbog/Dažboh had very strong chthonic attributes{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}.


== Etymology == == Etymology ==
The ] reconstruction is ],<ref name="ESSJa_4_182f">Олег Трубачёв (ред.) (1974–), Этимологический словарь славянских языков, Москва: Наука, volume 04, page 182f</ref> and is composed of *dadjь, imperative of the verb ] "to give", and the noun ] "god". The original meaning of ''Dažbog'' would thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and Niderle, be "giving god", "god-giver, "god-donor". The ] reconstruction is ],<ref name="ESSJa_4_182f">Олег Трубачёв (ред.) (1974–), Этимологический словарь славянских языков, Москва: Наука, volume 04, page 182f</ref> and is composed of *dadjь, imperative of the verb ] "to give", and the noun ] "god". The original meaning of ''Dazhbog'' would thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and ], be "giving god", "god-giver, "god-donor".


Morphologically this word is an old compound, that is particularly interesting because it retains the old meaning of the Proto-Slavic *bogъ "earthly wealth/well-being; fortune", with a semantic shift to "dispenser of wealth/fortune" and finally "god".<ref name="Skok_I_178">Petar Skok (1971), Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, JAZU: Zagreb, volume I, page 178ff</ref> Due to the absence of convincing cognates in other Indo-European languages, Proto-Slavic *bogъ is often considered to be an Iranian borrowing, being related to Indo-Iranian words such as Old Persian '']'' and Sanskrit '']'', or at least being semantically influenced by them; in both Slavic and Indo-Iranian cognate forms mean both "deity" and "wealth, share".<ref>Compare OCS '']'' 'rich' as opposed to '']'' 'poor'.</ref> Thus, translated literally, ''Dažbog'' would be "dispenser of fortune". Similar formations such as '']'' and '']'' furthermore prove an existence of Iranian dualism in Proto-Slavic mythology.<ref name="Skok_I_178"/> this word is an old compound, that is particularly interesting because it retains the old meaning of the Proto-Slavic *bogъ "earthly wealth/well-being; fortune", with a semantic shift to "dispenser of wealth/fortune" and finally "god".<ref name="Skok_I_178">Petar Skok (1971), Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, JAZU: Zagreb, volume I, page 178ff</ref> Due to the absence of convincing cognates in other Indo-European languages, Proto-Slavic *bogъ is often considered to be an Iranian borrowing, being related to Indo-Iranian ], or at least being semantically influenced by them; in both Slavic and Indo-Iranian cognate forms mean both "deity" and "wealth, share".<ref>Compare OCS '']'' 'rich' as opposed to '']'' 'poor'.</ref> Thus, translated literally, ''Dazhbog'' would be "giving god".

In other languages, ]: ];<ref name="ESSJa_4_182f" /> ]: Даждьбогъ; ]: Дажьбогъ; {{langx|be|Даждбог}}, Дажбог, or Дабог; ], ] and {{langx|mk|Даждбог}} Дажбог, Дайбог, or Дабог; {{langx|pl|Dadźbóg}}, ''Dażbóg'', ''Dabóg''; {{langx|ru|Дажьбог}}, Дажбог, Дайбог, or Дабог; ]: ''Daždbog'' / Даждбог, ''Dažbog'' / Дажбог, ''Dajbog'' / Дајбог, or ''Dabog'' / Дабог.


== Characteristics == == Characteristics ==
]
The most interesting passage about Dažbog comes from the ], a 15th-century compilation of several much older documents from the ] in Russia. The complete passage, reconstructed from several manuscripts, translates as follows: One passage about Dazhbog comes from the ], a 15th-century compilation of several much older documents from the ] in Russia. The complete passage, reconstructed from several manuscripts, translates as follows:


