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This page is about a Slavic god. For historical money, see Perun (money). See also Montenegrin perper

In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic:Перун) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. Slavic mythology is the Mythological aspect of the Religion that was practised by the ancient Slavs. The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον - pantheion, literally "a temple of all gods " neut Thunder is the sound made by Lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener it can range from a sharp Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of Electricity, which typically occurs during Thunderstorms and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or His other attributes were the mountain, oak, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages this was joined with the notion of the sky of stone), horses and carts, weapons (the hammer, axe and arrow), war, and fire. A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera Firmament is the usual English translation of the Hebrew "raqiya`" (pronounced rä·kē'·ah meaning an extended solid surface or flat expanse considered to be a hemisphere The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. "CARTS" redirects here For the transportation system see Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or Chautauqua CARTS. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object The most common uses are for driving nails fitting parts and breaking up objects The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape split and cut Wood, Harvest timber, as a Weapon An arrow is a pointed Projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most Cultures. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. He was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal. In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere The M acro E xpansion T emplate A ttribute L anguage complements TAL, providing macros which allow the reuse of code across

Perun is described as a rugged man with a copper beard. He rides in a chariot pulled by a he-goat and carries a mighty axe, or sometimes a hammer. The axe is hurled at evil people and spirits and will always return to his hand.

Gromoviti znaci or thunder marks such as these are ancient symbols of Perun, which are often engraved upon roof beams of village houses, particularly in Eastern Slavic populations, to protect them from lightning bolts. It is conjectured their circular shape symbolises ball lightning.
Gromoviti znaci or thunder marks such as these are ancient symbols of Perun, which are often engraved upon roof beams of village houses, particularly in Eastern Slavic populations, to protect them from lightning bolts. It is conjectured their circular shape symbolises ball lightning. Ball lightning is an atmospheric electrical phenomenon the physical nature of which is still Controversial.

Contents

Sources

Of all historic records describing Slavic gods, those mentioning Perun are the most numerous. As early as 6th century, he was mentioned in De Bello Gothico, a historical source written by the Byzantine historian Procopius. The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c A short note describing beliefs of a certain South Slavic tribe states they acknowledge that one god, creator of lightning, is the only lord of all: to him do they sacrifice an ox and all sacrificial animals. While the name of the god is not mentioned here explicitly, the fact that word Perun in a number of Slavic languages today simply means "thunder" or "lightning bolt" is proof enough this was a reference of him.

The first source that definitely mentions a god named Perun is the Rus' Primary Chronicle, a history of early Kievan Rus. The Primary Chronicle (ѣѣтъ Пóвесть временны́х лет Povest' vremennykh let; Пóвість врéм'яних літ Povist' vremjanykh Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan Together with a god named Volos he is sworn upon in peace agreements between Slavic overlords and Byzantine emperors. For the city in the Republic of Macedonia, see Veles (city. Veles ( Cyrillic: Велес Weles Old Russian and Here he is mentioned as a god of war and nobility, who punishes oathbreakers with death in battle. In 980, when prince Vladimir the Great came to throne of Kiev, he erected statues of six or seven pagan gods in front of his palace. Events By Place Europe Otto II renounces his claim to Lorraine. Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great ( Old Russian: Володимеръ Святославичь, c Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Perun was chief among these, represented with a silver head and a golden moustache. Vladimir's uncle Dobrinja also had a shrine of Perun established in his city of Novgorod. Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod After the Christianization of Kievan Rus, this place became a monastery, which, quite remarkably, continued to bear the name of Perun. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan

Perun is not mentioned directly in any of the records of Western Slavic paganism, but a reference to him is perhaps made in a short note in Helmod's Chronica Slavorum, written in latter half of the 12th century, which states (quite similary to Procopius some six centuries earlier) that Slavic tribes, even though they worship many various gods, all agree there is a supreme god in heaven which rules over all other on earth. Chronicon Slavorum (Chronica Slavorum is a historical record attributed to Helmold. This could be a reference to Perun, but since he is not named, nor any of his chief attributes (thunder or lightning) mentioned, we cannot be certain.

Moreover, the name of Perun is also commonly found in Southern Slavic toponymy. There are places called: Perun, Perunac, Perunovac, Perunika, Perunička Glava, Peruni Vrh, Perunja Ves, Peruna Dubrava, Perunuša, Perušice, Perudina and Perutovac. These names today mostly represent mountain tops, but in medieval times, large oaks, sacred groves and even entire villages or citadels were named Perun. Also, as mentioned already, in Ukrainian perun and in Polish piorun means "thunderbolt". Among South Slavs, a mountain plant Iris germanica is known in folklore as perunika ("Perun's plant") and sometimes also as bogisha, ("god's plant"), and was believed to grow from ground that had been struck by lightning.

