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Jarylo (Cyrillic:Ярило, Ярила;Serbo-Croatian:Jarilo,Јарило;Belarusian:Ярыла), alternativelyYaryla,Yarilo,Iarilo,Juraj,Jurij, orGerovit, is an allegedEast and South Slavic god ofvegetation,fertility andspringtime.[1][2]
TheProto-Slavic root*jarъ (jar,yar), fromProto-Indo-European*yōr-,*yeh₁ro-, from*yeh₁r-, means "spring" or "summer", "strong", "furious", "imbued with youthful life-force". This youthful life-force was considered sacred in the Slavic pre-Christian religion and the god personifying this sacred force was thus called Jarovit, orhypocoristically Jarilo.
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The only historic source that mentions this deity is a 12th-century biography of the proselytizing German bishopOtto of Bamberg, who, during his expeditions to convert the pagan tribes ofWendish andPolabian Slavs, encountered festivals in honor of the war-god Gerovit in the cities ofWolgast andHavelberg. Gerovit is most likely a German derivation of the Slavic nameJarovit.
Up until the 19th century inUkraine,Russia,Belarus andSerbia, folk festivals calledJarilo were celebrated in late spring or early summer. Early researchers ofSlavic mythology recognised in them relics of pagan ceremonies in honor of an eponymous spring deity. In northernCroatia and southernSlovenia, especiallyWhite Carniola, similar spring festivals were calledJurjevo orZeleni Juraj orZeleni Jurij (Green George), nominally dedicated toSt. George, and fairly similar to the Jarilo festivals of other Slavic nations.
