Dazbog, Dazhbog or Dazhdbog (South-Slavic Dabog or Dajbog, Czech Dažbog, Polish Dażbóg) was one of major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and possibly a culture hero. He is one of several authentic Slavic gods, mentioned by a number of medieval manuscripts, and one of few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all Slavic nations. Slavic mythology and Slavic religion evolved over more than 3,000 years. ... It has been suggested that Sun cults be merged into this article or section. ... A culture hero is a historical or mythological hero who changes the world through invention or discovery. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ...

Sources

Dazbog is mentioned in Primary Chronicle, a history of early Kievan Rus, as one of seven gods whose idols prince Vladimir the Great erected in front of his palace in Kiev in 980, when he came to throne. The name is also mentioned in Hypatian Codex, as well as in medieval Russian epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign. The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from... Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the... Detail of the Millenium of Russia monument in Novgorod (1862) representing St Vladimir and his family. ... Location Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted. ... Events Births Emperor Ichijo of Japan Humbert I of Savoy Avicenna Godiva, Countess of Mercia Deaths Categories: 980 ... The Hypatian Codex (Hypatian Chronicle, Ipatiev Chronicle, Russian: ) is a compendium of three chronicles: Primary Chronicle, Kiev Chronicle, and Halych-Volhynian Chronicle. ... The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku IgorevÄ›; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ...

Although these medieval documents come from East Slavic area, names similar to Dazbog have survived in folklore of both West and South Slavic population. Of particular interest is Serbian Dabog or Dajbog, (most modern mythographers take for granted this is the same character as East Slavic Dazbog), also known as Hromi Daba (meaning: Lame Daba), described in folklore as a lame "shepherd of wolves", an ugly demon-lord who rules the underworld and travels through world of men. Though not always evil in folk stories, Dabog is often presented as an enemy of Christian God or heavenly saints. While one may conjecture this is the result of satanization which Slavic solar deity underwent after Christianization, there are some pretty good indications that even the original, pre-Christian Dabog or Dazbog had very strong cthonic attributes, as we shall see. The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Satanization is a term coined by Mark Juergensmeyer. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ...

Etymology

While the meaning of Dazbog’s name is not completely clear (as is the case with most other Slavic gods), taking into account several different versions of the name, most scholars agree the root dazhd- or daj- is derived from verb dat' – to give. Thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and Niderle, Dazbog would be giving god, god-giver, god-donor, deus dator. This is particularly interesting since the Slavic word for god, bog, the sufix of Dazbog’s name, is most likely of Iranian origin, being cognate to Avestic baga and Sanskrit bhagah (both epithets of deities), which ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European root *bhag, meaning wealth, fortune. Thus, translated literaly, Dazbog would be giver of fortune. This echoes the ancient Indo-European concept that deity is, in essence, an entitiy which gives wealth and abundance, an indication, perhaps, that Dazbog is a relic from common Proto-Indo-European religion, or even that this was not a name for any particular Slavic god, but a general epithet of a deity. Ancient anthropomorphic Ukrainian stone stela (Kernosovka stela), possibly depicting a late Proto-Indo-European god, most likely Dyeus, the thunderer. ...

Characteristics

The most interesting passage about Dazbog comes from Hypatian Codex, a 15th century compilation of several much older documents from the Ipatiev Monastery in Russia. The complete passage, reconstructed from several manuscripts, translates as follows: The Hypatian Codex (Hypatian Chronicle, Ipatiev Chronicle, Russian: ) is a compendium of three chronicles: Primary Chronicle, Kiev Chronicle, and Halych-Volhynian Chronicle. ... The Ipatiev Monastery (Ипатьевский монастырь in Russian) is a male monastery in Kostroma. ...

(Then) began his regin Feosta (Hephaestus), whom the Egyptians called Svarog… during his rule, from the heavens fell the smith’s prongs and weapons were forged for the first time; before that, (people) fought with clubs and stones. Feosta also commanded the women that they should have only a single husband… and that is why Egyptians called him Svarog… After him ruled his son, his name was the Sun, and they called him Dazhbog… Sun tzar, son of Svarog, this is Dazhbog. Hephaestus, Greek god of forging, riding a Donkey; Greek drinking cup (skyphos) made in the 5th century B.C. Hephaestus (IPA pronunciation: or ; Greek Hêphaistos) is the Greek god whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of technology including, specifically blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and...

