Perun - Introduction and Sources

Perun represents the Slavic variation of one of the most important archetypes present in Indo-European polytheism, the Thunderer. Depicted as connected to eagles and to the oak, riding a flaming wagon across the sky and wielding an axe, Perun’s description almost completely fits the descriptions of other thunderers such as Thor, Perkunas and Taranis. Just like Thor, Perun was the God of the warriors. In the 6th century Procopius wrote a passage on the Slavs in De bello Gothico:

“For they believe that one god, the maker of the lightning, is the only lord of everything and they sacrifice to him cattle and all kinds of victims, but they do not know the fate nor do they think that it has any bearing whatsoever on human beings. Instead, when they get ready for war, they promise that, if they escape, they will make a sacrifice to the God in exchange for their life and once they have escaped, they sacrifice whatever they have at hand, believing that they have bought their safety thanks to the sacrifice. Nevertheless, they also worship rivers, nymphs and some other divine beings and they also sacrifice to them all, making divinations in those sacrifices.” -Procopius, De bello Gothico

This is the earliest writing which notes down the mention of any Slavic deity, as well as a Slavic ritual. We see that Perun was not explicitly mentioned by Procopius, but from later writings and folktales, we can surely say that he was referring to him. He describes Perun as the supreme deity in a henotheistic way. We have to understand that the Slavs which came at that time had two things in mind: war and conquering. Like said before, Perun was the God of the Warriors, so Procopius wasn’t wrong when he depicted him as the highest deity, since he was it to these brave warriors.

The primary source that gives us insight in how important Perun was is the Hypathian Codex. This codex consists of chronicles which were written and collected through centuries. In 907, prince Oleg of Kievan Rus made a peace treaty with the Byzantines and together with his men made an oath to Perun and Veles that they will uphold their promise: 

“According to the religion of the Russes, the latter swore by their weapons and by their god Perun, as well as by Volos, the god of cattle, and thus confirmed the treaty.” -Nestor, The Primary Chronicle

Later in 945, Prince Igor also made a similar oath dedicated to Perun: 

“If any of these transgressors be not baptized, may they receive help neither from God nor from Perun: may they not be protected by their own shields, but may they ratter be slain by their own swords, laid low by their own arrows or by any of their own weapons, and may they be in bondage forever. ” -Nestor, The Primary Chronicle

The last important treaty happened between Prince Svyatoslav and the Greeks in 971, in it, Prince Svyatoslav, like his predecessors, mentioned Perun while giving the oath: 

“But if we fail in the observance of any of the aforesaid stipulations, either I or my companions, or my subjects, may we be accursed of the god in whom we believe, namely, of Perun and Volos, the god of flocks, and we become yellow as gold, and be slain with our own weapons. Regard as truth what we have now covenanted with you, even as it is inscribed upon this parchment and sealed with our seals.” -Nestor, The Primary Chronicle

In 980, Prince Vladimir tried to reform the religion and he created a pantheon whose highest God was Perun. He erected a wooden statue of him and it had a silver helmet and golden moustache: 

“Vladimir then began to reign alone in Kiev, and he set up idols on the hills outside the castle with the hall: one of Perun, made of wood with a head of silver and a mustache of gold, and others of Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl, and Mokosh. ” -Nestor, The Primary Chronicle

By reading the oaths which were recorded in the Primary Chronicle, we can see that Perun was associated with war and weapons. The wooden statue of Perun which stood in front of Prince Vladimir’s hall had been furnished with a silver helmet and his statues were surrounded with weapons. Of the weapons dedicated to Perun, the most notable one is the axe. Similar to how Thor’s Hammer was a prominent amulet in Scandinavia, a similar practice can be observed in Eastern European countries. In some parts of Poland and Hungary and all the way east into the west Asian parts of Russia, there have been around 60 archaeological findings of axe amulets. These amulets were mainly made out of bronze and were between three and four millimetres long. Two types of this axe were found and were classified as Makarov type 1 and 2. Type one represented a bearded axe A knob-like protrusion is usually present on the lower side of the axe.