''(Then) began his reign Feosta (]), whom the ] called Svarog… during his rule, from the heavens fell the smith’s prongs and weapons were forged for the first time; before that, (people) fought with clubs and stones. Feosta also commanded the women that they should have only a single husband… and that is why Egyptians called him Svarog… After him ruled his son, his name was the Sun, and they called him Dažbog… Sun tzar, son of Svarog, this is Dažbog.'' <blockquote> began his reign Feosta (]), whom the ] called Svarog ... during his rule, from the heavens fell the smith's prongs and weapons were forged for the first time; before that, fought with clubs and stones. Feosta also commanded the women that they should have only a single husband ... and that is why Egyptians called him Svarog ... After him ruled his son; his name was the Sun, and they called him Dazhbog ... Sun tsar, son of Svarog. That is Dazhbog.</blockquote>


This is in fact a Slavic translation of an original Greek manuscript of Malalin from the 6th century. In Greek text, the names of gods are ] and ]. Apparently, the unknown Russian translator tried to re-tell the entire story (set in Egypt) by replacing the names of classical deities with those that were better known to his readers.<ref name="Belaj">Vitomir Belaj "Hod kroz godinu, mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih vjerovanja i obicaja", Zagreb, 1998.</ref> One can only hope that he indeed replaced the names of Greek gods with their fitting Slavic counterparts; however, at least one issue remains problematic: in all Slavic languages, the word for Sun, ''Sunce'', is of neutral or feminine gender, never masculine. Also, in ], which is most akin to Slavic, Sun is a female deity, ], while the Moon is a male one. The same pattern can be observed in folklore of many Slavic nations, where the Sun is most often identified with mother or a bride, and Moon with father or husband, their children being the stars. Where exactly this leaves Dažbog as a possible male solar deity of Slavic pantheon remains questionable. This is, in fact, a Slavic translation of an original Greek manuscript of Malalin from the 6th century. In the Greek text, the names of gods are ] and ]. Apparently, the unknown ] translator tried to re-tell the entire story (set in Egypt) by replacing the names of classical deities with those that were better known to his readers.<ref name="Belaj">Vitomir Belaj "Hod kroz godinu, mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih vjerovanja i obicaja", Zagreb, 1998.</ref>


One can only hope that he indeed replaced the names of Greek gods with their fitting Slavic counterparts; however, at least one issue remains problematic: in all Slavic languages, the word for Sun, ''Suntse'', is of neutral or feminine gender, never masculine (however, there is an Old East Slavic epic character "Vladimir Beautiful Sun" or "Vladimir Bright Sun" (]){{Circular reference|date=January 2018}}<ref>Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). ''Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 44, 304. {{ISBN|9781576070635}}.</ref> which has the same place as Arthur in English culture).
Furthermore, this passage has raised quite a few theories about family relations between Slavic gods. If we assume that indeed ] was believed to be Dažbog’s father, the question arises of his relation with ], another deity who is mentioned as god of fire and war in several other medieval documents describing the ancestral beliefs of Slavs. Svarožič is simply a diminutive of Svarog’s name, i.e., "little Svarog", which implicates he was considered a child of Svarog. ] and ] proposed a reconstruction of this mythical genealogy that Svarog, a deity of fire and forge similar to the Greek ], had two sons; Dažbog, who represented the fire in sky (i.e., the Sun), and Svarožič, who symbolised the flame on earth, in the forge.<ref name="Belaj"/> ], however, theorised that Svarog was a Slavic sky god and personification of daylight sky itself, possibly a continuation of ] ''*] Ph<sub>2</sub>ter'', while Svarožič and solar Dažbog were one and the same deity, though, he concluded, two other aspects of Svarožič also existed: fiery Svarožič, as in the Sun (mentioned in Russian medieval manuscripts), and lunar Svarožič, associated with the Moon.<ref name="Lovmjanjski">Henrik Lovmjanjski, Religija Slovena, Beograd 1996</ref> Franjo Ledic, on the other hand, simply assumed that Svarog and Dažbog are one and the same god.<ref name="Ledic">Franjo Ledić. Mitologija Slavena, vol. I, Zagreb, 1970.</ref>


