Slavic pseudo-deities (pseudo-gods, pseudo-goddesses) are Slavic deities described inpopular and sometimes evenscientific literature, whose historicity is not recognized by the vast majority of scholars, i.e. the deities in question are not deemed actually to have been objects of worship amongpagan Slavs. The pseudo-deities of the Slavs, like those of otherethnic groups, were created as a result of mistakes (e.g., by understanding thegiven name as a theonym, unfamiliarity with theSlavic languages, misunderstanding of pagan ritual, or uncritical use of sources), as a result of the creation and falsification of Slavic Romantics, or even as a result of falsification for political motives. Much of them are originated from the works described as "pseudo-mythology" (kabinetnaya mifologiya, "office mythology", in Russian sources). The reason for the last two may be that, unlike, for example, those ofGreek mythology, the sources on Slavic mythology are severely limited.
The first Slavic pseudo-deities began to appear as early as theMiddle Ages, mainly in Latin Christian texts, as a result of mistakes. Slavic pseudo-deities on a large scale began to appear from the 18th and especially the 19th century. In 1768, a popular forgery of the time appeared, the so-calledPrillwitz idols, depicting alleged Slavic deities decorated with alleged Slavicrunes.[1][2][3] Based on this forgery, many deities were created byAndreas Masch and later byMartin Arendt [de]. In the 19th century,Czech philosopherIgnác Jan Hanuš was a popular fantasist, particularly known for hisDie Wissenschaft des slavischen Mythus andBájeslovný kalendář slovanský. RussianAleksandr Famintsyn [ru], who was rather uncritical in treating sources in hisBozhestva drevnikh slavyan ("Deities of the Ancient Slavs"), was also influential. In addition to the above-mentioned authors, every Slavic country had forgers of varying popularity.[4] Contemporary falsification of the Slavic pantheon is continued byCzesław Białczyński [pl] inPoland (e.g.Stworze i zdusze, czyli starosłowiańskie boginki i demony. Leksykon, orMitologia słowiańska: Księga tura),[5][6] and byAlexander Asov inRussia (e.g.Kniga Kolyady).[7]
Jutrobog,Jutrnyboh – a supposed god worshipped inLusatia. His name consists of the wordjutry,jutrny "morning" and the wordbog "god" and means "Morning God, Aurora". The town ofJüterbog is supposed to be named after him,[10] although it is also possible that the last syllable is notbog butbok "side", and the name of the city can be translated as "side facing the morning (east)".[11]
Kyi – alleged Polish god of blacksmithing who appears in thesermons of Gniezno.[12]
Kupala –a deity created by medieval chroniclers based on the name of theKupala Night holiday
Lada – alleged Polish deity first mentioned by Jan Długosz as a god of war, equivalent toMars, then by Maciej Miechowita recognized as the Polish equivalent ofLeda.[13]
Lelya [ru] – the goddess of love, a word found in Russian folk songs
Yesha – the chief god ofPoles according toJan Długosz, the equivalent of theRomanJupiter; nowadays the authenticity of the god is rejected
Dana [ru] – hypothetical water goddess proposed byNikolay Kostomarov, rejected by modern scholarship
Pogvizd [ru], Pozvizd – a wind deity mentioned byMaciej Miechowita, andPohvist, mentioned byMarcin Kromer as a god of inclement weather, in reality probably spirits or demons
Flins – alleged deity of death worshipped by the remnants of theSorbs, mentioned inCronecken der Sassen (1492)
Krodo – originally a pseudo-chief-deity of theSaxons in later centuries ascribed to the Slavs
Goderac (Latin:Gutdraccus) –Arnold of Lübeck, inChronica Slavorum (his sequel toHelmold'sChronicle; V, 24), wrote that Bernon (died 1190 or 1191), bishop ofSchwerin, destroyed the pagan cult, and in place of the deity Goderac orderedSt. Godehard, bishop ofHildesheim, to be worshipped, taking advantage of the similarity of names. The deification was the result of a mistake – the name Goderac appears as early as 1171 inHenry the Lion, who granted the bishopric of Schwerin "the village of St. Godehard, which was once called Goderac," and the name itself is probably derived from a personal name, perhaps that of the village owner.[15]
Julius Caesar – According toLife of Saint Otto, Julius' spear was venerated inWolin, which was also called Julin (Iulin) after Julius Caesar. According to the authors, it was supposed to be in a wooden column and slightly rusty. The Julius theme was later developed byWincenty Kadlubek in his account of the battle of theLechites led byLeszko III against Julius.[16]
Suentebueck – The 15th-centuryPassion of the Martyrs of Ebstorf speaks of Slavs who abandoned Christianity after the death ofCharlemagne, who were said to have erected statues of Suentebueck, Vitelubbe, andRadegast that had been toppled earlier.Strzelczyk interprets the name assvęty byk "sacred bull", or less likelySvęty Vit "Saint Vitus" (Svetovit?).[17]
Vittelube – A deity also mentioned in thePassion. Probably recognized by the author as the name of a deity because of the occurrence of the local name Vietlübbe next to the local name Radegast, both in the district ofGadebusch.[17]
Svitibor, Zuttibor - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. Christian Knauthe translated the name as "Holy Forest".[17]
Puscetus - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. According to Christian Knauthe, the name sounded like the Slavic wordbosowske "elderberry", "Deus Sambuceus like", and meant "one who lives under the Sambuceus tree".[18]
Ciza - goddess of maternal feeding according to Christian Knauthe. Her name was supposed to be derived from the Slavic wordzyz (Polishcyc) "breast".[19]
Püsterich
Püsterich – In the middle of the 16th century, a bronze figure (57 cm.) of a pot-bellied man with one arm raised to his forehead, the rest of the limbs missing, was found atCastle in theKyffhäuser mountains (Thuringia). There are two holes in the head, the head and torso is hollow inside. There were different interpretations of this figurine: Abraham Frentzel (1791) recognized Püsterich as a deity of Slavs from Thuringia linking him with the Polish wordbystry "smart, bright, shrewd", others regarded him as a god of fire, or a god of both Slavs andGermans. The figurine was used as a toy, it acted as a kind ofsteam boiler, heated water poured out through holes in the head.[18]
Václav Hájek, a Czech chronicler who is accused of making up many events in his work, lists the deities in hisChronicle: Klimba, Krasatina, Krosina.
