RUSSIAN MYTHOLOGY

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The story of Russian mythology belong to the people of rustic Russia, the farmers who, also in comparatively recent age, were the main mass of the population.
During the long winter months, when the snow covered the fields and was impossible to work outside, the favourite passtime was to tell stories. harvest around the fireplace the farmer remembered the stories told them by their parents, handing on from generation to generation.

THE ANCIENT DIVINITIES

When, in 980 a.D., Vladimir became sovereign of Kiev (ancient Russian capital), Russian were still pagans, and Vladimir himself erected, on a hill that overlooked the city, many idols, the most stately of them was an wooden image of the God of Thunder, Perun, with silver head and golden moustaches. Around this idol burn six fires that didn’t have to be never out.

Perun

Perun, in times of Vladimir, was the main Russian God that Considered him the Lord of Universe. Perun lived in the sky and dominated the weather; if he got angry he caused rumbling thunder storms and with thunderbolt he downed the ones who offended him. But the God could be even worse: for example he could send rocks rain or scary drought that destroyed the harvests; if instead he was in a good mood he could encourage the grow with abundant rains. He was a warrior God, armed with bow, arrows, a heavy cudgel, a lance and an axe; he was the protector of soldiers and he could assure the win or the loss in war; for this reason when the Russian concluded military or commercial treaties with Byzantines they swear to keep one’s word for Perun. Unuseful to say, Perun was blood thirsty and to ensure his help people offered him roosters and other house animal in sacrifice and sometimes he was offered also human sacrifices.

Besides Perun, on the hill in front of Vladimir’s palace, there were other idols, among them the image of the Air Gods, the Stribog, the winds and the Svarog, the God of Sky. The sons of Svarog were Dažbog, God of Sun, and Svarožič, God of Fire.

Dažbog

Russian worshipped in a special way the God of Sun who gave warm and light (in the country the beloved prince Vladimir was called lovingly “Shining Sun”). We don’t have to forget that main part of Russia for many months in a year is covered by snow and ice, and that the winter nights are long and dark; so the disappearing of the sun was a reason of woe, especially in case of an eclipse, when it was said that the sun had been devoured by wolves (they believed that eclipses portended terrible disasters: wars, epidemics and famine).

Svarožič

As much important as the sun was the fire that, partially worked in his stead. Svarožič, the God of Fire, lived in the hop drying-room, where in a deep hole burn a fire above which, on a grating, were put the hop flowers and bunch of wheat before the thrashing. On this grating were brought the offers to the God, and also in the last century the habit imposed to throw in the fire a bunch of wheat as mascot, and no russian would have dare to spit on the fire or talk about the fire in unrespectful way. It was believed also that the fire heal certain illnesses: when broke out epidemics among the cattle, were enlighted bonfire with “living fire”, a flame obtained rotating fastly a spiky stick in the hole of another stick, and the cattle was brought to walk through the fire in the hope of heal it.

Nature and house

The earth and water were not seen as deities, although they were treated with great reverence. During Middle Age earth was considered so holy that sometimes were pronunced solemn oaths holding in hands a clod instead of a Bible.

Russians didn’t worship only the nature, but they had also a cult of the dead, linked to the cycle birth-death-rebirth; they believed in life after death and in the coffins they put objects useful for the dead like food, coins and shoes. Dead were buried in fields and in Spring the farmers ate and drunk on the graves hoping the deads would have helped the grow of the crops.

Houses were protected by the spirits of the ancestors, from the male God Rod and from the female divinities called Rožanitsi, who were at the head of the birth of children and animals and ensured the fertility of the ground.

The came of Christianity

In 988 a.D. when Vladimir I was converted to Christianity, he ordered that the pagan idols had to be downed and burnt. Perun was attached to the tail of a horse, hit by metal cane and in the end thrown in the river Dnepr and Vladimir ordered to built a church where before there were idols. But far from cities the old pagan habits held out for centuries. Sometimes they limited to change only the name of the old Gods: Veles, patron of cattle, became Saint Vlasij, who in icons appear surrounded by cows, goats and sheeps; Perun was substituted by the prophet Elijah who, according the old testament, was able to control rain and make fire fall from the sky.

RUSSIAN LEGENDS

As already said many russian legends were not more than stories and tales told around the fireplace and so often the main characters of these legends were common people managing supernatural beings or facts. An example of this kind of legend is the story of a simple minded farmer and his daughters.

SUN, MOON AND RAVEN SON OF RAVEN

Once upon a time there were two old and poor farmers who lived with their three daughters. To not starve the old farmer worked day by day for whoever wanted his work. One day he received as payment a measure of rye; but, coming back home, he fell down and the grains of rye fell and scattered all around; it was dark and afraid to not be able to find again them, he begged: “Raven, son of Raven, help me to collect the grains!”
Raven answered: “I will help you if you will give me your younger daughter as bride”.
The old man promised, but it was too dark to be able to see the grains so the old man begged again: “Moon, light the ground for us!”
Moon answered: “I will do it if you will give me your middle daughter as bride”.
The old man promised, but it was so cold that he couldn’t stop to tremble, so he begged again: “Dear shiny Sun, please warm me!”
Sun answered: “I will do it if you will give me your older daughter as bride”.
The old man promised and Sun warmed him, Moon lighted the ground and Raven son of Raven helped him to collect the grains of rye.

Arrived at home the old man didn’t tell anything to his wife of what was happened, but one day their daughters disappeared, so the old man, to confort his wife, said: “I will go to search for them!”.

First he went to Sun where he found the older daughter who, very happy, hugged him and prepared him some pancakes; to fry them it was enough for her to lay the fry-pan on her husband’s forehead. The old man came back to his wife and told her he seen the older daughter with her husband and that they were very happy together. After that he asked his wife to prepare some pancakes and remembering how the daughter cooked them, he said: “Dear wife, don’t turn on the fire, it’s enough to put the fry-pan on my forehead!”.
The wife obeyed but nothing happened and the pancakes remained uncooked.

“Nevermind...” said the old man “Now I will go to search for our middle daughter.”.

He went to Moon’s house, and there he met his very happy daughter who said: “You must be covered by dust after the journey, I will prepare a sauna for you”.
In the sauna it was dark, but Moon insert a finger in a crack and the room became floodlit.
The old man cam back home, told the wife that also the middle daughter was very happy and then he ordered to the wife to prepare for him a Sauna; since in the room it was dark the old man tried to insert the finger in a crack, but nothing happened.

“Nevermind...” Said the old man “Now I will go to search for our younger daughter.”

He went to Raven son of Raven where he found his younger daughter very happy. Raven son of Raven said to him: “You should be very tired after the journey. Come here, I will show you your trestle.” He placed the old man near him on a branch and he kept him there all night covering him with one of his wing; the old man slept very deeply and he liked it very much. Came back home, the old man said to his wife: “I won’t sleep anymore on the bed with you, I prefere to perch in the hen-house!”
It came the night, and he went to bed with chickens; until he was awake he was able to stand, but once he closed his eyes he fell on the hen-house ground.

In this way ended his adventures with Sun, Moon and Raven son of Raven.

Copyright © 2006 Lalaith Lomion | Design by Andreas Viklund