The 2nd type represents an axe of a symmetrical shape, similar to the knob of the first type, the second has two horn-like protrusions diametrically opposite on the upper and lower side. These axes were usually decorated with circles or had a hole in their centre and zigzag lines around it. According to Darkevich who also first started raising awareness about these axes being connected to Perun, the hole in the middle represents the sun, while the zigzag lines represent lightning bolts. It was believed by the old Slavs that the Sun brought fire to our world through lightning strikes. Makarov believed that young boys were given these amulets during their first haircut. If such boy died, he would be buried with the amulet. On the contrary, Woloszyn though that these amulets were given to the Rus’ druzhina (fellowship of the Prince of Kievan Rus).

The most notable symbol of Perun, other than his axe is the thundermark, or rather the thundermarks. These hexagonal symbols were carved on rooftops. It was believed that by carving a thundermark on your rooftop, you will be protected and not hit by a lightning. Other than the rooftops, these thundermarks appeared on pottery of the Chernyakov culture of Eastern Europe, which dates back to the 4th century.

The most significant myth of any Indo-European culture is the battle between the Thunderer and the Serpent. Sadly, this myth in didn’t survive in Slavic culture, only in the form of St. George killing the Dragon. Russian philologists V. Ivanov and V. Toporov reconstructed the mythical battle between Perun Veles through comparative study of various Indo-European cultures. Even though there are no records of Veles being a serpent, this role was dedicated to him through etymological comparison with Vala from Vedic mythology and Velnias from Baltic mythology, to which Veles is very similar. According to the myth, Veles comes out of the underworld in the form of a serpent and heads towards Perun’s realm, by climbing up the World Tree, from which he tries to steal his son, wife or cattle.

Perun doesn’t let him go, but attacks him in rage, charging lightning bolts at him. Veles uses his magic to hide. He takes form of people, animals or trees, but he cannot escape Perun’s wrath, in the end Perun smites him. Victory over Veles represents the ending of a cycle, which means that Veles will be reborn and return with the same thing in mind. Many scholars, including L. Klejn and I. M. Diakonoff, have criticized this theory proposed by Ivanov and Toporov, but there are also scholars, including B. Uspensky, T. Tsivyan and T. Sudnik which supported this theory. 

In 2008, Croatian academic Ante Miloshevich started raising awareness about a church which was built in 8th century, in Zrnovnica, Croatia. On one of its ancient walls, the church holds a relief of a figure that is riding a horse and piercing a beast with its spear.

The relief represents a bearded and shirtless man that carries a spear, with which he is attacking a beast that is biting on the spear’s head. We can see that the beast is standing on the ground, while there is some object, possibly a cloud behind the Rider. The rider’s spear’s end is coming out of the cloud. Ante Miloshevich concludes that the short tail, big paws with long claws and the head which has sharp teeth in its mouth and small ears clearly show that the beast in question is a bear. It is believed that the horse rider is Perun because of the traces of Perun worship which exist around the village. The hill behind Zrnovnica is called Perun, nearby there are hills Perunsko Brdo and Perunich. If we observe the Perun hill from Zrnovnica, we can clearly see it resembling a head which has a beard and is wearing a moustache, just like the Rider. The relief was not originally a part of the church. First it belonged to another object in the nearby village of Grachic. Miloshevich also compared the Rider to novgorodian small statues that represent Perun. They all represent him as a bearded man with a helmet who wears a tunic (or some form of a male skirt). It is evident that the worship of Perun played an important role to the people of Zrnovnica. Miloshevich concludes that the beast in question represents Veles in his bear form.

After Christianization the cult of Perun merged and was transformed into veneration of Saint Elias. This happened most likely because of the Old Testament, which credited Saint Elias with the ability to bring rain and thunderstorms. Thus, through these means, an obscure Christian saint became a major celebrity in Slavic Orthodoxy. In the later Christian iconography of Saint Elias, he appears like Perun traversing the sky in the chariot of fire or riding on the horse. He has also been associated with thunders arrows and oaks. 

On the 20th of July, Saint Elias’ day, a cow was slaughtered and the meat prepared by males. It was then distributed in the church and eaten by the whole congregation. This custom, evidently not being Christian, resembles the sacrificial killing of an animal and the communal consumption of the meat. This celebration could be observed in Russia, Serbia and Macedonia.