Svarog
In Slavic mythology, Svarog (Polish: Swaróg, Cyrillic: Сварог, Sorbian: Schwayxtix) is the Slavic Sun God and spirit of fire; his name means bright and clear. The name originates from Sanskrit Svarga and Persian xwar (pron. Chvar) both meaning the same thing, indicating Indo-European etymological relation. So sacred was the fire that it was forbidden to shout or swear at it while it was being lit. Folklore portrays him as a fire serpent, a winged dragon that breathes fire. According to some interpretations the fire-god Svarogich was the son of Svarog. However, other sources refer to these names as one and the same god of fire.
Older myths describe him as a smith god, identified with the generative and sexual powers of fire. In those myths, Svarog fights Zmey, a giant serpent or a multi-headed dragon. Zmey kills people indiscriminately. Svarog catches Zmey with blacksmith's tongs and uses him to pull a plough. Also in some myths, he has to use his own mouth to dig the ditch, thus separating the land of the living (Jav) from the land of the dead (Nav), bringing order (Prav). Zmey takes over the dead. In some myths, the ploughed ditch becomes the Smorodina River, and Zmey becomes the guardian of Kalinov Bridge.
In neo-paganist religions, Svarog is often the supreme god-creator and the central part of the (holy) trinity Triglav. He completed the creation of the world by giving it Prav.
Svarog is associated in Christianity with Saints Cosmas and Damian, and Saint Michael the Archangel. His animals are a golden horned ox, a boar, a horse, and a falcon named Varagna.
Svarog legends can be traced back to the 8th-6th century BC when the Slavic tribes first began to practice agriculture. The etymology of the word Svarog is likely to be Slavic svar (bright and clear).
See also
- Odin, The Norse God (all father), who was a god of Wisdom, the sun, and of War outcome, he created the world and was the father of other gods (sometimes known as Flame-eye, which is another similarity).
References
- Graves, Robert: New Larousse Encyclopedia Of Mythology (Hardcover) Crescent (December 16, 1987)
- Ryan, W. F.:The Bathhouse at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and Divination in Russia (Magic in History Series) (Paperback) Pennsylvania State University Press (September 1999)
- Znayenko, Myroslava T.: The gods of the ancient Slavs: Tatishchev and the beginnings of Slavic mythology (Paperback), Slavica (1980)
- Yoffe, Mark; Krafczik, Joseph: Perun: The God of Thunder (Studies in the Humanities (New York, N.Y.), V. 43.) (Hardcover), Peter Lang Publishing (April 2003)