Also, in ], which is most akin to Slavic, Sun is a female deity, ], while the Moon is a male one. The same pattern can be observed in the folklore of many Slavic nations, where the Sun is most often identified with mother or a bride, and Moon with father or husband, their children being the stars. Where exactly this leaves Dazhbog as a possible male solar deity of Slavic pantheon remains questionable.
Many mythologists also believe Dažbog to be identical with another East Slavic deity with possible solar attributes, ]. ] based this theory on a following passage from ]:


Furthermore, this passage has raised quite a few theories about family relations between Slavic gods. If we assume that indeed ] was believed to be Dazhbog's father, the question arises of his relation with ], another deity who is mentioned as a god of fire and war in several other medieval documents describing the pagan beliefs of Slavs. Svarozhits is simply a diminutive of Svarog's name, i.e., "little Svarog", which implicates he was considered a child of Svarog. ] and ] proposed a reconstruction of this mythical genealogy that Svarog, a deity of fire and forge similar to the Greek ], had two sons; Dazhbog, who represented the fire in the sky (i.e., the Sun), and Svarozhits, who symbolised the flame on earth, in the forge.<ref name="Belaj"/>
''And Vladimir began his reign in Kiev alone and erected idols on the hill outside his palace with porch: Perun of wood with a head of silver and mustache of gold and Hors Dažbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokosh.''


], however, theorised that Svarog was a Slavic sky god and personification of daylight sky itself, possibly a continuation of ] ''*] Ph<sub>2</sub>ter'', while Svarozhits and solar Dazhbog were the same deity, though, he concluded, two other aspects of Svarozhits also existed: fiery Svarozhits, as in the Sun (mentioned in Old East Slavic medieval manuscripts), and lunar Svarozhits, associated with the Moon.<ref name="Lovmjanjski">Henrik Lovmjanjski, Religija Slovena, Beograd 1996</ref> Film director and controversial amateur mythologist ], on the other hand, assumed that Svarog and Dazhbog are the same god.<ref name="Ledic">Franjo Ledić. Mitologija Slavena, vol. I, Zagreb, 1970.</ref>
Note that the names Hors and Dažbog are the only two not clearly separated by the word "and" in the text. This could be an indication of a compound deity, Hors Dažbog. On this basis, Toporov assumed that Hors could be an Iranian (possibly Sarmatian or Scythian) name for this god, and Dažbog a Slavic one. ] compared Hors and Dažbog to ] and ], respectively, concluding that both of them were solar gods, but while Hors represented the Sun itself, Dažbog, as ''deus dator'', rather symbolised the life-giving power of the Sun.<ref name="Rybakov">]. ''Ancient Slavic Paganism''. Moscow, 1981</ref> That Hors was indeed a solar deity was deduced from the following passage in the "Tale of Igor’s campaign":<ref name="Svarog"></ref>


=== Relationship to Khors ===
''Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan. The path of great Hors, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed.''
Many mythologists{{Who|date=September 2024}} also believe Dazhbog to be identical with another East Slavic deity with possible solar attributes, ]. ] based this theory on the following passage from ]:


