List of Slavic pseudo-deities

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Čislobog – the god of numbers, one of the most popular pseudo-gods today. Andrey Shishkin, 2015

Slavic pseudo-deities (pseudo-gods, pseudo-goddesses) are Slavic deities that exist in popular or even scientific literature, but their historicity is not recognized by the vast majority of scholars, i.e., that the deity in question was not actually an object of worship among pagan Slavs. The pseudo-deities of the Slavs, like those of other ethnic groups, were created as a result of mistakes (e.g., by understanding the given name as a theonym, unfamiliarity with the Slavic languages, misunderstanding of pagan ritual, or uncritical use of sources), as a result of the creation and falsification of Slavic Romantics, or even as a result of falsification for political motives. The reason for the last two may be that, unlike, for example, Greek mythology, the sources on Slavic mythology are severely limited.

The first Slavic pseudo-deities began to appear as early as the Middle Ages, mainly in Latin Christian texts, as a result of mistakes. Slavic pseudo-deities on a large scale began to appear from the 18th and especially the 19th century. In 1768, a popular forgery of the time appeared, the so-called Prillwitz idols, depicting alleged Slavic deities decorated with alleged Slavic runes.[1][2][3] Based on this forgery, many deities were created by Andreas Masch and later by Martin Ardent. In the 19th century, the Czech Ignác Jan Hanuš was a popular fantasist, particularly his two works: Die Wissenschaft des slavischen Mythus, and Bájeslovný kalendář slovanský, and the little source-critical Russian Aleksandr Famincyn (Bozhestva drevnikh slavyan). In addition to the above-mentioned authors, every Slavic country had its more or less popular forgers.[4] Contemporary falsification of the Slavic pantheon is dealt with by Czesław Białczyński in Poland (e.g. Stworze i zdusze, czyli starosłowiańskie boginki i demony. Leksykon, or Księga tura),[5][6] and in Russia Alexander Asov (Kniga Kolyady).[7]

Popular pseudo-deities

Flins

West Slavs

Polabian Slavs

  • Goderac (Latin: Gutdraccus) – Arnold of Lübeck, in Chronica Slavorum (his sequel to Helmold's Chronicle; V, 24), wrote that Bernon (died 1190 or 1191), bishop of Schwerin, destroyed the pagan cult, and in place of the deity Goderac ordered St. Godehard, bishop of Hildesheim, to be worshipped, taking advantage of the similarity of names. The deification was the result of a mistake – the name Goderac appears as early as 1171 in Henry the Lion, who granted the bishopric of Schwerin "the village of St. Godehard, which was once called Goderac," and the name itself is probably derived from a personal name, perhaps that of the village owner.[9]
  • Julius Caesar – According to Life of Saint Otto, Julius' spear was venerated in Wolin, which was also called Julin (Iulin) after Julius Caesar. According to the authors, it was supposed to be in a wooden column and slightly rusty. The Julius theme was later developed by Wincenty Kadlubek in his account of the battle of the Lechites led by Leszko III against Julius.[10]
  • Suentebueck – The 15th-century Passion of the Martyrs of Ebstorf speaks of Slavs who abandoned Christianity after the death of Charlemagne, who were said to have erected statues of Suentebueck, Vitelubbe, and Radegast that had been toppled earlier. Strzelczyk interprets the name as svęty byk "sacred bull", or less likely Svęty Vit "Saint Vitus" (Svetovit?).[11]
  • Vittelube – A deity also mentioned in the Passion. Probably recognized by the author as the name of a deity because of the occurrence of the local name Vietlübbe next to the local name Radegast, both in the district of Gadebusch.[11]
  • Svitibor, Zuttibor - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. Christian Knauthe translated the name as "Holy Forest".[11]
  • Puscetus - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. According to Christian Knauthe, the name sounded like the Slavic word bosowske "elderberry", "Deus Sambuceus like", and meant "one who lives under the Sambuceus tree".[12]
  • Ciza - goddess of maternal feeding according to Christian Knauthe. Her name was supposed to be derived from the Slavic word zyz (Polish cyc) "breast".[13]
Püsterich
  • Püsterich – In the middle of the 16th century, a bronze figure (57 cm.) of a pot-bellied man with one arm raised to his forehead, the rest of the limbs missing, was found at Castle in the Kyffhäuser mountains (Thuringia). There are two holes in the head, the head and torso is hollow inside. There were different interpretations of this figurine: Abraham Frentzel (1791) recognized Püsterich as a deity of Slavs from Thuringia linking him with the Polish word bystry "smart, bright, shrewd", others regarded him as a god of fire, or a god of both Slavs and Germans. The figurine was used as a toy, it acted as a kind of steam boiler, heated water poured out through holes in the head.[12]

