Perun
Perun is the supreme god of Slavic mythology . He is the god of thunderstorms , thunder and lightning . Its symbols include the iris , the ax and the oak .
Its name is derived from the root per- (to strike) and the reinforcing ending -un and therefore means “the strong one”. The oldest written tradition comes from the 6th century: Prokopios of Caesarea reports about a thunder god whom the Slavs worship as the only deity and to whom they offer animal sacrifices. However, he does not give a name. Perun is first mentioned by name as Pyrenus in a Vita of Demetrios of Thessaloniki from the 7th century, where he is associated with an oracle . Another Bulgarian spelling from the 10th century is Porun . His name is passed down as Perkunas among the Balts .
The most extensive documentation in written sources comes from the East Slavic area: The Nestor Chronicle names Perun as the divine guarantor for the treaties of the Kievan Rus with the Byzantine Empire in the years 907, 912, 945 and 971. In 980 Prince Vladimir I let him in Kiev erect a wooden idol with a silver head and a golden beard, another statue was created at the same time in Novgorod . But already in 988/989 both idols were destroyed in the course of Christianization . The worship of the god of thunder can be traced in popular belief until well into modern times, among Bulgarians until the 18th century.
In the pre-Christian country of the southern Slavs , Perun is mentioned as the only deity besides Dajbog . He is the god of heaven and the chief god of the pagan southern Slavs, and his name must not be pronounced. He may only be called in extreme emergencies. The dual power and possible dualism between Perun, the god of heaven and on high, and Dajbog, the god of the sun, the dead and the wolves, was reinterpreted with the Christianization of the Slavs into a dualism between the Christian god and the devil .
literature
- Váňa Zdeněk: Mythology and gods of the Slavic peoples. The spiritual impulses of Eastern Europe ("Svět slovanských bohů a démonů"). Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-87838-937-X .