| Svarozhits | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Modern SlavicRodnover temple of fire-Svarozhits in Krasotinka,Kaluga Oblast, Russia(Kupala 2015 celebration) | |
| Other names | Svarozhich |
| Major cult center | Rethra |
| Animals | Boar? |
| Gender | Male |
| Region | Europe |
| Ethnic group | Slavs |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
| Siblings | Dazhbog? |
| Equivalents | |
| Christian | Saint Maurice? |
| Hindu | Agni |
Svarozhits[a] (Latin: Zuarasiz, Zuarasici,Old East Slavic: Сварожиць,Russian: Сваро́жич, Сваро́жиц),Svarozhich[a] (Old East Slavic: Сварожичь, Russian: Сварожич) is aSlavic god of fire, son ofSvarog. One of the few Pan-Slavic gods. He is most likely identical withRadegast, less often identified withDazhbog.
ThetheonymSvarozhits comes from the theonymSvarog with the suffix–its,–ich.[b] According to most scholars,Svarog is related to the wordsvar "quarrel",svariti "to quarrel, argue", andcognate words areOld Englishandswaru (→Englishswear),Old Norsesverja "to swear", or Sanskritsvarati (स्वरति) "to sing", "to sound", "to praise".[1] An affinity has also been suggested withOld High Germangi-swerc "storm clouds", Old Englishsweorc "darkness, cloud, fog",Dutchzwerk "cloud, cloudy sky", and Indiansvárgas "heaven".[1] It has also been suggested that Svarog may be a borrowing fromIndo-Aryan languages, but the Slavs andIndo-Aryans were separated by too much space for them to have direct contact.[1][2]
The suffix-its,-ich (Proto-Slavic*-itj,*-iťь) is generally considered apatronymic suffix, i.e.Svarozhits literally means "son of Svarog" (compare Polishpan "master" →panicz "son of master").[3][4][5][6] Some scholars, however, believe that the suffix here serves adiminutive function, andSvarozhits means "young, little Svarog", just asSerbo-CroatianDjurdjić is not "son of Djurdjo", but "little Djurdjo", or surviving up to the 18th century,Polabianbüg andbüzäc.[6]Aleksander Brückner refers toLithuanian prayers where the diminutive formdievaite is used instead ofdieve (e.g.Perkune dievaite).[7]
Svarozhits first appears in a text concerning thePolabian Slavs. TheChristian monkBruno of Querfurt, in a letter to kingHenry II in 1008, writes to end his alliance with the paganVeleti, make peace withBolesław I the Brave, and resumechristianization missions among the Slavs:
As one who has been saved by grace of the king, it behoves me to say thus: “Is it right to persecute a Christian and be the friend of a pagan people? What is this alliance ofChrist andBelial? What is this comparison between the light and the shadows? How can Svarožic, the devil, and your and our chief of the saints, Maurice, stand united? To which front do theSacred Lance and the devilish banners, which feed on human blood, march side by side? Would it not be better to retain the loyalty of a man whose assistance and counsel can be received as a tribute and convert a pagan people to Christianity? How I would like to have not as an enemy but as an ally the man of whom I speak, the old man Boleslav!” Perhaps you shall respond: "I wish it".[8]
Latin original textVt autem salua gratia regis ita loqui liceat: bonumne est persequi christianum et habere in amicitia populum paganum? Quae conuentio Christi ad Belial? quae comparatio luci ad tenebras? quomodo conueniunt Zuarasiz diabolus, et dux sanctorum uester et noster Mauritius? qua fronte coeunt Sacra Lancea et, qui pascuntur humano sanguine, diabolica uexilla? Non credis peccatum, o rex, quando christianum caput, quod nefas est dictu, immolatur sub daemonum uexillo? Nonne melius esset talem hominem habere fidelem, cuius auxilio et consilio tributum accipere et sacrum, christianissimum facere de populo pagano posses? O quam uellem non hostem, sed habere fidelem, de quo dico, seniorem Boleszlauum! Respondebis forsitan: uolo.
Henry II continued his alliance with the Veleti despite criticism from the clergy. For this reason, around 1018, the bishop and chroniclerThietmar of Merseburg, while criticizing the alliance with the pagans, briefly describes their religion in hisChronicle:
In the land of theRedarii there is a city called Riedegost (Rethra), which has three corners and one door in each wall and which is surrounded on all sides by a great forest which is untouched and venerated by the local people. Two of its doors are open for all to enter. The third, which faces east and is the smallest, opens onto a path leading to a nearby lake which has a dreadful appearance. In the city there is no more than one temple skilfully made of wood and supported on a foundation made from the horns of different types of animals. Its outer walls are adorned by admirably carved images of gods and goddesses; inside, there stand gods made by the hand of man, each with their name inscribed, dressed in helmets and armour, with a terrible appearance; the most important of them is called Svarožic and he is honoured and worshipped by all the pagans above all else. The banners of these gods never move from that place unless they are needed for a military campaign and, even then, only by foot soldiers.[9]
Latin original textEst urbs quaedam in pago Riedirierun, Riedegost nominetricornis, actres in se continens portas, quam undique silua ab incolis intacta et uenerabilis circumdat magna. Duae eiusdem portae cunctis introeuntibus patent; tercia, quae orientem respicit et minima est, tramitem ad mare iuxta positum et uisu nimis horribile monstrat. In eadem est nil nisi fanum de ligno artificiose compositum, quod pro basibus diuersarum sustentatur cornibus bestiarum. Huius parietes uariae deorum dearumque imagines mirifice insculptae, ut cernentibus uidetur, exterius ornant; interius autem dii stant manu facti, singulis nominibus insculptis, galeis atque loricis terribiliter uestiti, quorum primus Zuarasici dicitur, et pre caeteris a cunctis gentilibus honoratur et colitur. Vexilla quoque eorum nisi ad expeditionis necessaria, et tunc per pedites, hinc nullatenus mouentur.