Prillwitz idols

Percunust - one of the Prillwitz idols
Main article: Prillwitz idols

Many of the deities were created by Andreas Gottlieb Masch (1771)[14], a German theologian who studied the so-called Prillwitz idols, taking them to be authentic Slavic statues, but which are now recognized as 17th century forgeries.[1][2][3] The drawings for his book were made by Daniel Woge, a German painter and illustrator.[14] Masch's information was further repeated by Martin Friedrich Arendt (1820)[15], a German botanist and antiquarian, and Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1824)[16], a Danish writer.

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Czechs

Václav Hájek, a Czech chronicler who is accused of making up many events in his work, lists the deities in his Chronicle: Klimba, Krasatina, Krosina.

Hájek gained imitators after his death: Pavel Stránský, Jan Jiří Středovský, Juraj Papánek, who added the following deities by themselves: Chasoň, Ladoň, Zeloň, Živěna, Nočena, Krasopaní, Hladolet.[17]

Priest Antonín Liška, one of the translators of Homer into Czech, also made up deities. He replaced Greek theonyms with similar Czech ones or just transferred them into Czech. He gave up to three versions of the same invented Czech name, writing them in brackets or footnotes[18]:

Another forgery is the glosses added to Mater Verborum, a Czech-Latin dictionary, added by Václav Hanka, containing deities invented by him:[19]

Hanka also mentions gods from other sources, e.g. Belebog, Perun, Živa, Svetovit, Triglav, Veles, Lada, Devana, and Morana. In addition, he mentions many demons, including vesna.

East Slavs

Book of Veles

Main article: Book of Veles

The Book of Veles is a 20th century forgery that has gained particular popularity among Ukrainians. It lists, in addition to authentic gods, the following pseudo-gods:[20]

  • Vyšenʹ (Russian: Вышень)
  • Lelja (Леля)
  • Letnica (Летница)
  • Kolendo (Колендо)
  • Krʹšenʹ (Крьшень)
  • Deržatelʹ (Держатель)
  • Snvʹіj (Снвьій)
  • Belojare (Белояре)
  • Lado (Ладо)
  • Kupalo (Купало)
  • Senic (Сениц)
  • Žitnec (Житнец)
  • Veniŝč (Венищ)
  • Zernic (Зерниц)
  • Ovsenic (Овсениц)
  • Prosicʹ (Просиць)
  • Studecʹ (Студець)
  • Ledic (Ледиц)
  • Ljutecʹ (Лютець)
  • Ptiščec (Птищец)
  • Zverenc (Зверенц)
  • Milic (Милиц)
  • Dozdec (Доздец)
  • Plodec (Плодец)
  • Jagodnec (Ягоднец)
  • Pščelic (Пщелиц)
  • Rostic (Ростиц)
  • Klenčič (Кленчич)
  • Zzerenč (Ззеренч)
  • Vetricʹ (Ветриць)
  • Slomicʹ (Сломиць)
  • Gribicʹ (Грибиць)
  • Loviščʹ (Ловищь)
  • Besedicʹ (Беседиць)
  • Snezicʹ (Снезиць)
  • Stranicʹ (Страниць)
  • Sventicʹ (Свентиць)
  • Radnicʹ (Радниць)
  • Sveticʹ (Светиць)
  • Korovicʹ (Коровиць)
  • Krasicʹ (Красиць)
  • Travicʹ (Травиць)
  • Steblicʹ (Стеблиць)
  • Rodicʹ (Родиць)
  • Maslecʹ (Маслець)
  • Živicʹ (Живиць)
  • Vedicʹ (Ведиць)
  • Listvicʹ (Листвиць)
  • Kveticʹ (Кветиць)
  • Vodišč (Водищ)
  • Zvezdicʹ (Звездиць)
  • Gromič (Громич)
  • Semišč (Семищ)
  • Lipecʹ (Липець)
  • Rembicʹ (Рембиць)
  • Brezičʹ (Брезичь)
  • Zelenicʹ (Зелениць)
  • Goricʹ (Гориць)
  • Stradicʹ (Страдиць)
  • Spasicʹ (Спасиць)
  • Listeverzicʹ (Листеверзиць)
  • Mʹjuslicʹ (Мьюслиць)
  • Gosticʹ (Гостиць)
  • Raticʹ (Ратиць)
  • Stranicʹ (Страниць)
  • Čurncʹ (Чурнць)
  • Rodicʹ (Родиць)
  • Ognebog Semerogelʹ (Огнебог Семерогель)
  • Čislobog (Числобог)
  • Kvasur (Квасур)