This is in fact a Slavic translation of an original Greek manuscript of Malalin from 6th century. In Greek text, the names of gods are Hephaestus and Helios. Apparently, the unknown Russian translator tried to re-tell the entire story (set in Egypt) by replacing the names of classical deities with those that were better known to his readers^[1].One can only hope that he indeed replaced the names of Greek gods with their fitting Slavic counterparts; however, at least one issue remains problematic. In all Slavic languages, the word for Sun, Sunce, is of neutral or feminine gender, never masculine. Also, in Baltic mythology, which is most akin to Slavic, Sun is a female deity, Saule, while the Moon is a male one. The same pattern can be observed in folklore of many Slavic nations, where the Sun is most often identified with mother or a bride, and Moon with father or husband, their children being the stars. Where exactly this leaves Dazbog as a possible male solar deity of Slavic pantheon remains questionable. Hephaestus, Greek god of forging, riding a Donkey; Greek drinking cup (skyphos) made in the 5th century B.C. Hephaestus (IPA pronunciation: or ; Greek Hêphaistos) is the Greek god whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of technology including, specifically blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and... Helios in his chariot In Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios or Helius (Greek Ἥλιος / ἥλιος). Homer often calls him Titan and Hyperion. ... For Baltic mythology, see Estonian mythology, related to Finnish mythology Latvian mythology Lithuanian mythology Categories: Mythology by culture ... In Latvian mythology, Saule (the sun) was the goddess of the sun and fertility, patron goddess of the unlucky, including orphans. ...

Furthermore, this passage has raised quite a few theories about family relations between Slavic gods. If we assume that indeed Svarog was believed to be Dazbog’s father, the question arrises of his relation with Svarogich, another deity which is mentioned as god of fire and war in several other medieval documents describing beliefs of pagan Slavs. Svarogich is simply a diminutive of Svarog’s name, i.e., "little Svarog", which implicates he was considered a child of Svarog. Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov proposed a reconstruction of this mythical genealogy that Svarog, a deity of fire and forge similar to Greek Hephaestus, had two sons; Dazbog, which represented the fire in sky (i.e., the Sun), and Svarogich, which symbolised the flame on earth, in the forge^[1]. Henrik Lovmjanjski, however, theorised that Svarog was a Slavic sky god and personification of daylight sky itself, possibly a continuation of Proto-Indo-European *Dyēus Ph₂ter, while Svarogich and solar Dazbog were one and the same deity, though, he concluded, two other aspects of Svarogich also existed: fiery Svarogich (mentioned in Russian medieval manuscripts) and lunar Svarogich, associated with Moon. ^[2] . Franjo Ledic, on the other hand, simply assumed that Svarog and Dazbog are one and the same god. ^[3] In Slavic mythology, Svarog (Polish: Swaróg, Cyrillic: Сварог, Wendish: Schwayxtix) is the Slavic god and spirit of fire; his name means bright and clear. ... In Slavic mythology, Svarog (Polish: Swaróg, Cyrillic: Сварог), (Wendish: Schwayxtix) is the Slavic god and spirit of fire; meaning bright and clear. ... Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov is a prominent Soviet/Russian philologist and Indo-Europeanist probably best known for his glottalic theory of Indo-European consonantism and for placing the Indo-European urheimat in the area of the Lake Urmia. ... Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov (5 July 1928 - 5 December 2005) was a leading Russian philologist who presided over the Moscow-Tartu school of semiotics after Yuri Lotmans death. ... The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. ... *DyÄ“us is the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. ...

Many mythologists also believe Dazbog to be identical with another East Slavic deity with possible solar attributes, Hors. Osip Maximovich Bodjanskij based this theory on a following passage from Primary Chronicle: Hurs or Hors is the Slavic god of the winter sun. ... The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from...

