Jarovite
Jarovit also Gerowit is a Slavic god of war and spring, whose cult is known from Wolgast and Havelberg . The name is derived from the Slavic word jar for violent , heated or fiery . In many ways he resembles Svantevit , the supreme god of the Ranen .
The cult of Jarovite is described in the biographies of the Bamberg bishop Otto , who missionary in the land of the Pomorans in 1124/25 and 1128 . In Jarovits Temple in Wolgast there was a large golden sign that nobody was allowed to touch. Only when war broke out was it brought out and carried forward to the troops to guarantee victory. In Havelberg, the spring sun that triumphed over winter was honored in him. A festival was held in his honor in June and the city was decorated with flags.
In the town church of Wolgast , a stone is walled in, in which a figure is carved that is supposed to represent Jarovite. The church is said to have been built on the exact spot where the Temple of Jarovite once stood.
literature
- Zdeněk Váňa: Mythology and gods of the Slavic peoples , Stuttgart 1992, ( ISBN 387838937X )