<blockquote>And Vladimir began his reign in Kiev alone and erected idols on the hill outside his palace with porch: ] of wood with a head of silver and moustache of gold and Khors Dazhbog and ] and ] and ].</blockquote>
In other words, prince Vseslav reached Tmutorokan before dawn, thus crossing the path of Hors, the Sun. In the mythical view of the world, the Sun has to pass through the underworld during the night to reach the eastern horizon by the dawn. This, and the fact that prince Vseslav is transformed into a wolf during the night, while "crossing the path of Hors", draws a very interesting parallel with the Serbian Dabog, who, as stated already, was believed to be a lame "wolf shepherd" who rules over the underworld. Of particular interest is the fact that Serbian folk accounts describe him as being lame; lameness was a standing attribute of Greek Hephaestus, whom, as we have seen, the Hypatian Codex compared with Slavic smith-god Svarog, father of Dažbog. (In fact, most of Indo-European smith-gods were lame; the reason for this was most likely ], low levels of ] poisoning, resulting in lameness and ]s. Arsenic was added to ] to harden it and most smiths of the ] would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning.) Serbian Dabog, being lord of underworld, was also associated with precious metals, and sometimes was said to have a silver beard. ] concluded that the cthonic character of Dabog in Serbian folklore fits very nicely with the solar Dažbog mentioned in Russian sources, pointing out that in numerous mythologies, solar deities tend to have double aspects, one benevolent, associated with the Sun during the day, and the other malevolent, associated with night, when the Sun is trapped in the underworld. In his studies of Serbian folklore, Čajkanović also concluded that many more benevolent aspects of Dažbog were passed on to popular saints in folk Christianity, in particularly onto ], Serbian national saint, who, although undoubtedly was a real historical person, in folk tales often appears in the role of ].<ref name="Veselin">Veselin Čajkanović, Mit i religija u Srba, Beograd, 1973.</ref> The fact that in “Tale of Igor’s campaign”, the Russians and their princes are being referred to as ‘’Dažbog’s grandchildren’’, indicates that Dažbog was considered as an ancestral deity, a common role of a culture hero archetype in mythologies.


The names Khors and Dazhbog are the only two not clearly separated by the word "and" in the text. It is possible this indicates a compound deity, Khors Dazhbog. On this basis, Toporov assumed that Khors could be an Iranian (possibly Sarmatian or Scythian) name for this god, and Dazhbog a Slavic one. ] compared Khors and Dazhbog to ] and ], respectively, concluding that both of them were solar gods, but while Khors represented the Sun itself, Dazhbog, as ''deus dator'', rather symbolised the life-giving power of the Sun.<ref name="Rybakov">]. ''Ancient Slavic Paganism''. Moscow, 1981</ref> That Khors was indeed a solar deity was deduced from the following passage in the ''Tale of Igor's Campaign'':<ref name="Svarog">{{Cite web |url=http://www.anita.f2o.org/ |title=This f2o.org account is no longer in service<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2006-09-22 |archive-date=2006-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923031819/http://www.anita.f2o.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== God in the modern culture ==

]
<blockquote>Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan. The path of great Khors, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed.</blockquote>
A sculpture of the god was erected in ] (]) early in 2001. Some days later, it was broken up due to the objections of the church.<ref> ] (11.07.2011) {{ref-ru}}</ref>

In other words, prince Vseslav reached ] before dawn, thus crossing the path of Khors, the Sun. In the mythical view of the world, the Sun has to pass through the underworld during the night to reach the eastern horizon by the dawn. This, and the fact that prince Vseslav is transformed into a wolf during the night, while "crossing the path of Khors", draws a parallel with the Serbian Dabog, who, as stated already, was believed to be a lame "wolf shepherd" who rules over the underworld.

Of particular interest is the fact that Serbian folk accounts describe him as being lame; lameness was a standing attribute of Greek Hephaestus, whom, as we have seen, the Hypatian Codex compared with Slavic smith-god Svarog, father of Dazhbog. (In fact, most of Indo-European smith-gods were lame; the reason for this was most likely ], low levels of ] poisoning, resulting in lameness and ]s. Arsenic was added to ] to harden it, and most smiths of the ] would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning.)

Serbian Dabog, being lord of the underworld, was also associated with precious metals, and sometimes was said to have a silver beard. Serbian scholar ] concluded that the ] character of Dabog in Serbian folklore fits very nicely with the solar Dazhbog mentioned in Old East Slavic sources, pointing out that in numerous mythologies, solar deities tend to have double aspects, one benevolent, associated with the Sun during the day, and the other malevolent, associated with night, when the Sun is trapped in the underworld.<ref name="Veselin"/>

In his studies of Serbian folklore, Čajkanović also concluded that many more benevolent aspects of Dazhbog were passed on to popular saints in folk Christianity, in particularly onto ], Serbian national saint, who, although undoubtedly was a real historical person, in folk tales often appears in the role of ].<ref name="Veselin">Veselin Čajkanović, Mit i religija u Srba, Beograd, 1973.</ref> The fact that in the ''Tale of Igor's Campaign'', the Rus and their princes are being referred to as "Dazhbog's grandchildren", indicates that Dazhbog was considered as an ancestral deity, a common role of a culture hero archetype in mythologies.