Image:Klimenko perun.jpg
Perun by Andrei Klimenko

Etymology

Main article: Perkwunos

Perun is strongly correlated with the near-identical Perkūnas/Perkons from Baltic mythology, suggesting the existence of an ancestral Balto-Slavic deity, which ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo European thunder god whose original name has been reconstructed as Perkwunos. The name of an Indo-European god of Thunder and/or the Oak may be reconstructed as * or *. The existence of similarities among the deities and religious practices of the Indo-European (IE peoples allows glimpses of a common Proto-Indo-European The name of an Indo-European god of Thunder and/or the Oak may be reconstructed as * or *. The root *perkwu originally probably meant oak, but in Proto-Slavic this evolved into per- meaning "to strike, to slay". Proto-Slavic is the Proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged

Myth

In Slavic mythology, much like in Norse mythology, the world was represented by a sacred tree, usually an oak, whose branches and trunk represented the living world of heavens and mortals, whilst its roots represented the underworld, i. Slavic mythology is the Mythological aspect of the Religion that was practised by the ancient Slavs. e. the realm of dead. Perun was a ruler of the living world, sky and earth, and was often symbolised by an eagle sitting on the top of the tallest branch of the tree, from which he kept watch over the entire world. Deep down in the roots of the tree was the place of his enemy, symbolised by a serpent or a dragon: this was Veles, watery god of the underworld, who continually provoked Perun by stealing his cattle, children or wife. For the city in the Republic of Macedonia, see Veles (city. Veles ( Cyrillic: Велес Weles Old Russian and Perun pursued Veles around the earth, attacking him with his lightning bolts from the sky. Veles fled from him by transforming himself into various animals, or hiding behind trees, houses or people; wherever a lightning bolt struck, it was believed, this was because Veles hid from Perun under or behind that particular place. In the end, Perun managed to kill Veles, or to chase him back down into his watery underworld. The supreme god thus reestablished the order in the world which had been disrupted by his chaotic enemy. He then returned to the top of the World tree and proudly informed his opponent down in the roots:Ну, там твое место, там сабе будь! ("Well, there is your place, stay there!"). This line came from a Belarusian folk tale of great antiquity. Belarusians or Belorussians (Беларусы Biełarusy previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also To the Slavs, the mythological symbolism of a supreme heavenly god who battles with his underworldly enemy through storms and thunder was extremely significant, and from Perun and Veles, this idea of cosmic battle was passed onto God and the Devil following Christianization. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. The Devil is the

While the exact pantheon characterization differed between the Slavic tribes, Perun is generally believed to have been considered as the supreme god by the majority, or perhaps nearly all Slavs, at least towards the end of Slavic paganism. The earliest supreme god was probably Rod; it is unclear precisely how and why his worship as the head of pantheon evolved into the worship of Perun. Rod (in Slavic languages Род) sometimes referred to simply as god ( Div, Diy in the Veda Slovena Diy or Dia is probably the most [1] Another candidate for supreme deity among at least some Slavs is Svarog (the father of Perun). In Slavic mythology, Svarog ( Polish: Swaróg, Cyrillic: Сварог, Sorbian: Schwayxtix) is the Slavic

Weapons

In the classification scheme of Georges Dumézil, Perun was the god of the second function (physical and military power), a god of war, and as such, he was armed with several fantastic weapons. Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Georges Dumézil ( March 4, 1898 – October 11, 1986) was a French comparative Philologist best known for his analysis of Sovereignty "War Gods" redirects here For the video game see War Gods (video game. Perun's lightning bolts were believed to be stones and stone arrows. In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere An arrow is a pointed Projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most Cultures. According to folk beliefs, fulgurites and belemnites and sometimes even remains of prehistoric stone tools found in the ground are remains of these weapons. Fulgurites (from the Latin fulgur meaning thunderbolt are natural hollow Carrot -shaped Glass tubes formed in quartzose Sand or soil Belemnites (or belemnoids are an extinct group of marine Cephalopod, very similar in many ways to the modern Squid and closely related to the modern Cuttlefish A broader definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other Various Slavic countries also call these deposits "Perun's stones", "thunderbolt stones", "thunderbolt wedges" and "Perun's arrow"; other unrelated names for these include "devil's finger", "God's finger", and "Mother of God finger", and in Lithuania, "Berkun's finger". Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the These thunderbolt stones were sometimes said to be transferred back to the sky by the wind after being under earth for a period of seven years. Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's) The weapons of Perun protected against bad luck, evil magic, disease, and - naturally enough - lightning itself. Luck (also called fortunity) is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control. Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly

Perun also had another type of weapon in his arsenal, as destructive as his firestone arrows, but even more unusual: mythical golden apples. While this may not seem to be much of a weapon, in many Slavic folk accounts, the golden apple appears as a talisman of ultimate destruction. The golden apple is an element that appears in some countries' legends or Fairy tales. An amulet ( the Elder|Pliny]] meaning "an object that protects a person from trouble" a close cousin of the talisman (from Arabic An example from a Serbian folk song with strong mythical elements relates:

. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country . . Te izvadi tri jabuke zlatne
I baci ih nebu u visine. . .
. . . Tri munje od neba pukoše
Jedna gađa dva djevera mlada,
Druga gađa pašu na dorinu,
Treća gađa svata šest stotina,
Ne uteče oka za svjedoka,
Ni da kaže, kako pogiboše.