Others

  • Uslad (Услад) – a deity mistakenly created by Siegmund von Herberstein, then repeated by Stryjkowski, who took a fragment of Primary Chronicle, us zlat ("golden moustache" – about the statue of Perun), as theonym, and compared it to Cupid.[21]
  • Zimtserla (Зимцерла) – goddess who first appears in the Russian translation (1722) of Kingdom of the Slavs, by the Croatian writer Mauro Orbini. The translator incorrectly transferred the theonym Semargl, written by Orbini as Simaergla, by writing the letter a as s and removing the letter g, probably due to euphony, and thus Simserla was created. The goddess is then mentioned by Mikhail Popov in his mythological dictionary; according to him, the corrupted name may have been derived from the words зима, zima ("winter"), and the verb стерть, stiertʹ ("to wipe off"), and would be a goddess of flowers, similar to Aurora. Zimtserla later appears in many Russian texts.[22]

South Slavs

One of the major forgeries from the South Slavs is the Serbian Песме и обичаи укупног народа српског (1869; "Songs and customs of the all Serbian peoples") by Miloš Milojević:[23]

  • Kupalo (Serbian Cyrillic: Купало)
  • Koledo (Коледо)
  • Koled (Кољед)
  • Živboža (Живбожа)
  • Živanija (Живанија)
  • Svaroga (Сварога)
  • Prprьruša (Прпрьруша)
  • Pravid (Правид)
  • Svevid (Свевид)
  • Ljelj (Љељ)
  • Ljelja (Љеља)
  • Poljelj (Пољељ)
  • Poljelja (Пољеља)
  • Lada (Лада)
  • Branjanj (Брањањ)
  • Živ (Жив)
  • Davor (Давор)
  • Gostoslav (Гостослав)
  • Vodan (Водан)
  • Vodana (Водана)
  • Moran (Моран)
  • Morica (Морица)
  • Pra Pra Bog (Пра Пра Бог)
  • Preslav (Преслав)
  • Višnji (Вишњи)
  • Ježdraksin (Јеждраксин)
  • Belgostić (Белгостић)
  • Tug (Туг)
  • Pravd (Правд)
  • Crnobar (Црнобар)
  • Vihor (Вихор)
  • Kračun (Крачун)
  • Praovil (Праовил)
  • Belbožić (Белбожић)

The second important forgery is Veda Slovena (1874) by Stefan Verković:[24]

  • Kuledo (Bulgarian: Куледо)
  • Kuleda (Коледа)
  • Ognen (Огнен)
  • Vishnu (Вишну)
  • Vodin (Водин)
  • Surva (Сурва)
  • Rosna (Росна)
  • Žijne (Жийне)
  • Surica (Сурица)
  • Iognica (Иогница)
  • Masina (Масина)
  • Rue (Руе)
  • Vitna (Витна)
  • Igne (Игне)
  • Jognica (Йогница)
  • Dʺžna (Дъжна)
  • Dia (Диа)
  • Jara (Яра)
  • Druida (Друида)