== In modern culture ==
]
A sculpture of the god was erected in ], ] early in 2001. Some days later, it was broken up due to the objections by the church.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010900/http://telegraf.by/2011/07/v-hersonskoi-oblasti-posle-protesta-svyaschennikov-demontirovali-skulpturu-yazicheskogo-boga|date=2013-12-03}} ] (11.07.2011) {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

On April 10, 2016, a Dazhdbog idol was installed by the Slavic pagans in a particularly revered place in the city of ], Russia.<ref></ref> On April 12, 2016, information about the desecration of idols and destruction all the adjacent territories had become known.<ref></ref>


== See also == == See also ==
Line 40: Line 57:
*] *]
*] *]
*]


== References == == References ==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |first=Oleg Vladislavovich |last=Kutarev |date=2021 |title=Dazhbog: The Ancient Slavic Pagan Deity of the Shining Sky |journal=] |volume=24 |location=Ljubljana, Slovenija |pages=195–217 |doi=10.3986/SMS20212411|doi-access=free }}


{{Slavic mythology}}
{{Slavmyth}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Dazbog}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dazbog}}
]
] ]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 15:07, 16 November 2024

Slavic deityNot to be confused with Dabog.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Dazhbog" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A modern pagan altar with depiction of Dazhbog

Dazhbog (Russian: Дажьбо́г, Дажбо́г), alternatively Daždźboh (Belarusian: Даждзьбог), Dazhboh (Ukrainian: Дажбог), Dažbog, Dazhdbog, Dajbog, Daybog, Dabog, Dazibogu, or Dadźbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and possibly a cultural hero. He is one of several authentic Slavic gods, mentioned by a number of medieval manuscripts, and one of the few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all Slavic tribes.

Dazhbog (or Dazhboh) is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, a history of early Kievan Rus' as one of seven gods whose statues Prince Vladimir the Great erected in front of his palace in Kiev in 980, when he came to the throne. The name is also mentioned in the Hypatian Codex, as well as in the medieval Old East Slavic epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign .

Etymology

The Proto-Slavic reconstruction is *dadjьbogъ, and is composed of *dadjь, imperative of the verb *dati "to give", and the noun *bogъ "god". The original meaning of Dazhbog would thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and Niederle, be "giving god", "god-giver, "god-donor".

this word is an old compound, that is particularly interesting because it retains the old meaning of the Proto-Slavic *bogъ "earthly wealth/well-being; fortune", with a semantic shift to "dispenser of wealth/fortune" and finally "god". Due to the absence of convincing cognates in other Indo-European languages, Proto-Slavic *bogъ is often considered to be an Iranian borrowing, being related to Indo-Iranian Bhaga, or at least being semantically influenced by them; in both Slavic and Indo-Iranian cognate forms mean both "deity" and "wealth, share". Thus, translated literally, Dazhbog would be "giving god".

In other languages, Proto-Slavic: *Daďьbogъ; Church Slavic: Даждьбогъ; Old East Slavic: Дажьбогъ; Belarusian: Даждбог, Дажбог, or Дабог; Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Macedonian: Даждбог Дажбог, Дайбог, or Дабог; Polish: Dadźbóg, Dażbóg, Dabóg; Russian: Дажьбог, Дажбог, Дайбог, or Дабог; Serbo-Croatian: Daždbog / Даждбог, Dažbog / Дажбог, Dajbog / Дајбог, or Dabog / Дабог.