". . . Then he took out three apples of gold
And threw them high into the sky. . .
. . . Three lightning bolts burst from the sky,
One strikes at two young brothers-in-law,
Another strikes at pasha on a horse,
The third strikes six hundred wedding guests,
Not an eye for a witness fled
Not even to say, how they ended dead. "

It is conjectured that mythical golden apples of Perun were symbols of a rare but notorious form of atmospheric discharge, ball lightning. Ball lightning is an atmospheric electrical phenomenon the physical nature of which is still Controversial. The same is probably true for the thunder marks of East Slavic folklore, of which two examples are shown above.

Characteristics

Remains of an ancient shrine to Perun discovered beneath medieval Peryn skete in Novgorod consisted of a wide circular platform centred around a statue, encircled by a trench with eight apses, which contained sacrificial altars and possibly additional statues. A skete is a community of Christian Hermits following a monastic rule allowing them to Worship in comparative Solitude, while also Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod APSE standing for Ada Programming Support Environment is a program or set of programs to support Software development in the Ada programming language. The overall plan of the shrine shows clear symbolism of the number nine. This is sometimes interpreted that Perun, in fact, had nine sons (or eight sons, with himself, the father, being the ninth Perun). It should also be noted that in some Slavic folk songs, nine unnamed brothers are mentioned.

Similarly to Perkūnas of Baltic mythology, Perun was considered to have multiple aspects. In one Lithuanian song, it is said there are in fact nine versions of Perkūnas. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the From comparison to the Baltic mythology, and also from additional sources in Slavic folklore, it can alo be shown that Perun was married to the Sun. He, however, shared his wife with his enemy Veles, as each night the Sun was thought of as diving behind the horizon and into the underworld, the realm of the dead over which Veles ruled.

Like many other Indo-European thunder gods, Perun's vegetative hypostasis was the oak, especially a particularly distinctive or prominent one. The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin In Southern Slavic traditions, marked oaks stood on country borders; communities at these positions were visited during village holidays in the late spring and during the summer. In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions such as Governments States or subnational administrative Lists of holidays The words holiday or vacation have related meanings in different English-speaking countries and continents but will usually refer to one of Spring is one of the four Temperate Seasons Spring marks the transition from Winter into Summer. Summer is one of the four Temperate Seasons Summer marks the warmest time of year with the longest days Shrines of Perun were located either on top of mountains or hills, or in sacred groves underneath ancient oaks. These were a general place of worship and holding of sacrifices (with a bull, an ox, a ram, and eggs). Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Oxen (singular ox) are Cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult castrated males An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals consisting of an Ovum surrounded by layers of Membranes and an outer casing which acts to nourish It seems humans were also sacrificed to Perun. According to the Primary Chronicle, prisoners of war were sacrificed to him, probably one each year, during the nine days of his holy festival, which was held in mid-summer. The Primary Chronicle (ѣѣтъ Пóвесть временны́х лет Povest' vremennykh let; Пóвість врéм'яних літ Povist' vremjanykh

In addition to the tree association, Perun had a day association (Thursday) as well as the material association (tin). [2]

Post-Christian Perun

With the arrival of Christianity, various churches had a difficult time trying to overcome the worship of the old supreme deities of the Slavs. In the East, the Eastern Orthodox Church gradually managed to pass much of Perun's characteristics on to a new Christian saint, Elijah the Thunderer, based upon the Old Testament prophet Elijah, whom the Scriptures state rode a flaming chariot through heaven; this seemed a good enough approximation of the old thunder god with his fiery bolts. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Elijah or Elias ( was a Prophet in Israel in the 9th century BC Elijah or Elias ( was a Prophet in Israel in the 9th century BC In the west, the Roman Catholic Church offered St. Michael the Archangel, who, as a commander of heavenly armies and vanquisher of the Devil, was also a fitting replacement for Perun. Michael (מִיכָאֵל Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; Μιχαήλ Mikhaíl; Michael or Míchaël; ميخائيل Mikhā'īl) is an The Devil is the It is also possible that on a local level Perun was replaced with St. Vitus, where this saint did not, due to similarities in names, replace another important Slavic god, Svetovid; however, it is also possible that already in pagan times, the worship of Perun was challenged by a growing cult of Svetovid (Svantevit). "Saint Guy" redirects here For the Belgian saint see Guy of Anderlecht. Sventevith Svetovid Suvid Svantevit Svantovit Swantovít Sventovit Zvantevith Świętowit Światowid Sutvid Vid On some levels of folklore and popular Christianity, some of Perun's characteristics were passed on to the Christian God himself. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.din.jino-net.ru/mif.html
  2. ^ "Язычество славян" - Боги славян

perun.ca

References

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