References

  1. ^ a b Szyjewski 2003, p. 9.
  2. ^ a b Gieysztor 2006, p. 38.
  3. ^ a b Strzelczyk 1998, p. 161-162.
  4. ^ Brückner 1985, p. 6.
  5. ^ Strzelczyk 1998, p. 5.
  6. ^ Szyjewski 2003, p. 10.
  7. ^ Klejn 2004.
  8. ^ Олег Владиславович Кутарев (2017-08-10). "Святыни полабских славян в Германии" (in Russian). Пантеон. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  9. ^ Strzelczyk 1998, p. 76.
  10. ^ Strzelczyk 1998, p. 86-87.
  11. ^ a b c Strzelczyk 1998, p. 194.
  12. ^ a b Strzelczyk 1998, p. 169.
  13. ^ Strzelczyk 1998, p. 57.
  14. ^ a b Masch 1771.
  15. ^ Arendt 1820.
  16. ^ Ingemann 1824.
  17. ^ Kalandra 2002, p. 37.
  18. ^ Bartocha 1881.
  19. ^ Enders 1993, p. 348-358.
  20. ^ Dudko 2002, p. [11-А], [11-Б].
  21. ^ Strzelczyk 1998, p. 220.
  22. ^ "Кто и зачем придумывал древних славянских богов? • Arzamas". Arzamas (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  23. ^ Milojević 1869.
  24. ^ Moroz-Grzelak 2004, p. 91-98.

Bibliography

  • Masch, Andreas Gottlieb (1771). Die gottesdienstlichen Alterthümer der Obotriten, aus dem Tempel zu Rhetra, am Tollenzer-See. Daniel Woge (red.). Neustrelitz: Rellstab.
  • Ingemann, Bernhard Severin (1824). Grundtræk til en nord-slavisk og vendisk Gudelære: Indbydelsesskrift til den offentlige Examen ved Soröe Academies Skole. Trykt hos Jens Hostrup Schultz.
  • Arendt, Martin Friedrich (1820). Großherzoglich-Strelitzisches Georgium Nord-Slavischer Gottheiten und ihres Dienstes. Minden: Bösendahl.
  • Beyer, Wilhelm Gottlieb (1872). "Die Hauptgottheiten der westwendischen Völkerschaften". Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde: Jahrbücher des Vereins für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde. 37: 115–171.
  • Strzelczyk, Jerzy (1998). Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian. Poznań: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis. ISBN 83-7120-688-7.
  • Dudko, Dmitrij Michajłowicz (2002). Велесова книга. Славянские Веды. Антология мудрости. Moscow: ЭКСМО-Пресс. ISBN 5-04-009912-6.
  • Klejn, Leo (2004). "«Веды славян» и «Велесова книга»". Воскрешение Перуна. К реконструкции восточнославянского язычества (in Russian). Eurazja. ISBN 5-8071-0153-7.
  • Kalandra, Záviš (2002). České pohanství I (in Czech) (2 ed.). Praga: Academia. ISBN 80-86019-82-9.
  • Bartocha, Josef (1881). "O starších překladech velebásní Homerových u nás. (1801–1843)". Listy filologické a paedagogické (in Czech). 8 (3/4): 242–301. ISSN 1801-1934. JSTOR 23429137.
  • Brückner, Aleksander (1985). Mitologia słowiańska (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. ISBN 8301062452.
  • Szyjewski, Andrzej (2003). Religia Słowian (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM. ISBN 83-7318-205-5.
  • Gieysztor, Aleksander (2006). Mitologia Słowian (in Polish). Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. ISBN 978-83-235-0234-0.
  • Enders, Julius (1993). "Speciální problémy Mater verborum". Jazykovědný rozbor Rukopisu Královédvorského, Zelenohorského a dalších staročeských textů s nimi spojovaných (in Czech). Neklan. ISBN 8090088465.
  • Moroz-Grzelak, Lidia (2004). "Między nieświadomością a mistyfikacją. „Veda Slovena" – fałszerstwo literackie Słowiańszczyzny południowej". Wielkie tematy kultury w literaturach słowiańskich (in Polish). Vol. 5. I. Malej, Z. Tarajło-Lipowska. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego. pp. 91–98.
  • Milojević, Miloš (1869). Песме и обичаи укупног народа српског: Обредне песме. Прва књига (in Serbian). Belgrad.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

See also

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