PERUN

Slav

Also: Perom; Peron; Pikker; Piorun; Pyerun The god of thunder and rain, known as Perkonis in Prussia, Perkons in Latvia, Perkunas in Lithuania, Perusan in Bulgaria,

Peron (“curse”) in Slovakia, and Perun in Russia and the Czech lands. His name is possibly cognate with that of Paranjanya, an epithet of the Hindu storm god Indra. Perun was depicted with a head of silver and a gold mustache. In the tenth century an idol of Perun stood in Novgorod near Lake Il'men', around which six eternal fires burned. Regarded as the lord of the universe, Perun lived in the sky and had absolute control over the weather. When he was angry, he caused thunderstorms and sent lightning to strike down people who had offended him. Belemnite fossils, which formed around the arrow-like internal bone of a creature similar to the cuttlefish, traditionally were regarded by those who found them as missiles flung down by Perun, and they were thus called “thunder arrows.” Perun’s thunderbolts also were considered a potent fertility symbol because they were thought to awaken the earth in spring from its deathlike winter sleep.

God of war as well as thunder, Perun was believed to ride across the sky in an iron chariot pulled by an enormous billy goat and to carry a bow and arrows as well as a heavy cudgel, a spear, and a battle-ax that always returned to his hand after it was thrown. The protector of soldiers, the god could bestow victory on those he favored. For this reason, when military or commercial treaties were concluded, it was by their naked swords and by Perun that the Russians swore to keep their word. Very much an exclusive deity, Perun had no priests, his rites being performed by princes and military leaders. However, the common populace did regard him as necessary to their everyday existence, for without his intervention every morning, Darkness would hold the Sun prisoner in a cell whose door was impregnable to everything but Perun’s lightning.

Cockerels and other animals were offered as votives to Perun, and human sacrifices in his honor also were common. One recorded example of the latter was a Viking living in Kiev who was chosen by Vladimir I to be the sacrificial victim following a successful raid. The Viking, a Christian, refused to be the votive for a pagan god, but he was nonetheless sacrificed as Vladimir I had ordered. Perun was especially honored in preChristian times at a spring festival where young maidens would dance themselves to death in his honor, a practice that later became the inspiration for Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Over time, the rite was modified to become a ceremonial ring-dance in which all the virgins of a village or a nomadic group took part.

In 988, when Vladimir I made the political decision to accept Christianity as part of a pact with the Byzantine emperor Basil II, Vladimir ordered that all the pagan idols be destroyed. The statue of Perun that stood outside his palace in Kiev was tied to a horse, beaten with metal rods, and finally cast into the waters of the Dnieper. Even though Christianity was the new official faith in Russia, Christian missionaries found it enormously difficult to stamp out worship of this king of the gods. In Novgorod he was apparently tolerated well into the Christian era, as records show that the statue of Perun was solemnly flogged each year to rid it of demonic forces. In other areas Perun was simply amalgamated with the prophet Elijah—or Il'ya, as he was known in Russia—because according to the Old Testament, Elijah shared many of Perun’s powers, including the ability to call down rain or fire from heaven. Some say that Perun became Il'ya Muromets, the bogatyr', although separate legends of Perun and Il'ya Muromets appear to have sprung up side by side.

Perun and two other ancient gods, Khors and Mokosh, together form a trinity.

See also: Anna; Basil II, Bulgaroctonus;

Bogatyr'; Darkness; Dnieper; Il'men', Lake;

Il'ya; Il'ya Muromets; Khor(s); Kiev;

Mokosh; Novgorod; Perkunas; Sun;Vikings;

Vladimir I

References: Gimbutas 1971; Ivanov and

Toporov 1965; Potebnia 1865