And Vladimir began his regin in Kiev alone and erected idols on the hill outside his palace with porch: Perun of wood with a head of silver and mustache of gold and Hors Dazhbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokosh.

Note that the names Hors, Dazhbog are the only two not clearly separated by word "and" in the text. This could be an indication of a compound deity, Hors Dazbog. On the basis of this, Toporov assumed that Hors would be Iraninan (possibly Sarmatian or Scythian) name for this god, and Dazbog a Slavic one. Boris Rybakov compared Hors and Dazbog to Helios and Apolon, respectively, concluding that both of them were solar gods, but while Hors represented the Sun itself, Dazbog, as deus dator, rather symbolised the life-giving power of Sun^[4]. That Hors was indeed a solar deity was deduced from the following passage in the "Tale of Igor’s campaign"^[5]: Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (1908-2001) was an orthodox Soviet historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. ...

Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan. The path of great Hors, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed.

In other words, prince Vseslav reached Tmutorokan before dawn, thus crossing the path of Hors, the Sun. In mythical view of world, the Sun has to pass through the underworld during the night to reach the eastern horizon by the dawn. This, and the fact that prince Vseslav is transformed into wolf during night, while "crossing the path of Hors", draws a very interesting parallel with the Serbian Dabog, who, as stated already, was believed to be a lame "wolf shepherd" who rules over the underworld. Of particular interest is the fact that Serbian folk accounts describe him as being lame; lameness was a standing attribute of Greek Hephaestus, whom, as we have seen, the Hypatian Codex compared with Slavic smith-god Svarog, father of Dazbog. (In fact, most of Indo-European smith-gods were lame; the reason for this was most likely arsenicosis, low levels of arsenic poisoning, resulting in lameness and skin cancers. Arsenic was added to bronze to harden it and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning.) Serbian Dabog, being lord of underworld, was also associated with precious metals, and sometimes was said to have silver beard. Veselin Čajkanović concluded that the cthonic character of Dabog in Serbian folklore fits very nicely with the solar Dazbog mentioned in Russian sources, pointing out that in numerous mythologies, solar deities tend to have double aspects, one benevolent, associated with the Sun during the day, and the other malevolent, associated with night, when the Sun is trapped in the underworld. In his studies of Serbian folklore, Čajkanović also concluded that many more benevolent aspects of Dazbog were passed on to popular saints in folk Christianity, in particularly onto St. Sava, Serbian national saint, who, although undoubtedly was a real historical person, in folk tales often apppears in the role of culture hero^[6]. The fact that in “Tale of Igor’s campaing”, the Russians and their princes are being referred to as ‘’Dazbog’s grandchildren’’, indicates that Dazbog was considered as an ancestral deity, a common role of a culture hero archetype in mythologies. Arsenicosis is a chronic illness resulting from drinking water with high levels of arsenic over a long period of time. ... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Atomic mass 74. ... Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin, which can have many causes, including repeated severe sunburn or long-term exposure to the sun. ... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Veselin ÄŒajkanović Serbian Cyrillic Веселин Чајкановић (1881 - 1946) - Serbian classical scholar, historian of religion, interpreter from Greek and Latin. ... Saint Sava (1175 or 1176 - January 12, 1235 or 1236), originally the prince Rastko Nemanjic (son of the Serbian king Stefan Nemanja and brother of Stefan Prvovencani, founder of the Serbian medieval state), is the first Serb archbishop (1219-1233) and the most important saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church. ... A culture hero is a historical or mythological hero who changes the world through invention or discovery. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Vitomir Belaj "Hod kroz godinu, mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih vjerovanja i obicaja", Zagreb, 1998.
2. ^ Henrik Lovmjanjski, Religija Slovena, Beograd 1996
3. ^ Franjo Ledić. Mitologija Slavena, vol. I, Zagreb, 1970.
4. ^ Boris Rybakov. Ancient Slavic Paganism. Moscow, 1981
5. ^ http://www.anita.f2o.org/
6. ^ Veselin Čajkanović, Mit i religija u Srba, Beograd, 1973.

Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (1908-2001) was an orthodox Soviet historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. ...

See also

• Svarog
• Hephaestus
• Culture hero
• Heimdall