Hájek gained imitators after his death: Pavel Stránský, Jan Jiří Středovský, Juraj Papánek, who added the following deities by themselves: Chasoň, Ladoň, Zeloň, Živěna, Nočena, Krasopaní, Hladolet.[23]
PriestAntonín Liška, one of the translators ofHomer intoCzech, also made up deities. He replaced Greek theonyms with similar Czech ones or just transferred them into Czech. He gave up to three versions of the same invented Czech name, writing them in brackets or footnotes:[24]
TheBook of Veles is a 20th century forgery that has gained particular popularity amongUkrainians. It lists, in addition to authentic gods, the following pseudo-gods:[26]
Zimtserla (Зимцерла) – goddess who first appears in the Russian translation (1722) ofKingdom of the Slavs, by theCroatian writerMauro Orbini. The translator incorrectly transferred the theonymSemargl, written by Orbini asSimaergla, by writing the lettera ass and removing the letterg, probably due toeuphony, and thusSimserla was created. The goddess is then mentioned byMikhail Popov in hismythological dictionary; according to him, the corrupted name may have been derived from the words зима,zima ("winter"), and the verb стерть,stiertʹ ("to wipe off"), and would be a goddess of flowers, similar toAurora. Zimtserla later appears in many Russian texts.[27] She was erroneously believed to be theAurora of the "Slavonians"[28][29] and a "Queen of Flowers" or goddess of spring, akin to RomanFlora.[29]
One of the major forgeries from theSouth Slavs is theSerbian Песме и обичаи укупног народа српског (1869; "Songs and customs of the all Serbian peoples") byMiloš Milojević:[30]
In Croatia, a long list of authors contributed to romanticized interpretations, uncritical theories and unverifiable claims about Croatian pagan beliefs. This group includes the likes ofGiorgio Sisgoreo,Marin Držić,Matija Petar Katančić,Pavao Ritter Vitezović,Natko Nodilo, Nikola Sučić andFranjo Ledić, among others. These authors' works are now sources of many pseudo-deities and fabricated systems in what is today popularly considered Croatian folklore, including Črt, Sarmand, Velja and an entire systematically presented "Croatian pantheon"[32] containing deities such asBjelobog,Danica,Domovoj, Slava,Vesna,Voloska, Zora and Žibog.[33]
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Arendt, Martin Friedrich (1820).Großherzoglich-Strelitzisches Georgium Nord-Slavischer Gottheiten und ihres Dienstes. Minden: Bösendahl.
Beyer, Wilhelm Gottlieb (1872). "Die Hauptgottheiten der westwendischen Völkerschaften".Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde: Jahrbücher des Vereins für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde.37:115–171.
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Enders, Julius (1993)."Speciální problémy Mater verborum".Jazykovědný rozbor Rukopisu Královédvorského, Zelenohorského a dalších staročeských textů s nimi spojovaných (in Czech). Neklan.ISBN8090088465.
Moroz-Grzelak, Lidia (2004). "Między nieświadomością a mistyfikacją. „Veda Slovena" – fałszerstwo literackie Słowiańszczyzny południowej". In Malej, Izabella; Tarajło-Lipowska, Zofia (eds.).Wielkie tematy kultury w literaturach słowiańskich (in Polish). Vol. 5. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego. pp. 91–98.
Milojević, Miloš (1869).Песме и обичаи укупног народа српског: Обредне песме. Прва књига (in Serbian). Belgrad.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Kolankiewicz, Leszek (1999).Dziady. Teatr święta zmarłych [Dziady. Theater of the Day of the Dead] (in Polish). Gdańsk: Słowo/Obraz Terytoria.ISBN8387316393.
Witkowski, Teodolius (1970). "Mythologisch motivierte altpolabische Ortsnamen".Zeitschrift für Slawistik (in German).15 (1). Berlin: Akademie Verlag:368–385.doi:10.1524/slaw.1970.15.1.368.