Theboar that emerges from the lake near Radogoszcz later in theChronicle may be related to Svarozhits.[10] The boar in European cultures is often associated with fire and the sun.
Another error has been handed down since ancient times, to wit, when they are threatened by the cruel misfortune of war, a great boar with white tusks and glistening with foam emerges from the lake and, wallowing in the mire with terrible agitation, shows itself to many witnesses..[11]
Latin original textTestatur idem antiquitas errore delusa uario, si quando his seua longae rebellionis assperitas immineat, ut e mari predicto aper magnus et candido dente e spumis lucescente exeat, seque in uolutabro delectatum terribili quassatione multis ostendat.
Svarozhits also appears in theEastern Slavs in ahomiletic work from the 12th centurySermon by One Who Loves Christ: "to the fire they pray, calling it Svarozhich",[6] and inSermon by the Holy Father Saint John Chrysostom:
Men who have forgotten the fear of God from neglect by renouncing baptism, approach idols and start to make sacrifices to the thunder and lightning, the sun and moon, and others, toPerun,Khors, theVily andMokosh, tovampires and theBeregyni, whom they call three times nine sisters. And others believe in Svarožic and Artemid, to whom ignorant men pray.[12]
Ibn Rustah's workBook of Precious Gems may also refer to Svarozhits: "They are all fire worshippers and the majority sow millet.When harvest time arrives, they collect the millet grain onto a shovel, raise it towards the sky and say: “Oh Lord, you are the one who provides for us and we have none left".[13] However, the term "fire worshippers" found inArabic sources does not always refer to fire as a deity, but is an Arabic term foridolatry.[14]
InSlovenian Styria, a demon namedŠvaržič (Shvarzhich) was known, which proves the cult of Svarozhits among theSouth Slavs.[15] In 1952,CroatianethnomusicologistZvonko Lovrenčević wrote down a folk song from the village ofCiglena nearBjelovar, which was presented by Kate Kuntin (born 1868). The song was sung atChristmas in her family until 1980 only at home, never inchurch:[16]
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The song was also known toIvana Brlić-Mažuranić, who already in 1916 placed it, in a form modified by her (Moj božiću Svarožiću, zlatno sunce, bijeli svijet! "My little Svarozhich, golden sun, white world!"), in her fableKako je Potjeh tražio istinu.[16][c]
The village ofVerače is Slovenia was also calledTbaraschitzberg orSvarozhits Hill (Slovene:Svarozhichev hrib) in archival sources, but only since 1480. Torek nearSenovo was calledTwaroch in 1309.[15]
Svarozhits is interpreted as the god of fire.[18][19][20] In Indo-European mythologies, there is a special fire deity who is endowed with male sex and even male potency, such asAgni orAtar. Agni is born ignited byIndra from the friction of twoquerns,Heaven andEarth, which refers to fire as the effect of sexual intercourse, and Svarozhits is the son ofSvarog, who is often interpreted as the god of sky, and as aculture hero – a blacksmith who wields fire.[19] AKuyavian folk song is associated with this motif:
Na podolu w szczyrem polu
stoi kuźnia na kamieniu.
A w tej kuźni kowal kuje,
nigdy ognia nie zgasuje.[19]
Some researchers also believe that Svarozhits is identical withDazhbog.[13][21] This is supported by the fact that the name Svarozhits literally means "son of Svarog," and in thePrimary Chronicle, which contains an excerpt from the Slavic translation of theChronicle ofJohn Malalas, Dažbog is also depicted as the son of Svarog.[13] Additionally, it is uncertain where the translation of theChronicle was made; according toHenryk Łowmiański, the argument for theBulgarian translation of theChronicle is that in Bulgarian language the suffix–its,–ich has been completely forgotten, so that in Bulgarian language Dazhbog is called "the son of Svarog", and in other parts of Slavdom he is simply called Svarozhits.[22] However, there is no general consensus on this interpretation, and theSermon by the Holy Father Saint John Chrysostom, which mentions both Svarozhits and Dazhbog, is given as an argument against it.[18] In that case, both gods would be brothers, the sons of Svarog, Svarozhits would be equivalent toAgni, and Dazhbog would be equivalent toSurya.[18]
PerhapsBruno mentionedSt. Maurice, the patron saint of knighthood and armed struggle, in his letter because he considered him to be thechristian equivalent of Svarozhits.[23]
Svarozhits is most likely identical withRadegast, the god mentioned byAdam of Bremen as the chief god of Radogost, where according to earlier sources Svarozhits was supposed to be the chief god, and, according toHelmold, the god of theObotrites.
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