Characteristics

Dazhbog (author: M. Presnyakov, 1998)

One passage about Dazhbog comes from the Hypatian Codex, a 15th-century compilation of several much older documents from the Ipatiev Monastery in Russia. The complete passage, reconstructed from several manuscripts, translates as follows:

began his reign Feosta (Hephaestus), whom the Egyptians called Svarog ... during his rule, from the heavens fell the smith's prongs and weapons were forged for the first time; before that, fought with clubs and stones. Feosta also commanded the women that they should have only a single husband ... and that is why Egyptians called him Svarog ... After him ruled his son; his name was the Sun, and they called him Dazhbog ... Sun tsar, son of Svarog. That is Dazhbog.

This is, in fact, a Slavic translation of an original Greek manuscript of Malalin from the 6th century. In the Greek text, the names of gods are Hephaestus and Helios. Apparently, the unknown Rus translator tried to re-tell the entire story (set in Egypt) by replacing the names of classical deities with those that were better known to his readers.

One can only hope that he indeed replaced the names of Greek gods with their fitting Slavic counterparts; however, at least one issue remains problematic: in all Slavic languages, the word for Sun, Suntse, is of neutral or feminine gender, never masculine (however, there is an Old East Slavic epic character "Vladimir Beautiful Sun" or "Vladimir Bright Sun" (ru) which has the same place as Arthur in English culture).

Also, in Baltic mythology, which is most akin to Slavic, Sun is a female deity, Saule, while the Moon is a male one. The same pattern can be observed in the folklore of many Slavic nations, where the Sun is most often identified with mother or a bride, and Moon with father or husband, their children being the stars. Where exactly this leaves Dazhbog as a possible male solar deity of Slavic pantheon remains questionable.

Furthermore, this passage has raised quite a few theories about family relations between Slavic gods. If we assume that indeed Svarog was believed to be Dazhbog's father, the question arises of his relation with Svarozhits, another deity who is mentioned as a god of fire and war in several other medieval documents describing the pagan beliefs of Slavs. Svarozhits is simply a diminutive of Svarog's name, i.e., "little Svarog", which implicates he was considered a child of Svarog. Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov proposed a reconstruction of this mythical genealogy that Svarog, a deity of fire and forge similar to the Greek Hephaestus, had two sons; Dazhbog, who represented the fire in the sky (i.e., the Sun), and Svarozhits, who symbolised the flame on earth, in the forge.

Henryk Łowmiański, however, theorised that Svarog was a Slavic sky god and personification of daylight sky itself, possibly a continuation of Proto-Indo-European *Dyēus Ph2ter, while Svarozhits and solar Dazhbog were the same deity, though, he concluded, two other aspects of Svarozhits also existed: fiery Svarozhits, as in the Sun (mentioned in Old East Slavic medieval manuscripts), and lunar Svarozhits, associated with the Moon. Film director and controversial amateur mythologist Franjo Ledić, on the other hand, assumed that Svarog and Dazhbog are the same god.

Relationship to Khors

Many mythologists also believe Dazhbog to be identical with another East Slavic deity with possible solar attributes, Khors. Osip Maximovich Bodjanskij based this theory on the following passage from Primary Chronicle:

And Vladimir began his reign in Kiev alone and erected idols on the hill outside his palace with porch: Perun of wood with a head of silver and moustache of gold and Khors Dazhbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokosh.

The names Khors and Dazhbog are the only two not clearly separated by the word "and" in the text. It is possible this indicates a compound deity, Khors Dazhbog. On this basis, Toporov assumed that Khors could be an Iranian (possibly Sarmatian or Scythian) name for this god, and Dazhbog a Slavic one. Boris Rybakov compared Khors and Dazhbog to Helios and Apollo, respectively, concluding that both of them were solar gods, but while Khors represented the Sun itself, Dazhbog, as deus dator, rather symbolised the life-giving power of the Sun. That Khors was indeed a solar deity was deduced from the following passage in the Tale of Igor's Campaign:

Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan. The path of great Khors, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed.

In other words, prince Vseslav reached Tmutorokan before dawn, thus crossing the path of Khors, the Sun. In the mythical view of the world, the Sun has to pass through the underworld during the night to reach the eastern horizon by the dawn. This, and the fact that prince Vseslav is transformed into a wolf during the night, while "crossing the path of Khors", draws a parallel with the Serbian Dabog, who, as stated already, was believed to be a lame "wolf shepherd" who rules over the underworld.

Of particular interest is the fact that Serbian folk accounts describe him as being lame; lameness was a standing attribute of Greek Hephaestus, whom, as we have seen, the Hypatian Codex compared with Slavic smith-god Svarog, father of Dazhbog. (In fact, most of Indo-European smith-gods were lame; the reason for this was most likely arsenicosis, low levels of arsenic poisoning, resulting in lameness and skin cancers. Arsenic was added to bronze to harden it, and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning.)

Serbian Dabog, being lord of the underworld, was also associated with precious metals, and sometimes was said to have a silver beard. Serbian scholar Veselin Čajkanović concluded that the chthonic character of Dabog in Serbian folklore fits very nicely with the solar Dazhbog mentioned in Old East Slavic sources, pointing out that in numerous mythologies, solar deities tend to have double aspects, one benevolent, associated with the Sun during the day, and the other malevolent, associated with night, when the Sun is trapped in the underworld.

In his studies of Serbian folklore, Čajkanović also concluded that many more benevolent aspects of Dazhbog were passed on to popular saints in folk Christianity, in particularly onto St. Sava, Serbian national saint, who, although undoubtedly was a real historical person, in folk tales often appears in the role of culture hero. The fact that in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, the Rus and their princes are being referred to as "Dazhbog's grandchildren", indicates that Dazhbog was considered as an ancestral deity, a common role of a culture hero archetype in mythologies.

In modern culture

An early 21st-century depiction of Dadźbóg by Marek Hapon

A sculpture of the god was erected in Hola Prystan, Ukraine early in 2001. Some days later, it was broken up due to the objections by the church.

On April 10, 2016, a Dazhdbog idol was installed by the Slavic pagans in a particularly revered place in the city of Astrakhan, Russia. On April 12, 2016, information about the desecration of idols and destruction all the adjacent territories had become known.

See also

References

  1. ^ Олег Трубачёв (ред.) (1974–), Этимологический словарь славянских языков, Москва: Наука, volume 04, page 182f
  2. Petar Skok (1971), Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, JAZU: Zagreb, volume I, page 178ff
  3. Compare OCS bogatъ 'rich' as opposed to ubogъ 'poor'.
  4. ^ Vitomir Belaj "Hod kroz godinu, mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih vjerovanja i obicaja", Zagreb, 1998.
  5. Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 44, 304. ISBN 9781576070635.
  6. Henrik Lovmjanjski, Religija Slovena, Beograd 1996
  7. Franjo Ledić. Mitologija Slavena, vol. I, Zagreb, 1970.
  8. Boris Rybakov. Ancient Slavic Paganism. Moscow, 1981
  9. "This f2o.org account is no longer in service". Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  10. ^ Veselin Čajkanović, Mit i religija u Srba, Beograd, 1973.
  11. В Херсонской области после протеста священников демонтировали скульптуру языческого бога Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine Telegraf.by (11.07.2011) (in Russian)
  12. In Astrakhan have established an idol of Dazhdbog
  13. In Astrakhan have profaned an idol of Dazhdbog

Further reading

Slavic mythology and religion
Deities
Personifications
Pseudo-deities
Priesthood and cult
Legendary heroes
Legendary creatures
Unquiet dead
Place spirits
Entities
Ritual figures
Mythological places
Objects
Beliefs
Folklore
Literature
Christianization
Folk practices
Folk cults (also including Ossetian)
Revivalist organizations
In popular culture
Related topics
Notes: historicity of the deity is dubious; functions of the deity are unclear.
Categories: