In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god
of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were fire, mountains, the
oak, iris, eagle, firmament, horses and carts, weapons, and arrow), and war. He
was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal.
Perun is the mythical smith so he is often associated with mining and
metallurgy and his name seems also to be related to the ending of modern name of
copper. Perun is described as a rugged man with
a copper beard. He rides in a chariot pulled by a goat buck and carries a
mighty axe, or sometimes a hammer. The axe is hurled at evil people and spirits
and will always return to his hand. Sources
Of all historic records describing Slavic gods, those mentioning Perun are
the most numerous. As early as the 6th century, he was mentioned in De Bello
Gothico, a historical source written by the Eastern Roman historian Procopius. A
short note describing beliefs of a certain South Slavic tribe states they
acknowledge that one god, creator of lightning, is the only lord of all: to
him do they sacrifice an ox and all sacrificial animals. While the name of
the god is not mentioned here explicitly, the fact that the word Perun
in a number of Slavic languages today simply means "thunder," or "lightning
bolt," credibly suggests that this was a reference of him.
The Primary Chronicle relates that in the year 6415 prince Oleg made a peace
treaty with the Byzantine Empire and by taking his men to the shrines and
swearing by their weapons and by their god Perun, and by Volos, the god of
cattle, they confirmed the treaty. We find the same form of confirmation of a
peace treaty by prince Igor in 945. In 980, when prince Vladimir the Great came
to the throne of Kiev, he erected statues of five pagan gods in front of
his palace which he soon thereafter discarded after his christianization in
988. Perun was chief among these, represented with a silver head and a
golden moustache. Vladimir's uncle Dobrinja also had a shrine of Perun
established in his city of Novgorod. After the Christianization of Kievan
Rus, this place became a monastery, which, quite remarkably, continued to
bear the name of Perun. Perun is not mentioned directly in any
of the records of Western Slavic traditional religion, but a reference to
him is perhaps made in a short note in Helmold's Chronica Slavorum, written in
the latter half of the 12th century, which states that Slavic tribes, even
though they worship many various gods, all agree there is a supreme god in
heaven which rules over all other on earth. This could be a reference to
Perun, but since he is not named, nor any of his chief attributes mentioned,
we cannot be certain. Moreover, the name of Perun is also
commonly found in Southern Slavic toponymy. The Bulgarian and Macedonian
people believe that the name of the Bulgarian mountain Pirin, one of the
highest mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, was named after Perun. There
are also places called: Perun, Perunac, Perunovac, Perunika, Perunička Glava,
Peruni Vrh, Perunja Ves, Peruna Dubrava, Perunuša, Perušice, Perudina and
Perutovac. These names today mostly represent mountain tops, but in medieval
times, large oaks, sacred groves and even entire villages or citadels were
named Perun. Also, as mentioned already, in Ukrainian perun and in Polish piorun
means "thunderbolt". Among South Slavs, a mountain plant Iris germanica is known
in folklore as perunika and sometimes also as bogisha,, and was believed to
grow from ground that had been struck by lightning. Also the Serbian surname
Peruničić and the Macedonian Перуновски are derived from Perun.
The Bulgarian people believe that the name of city Pernik is thought to have
originated from that of Slavic god Perun with the Slavic placename suffix –nik
added, and was first mentioned in the 9th century. The medieval town was a key
Bulgarian stronghold during Bulgarian tsar Samuil's wars against the Byzantine
Empire in the 11th century, when it was governed by the local noble Krakra of
Pernik, withstanding Byzantine sieges a number of times.
Etymology Perun is strongly correlated with the
near-identical Perkūnas/Pērkons from Baltic mythology, suggesting either a
common derivative of the Proto-Indo European thunder god, or that one of
these cultures borrowed the deity from the other. The root *perkwu originally
probably meant oak, but in Proto-Slavic this evolved into per- meaning "to
strike, to slay". The Lithuanian word "Perkūnas" has two meanings: "thunder"
and the name of the god of thunder and lightning.
Artifacts, traditions and toponyms show the presence of the cult of Perun among
all Slavic, Baltic and Ugro-Finnic peoples. Perun was also related to an
archaic form of Astronomy - the Pole star was called Perun's eye and
countless Slavic and Hungarian astronomers continued this tradition -
most known ones are Nicolaus Copernicus, whose name contains a short form of
Perun, or Franz Xaver von Zach whose ancestors, the Záh family ruled until
1280 the Slavic territories between Slovenia, containing the villages of
Perun and Pernitz in the Parndorf Plain up to Perná in Moravia and Pernek in
Slovakia. The cult of Perun in this territory, populated since the 5th
century by Slavs and since German invasion called Austria, reached far
into the west up to the river Pernitz near Lienz in Tyrol.
Myth In Slavic mythology, much like in Norse
and Baltic mythologies, the world was represented by a sacred tree, usually an
oak, whose branches and trunk represented the living world of heavens
and mortals, whilst its roots represented the underworld, i.e. the
realm of the dead. Perun was the ruler of the living world, sky and earth, and
was often symbolised by an eagle sitting on the top of the tallest branch of the
sacred tree, from which he kept watch over the entire world. Deep down in the
roots of the tree was the place of his enemy, symbolised by a serpent or a
dragon: this was Veles, watery god of the underworld, who continually provoked
Perun by stealing his cattle, children, or wife. Perun pursued Veles around the
earth, attacking him with his lightning bolts from the sky. Veles fled from him
by transforming himself into various animals, or hiding behind trees, houses,
or people; wherever a lightning bolt struck, it was believed that this was
because Veles hid from Perun under or behind that particular place. In the
end, Perun managed to kill Veles, or to chase him back down into his watery
underworld. The supreme god thus reestablished order in the world, which
had been disrupted by his chaotic enemy. He then returned to the top of the World
tree and proudly informed his opponent down in the roots: Ну, там твое место,
там сабе будь!. This line came from a Belarusian folk tale of great antiquity.
To the Slavs, the mythological symbolism of a supreme heavenly god who battles
with his underworldly enemy through storms and thunder was extremely
significant, and from Perun and Veles, this idea of cosmic battle was passed
onto God and the Devil following Christianization.
While the exact pantheon characterization differed between the
various Slavic tribes, Perun is generally believed to have been
considered as the supreme god by the majority, or perhaps by nearly all
Slavs, at least towards the end of Slavic paganism. The earliest supreme
god was probably Rod; it is unclear precisely how and why his worship as the
head of the pantheon evolved into the worship of Perun. Another candidate for
supreme deity among at least some Slavs is Svarog.
Weapons In the classification scheme of Georges
Dumézil, Perun was the god of the second function, a god of war, and as such, he
was armed with several fantastic weapons. Perun's lightning bolts were
believed to be stones and stone arrows. According to folk beliefs, fulgurites,
belemnites, and sometimes even the remains of prehistoric stone tools found
in the ground are remains of these weapons. Various Slavic countries also
call these deposits "Perun's stones", "thunderbolt stones", "thunderbolt
wedges" and "Perun's arrow"; other unrelated names for these include
"devil's finger", "God's finger", and "Mother of God finger", and in
Lithuania, "Berkun's finger". These thunderbolt stones were sometimes said
to be transferred back to the sky by the wind after being under earth for a
period of seven years. The weapons of Perun protected against bad luck, evil
magic, disease, and — naturally enough — lightning itself.
Perun also had another type of weapon in his arsenal, as destructive as his
firestone arrows, but even more unusual: mythical golden apples. While this may
not seem to be much of a weapon, in many Slavic folk accounts, the golden apple
appears as a talisman of ultimate destruction. An example from a Serbian
folk song from Montenegro with strong mythical elements relates:
…Te izvadi tri jabuke zlatneI baci ih nebu u visine...…Tri munje od neba
pukošeJedna gađa dva djevera mlada,Druga gađa pašu na dorinu,Treća gađa svata
šest stotina,Ne uteče oka za svjedoka,Ni da kaže, kako pogiboše.
"…He grabbed three golden apples And threw them high into the sky...
…Three lightning bolts burst from the sky,
The first struck at two young grooms, The second struck a horse in a stall,
The third struck six hundred wedding guests,
Not an eyewitness left Not even to say how they died."
It is conjectured that the mythical golden apples of Perun were symbols of a
rare but notorious form of atmospheric discharge, ball lightning. The same is
probably true for the thunder marks of East Slavic folklore, of which two
examples are shown above. Characteristics
Remains of an ancient shrine to Perun discovered in Peryn consisted of a wide
circular platform centred around a statue, encircled by a trench with eight
apses, which contained sacrificial altars and possibly additional statues.
The overall plan of the shrine shows clear symbolism of the number nine. This
is sometimes interpreted that Perun, in fact, had nine sons. It should also be
noted that in some Slavic folk songs, nine unnamed brothers are mentioned.
Similarly to Perkūnas of Baltic mythology, Perun was considered to have
multiple aspects. In one Lithuanian song, it is said there are in fact nine
versions of Perkūnas. From comparison to the Baltic mythology, and also from
additional sources in Slavic folklore, it can also be shown that Perun was
married to the Sun. He, however, shared his wife with his enemy Veles, as each
night the Sun was thought of as diving behind the horizon and into the
underworld, the realm of the dead over which Veles ruled.
Like many other Indo-European thunder gods, Perun's vegetative hypostasis was
the oak, especially a particularly distinctive or prominent one. In
Southern Slavic traditions, marked oaks stood on country borders; communities at
these positions were visited during village holidays in the late spring and
during the summer. Shrines of Perun were located either on top of mountains or
hills, or in sacred groves underneath ancient oaks. These were a general place
of worship and holding of sacrifices. In addition to the tree association,
Perun had a day association as well as the material association.
Post-Christian Perun With the arrival of Christianity,
various churches had a difficult time trying to overcome the worship of the
old supreme deities of the Slavs. In the East, the Eastern Orthodox Church
gradually managed to pass much of Perun's characteristics on to a new
Christian saint, Elijah the Thunderer, based upon the Old Testament prophet
Elijah, who was separated from his servant by a fiery chariot from the
heavens and then swept up by a whirlwind; this seemed a good enough
approximation of the old thunder god with his fiery bolts. In the west, the
Roman Catholic Church offered St. Michael the Archangel, who, as a
commander of heavenly armies and vanquisher of the Devil, was also a
fitting replacement for Perun. It is also possible that on a local level
Perun was replaced with St. Vitus, where this saint did not, due to similarities
in names, replace another important Slavic god, Svantovit; however, it is
also possible that already in pagan times, the worship of Perun was
challenged by a growing cult of Svetovid. On some levels of folklore and
popular Christianity, some of Perun's characteristics were passed on to the
Christian God himself. Toponyms and artefacts
Pomerania: Pyrany, Pyrzyce… Lusatia: Pirna, Bernsdorf…
Silesia, specially Upper Silesia: Pyrzowice, Bieruń
Bohemia: Perná, Pernarec, Beroun, Běrunice, Běruničky, Pernštejn,
Pernštejn, Pernštejn, Peruš… Austria: Perun, Pernitz, Pernitzbach
near Lienz, Donnerskirchen… Slovakia: Pernek, Perinová, Perín-Chym…
Hungary: Perkáta, Perkupa, Perkovátz-ház, Sopron, Perkedpuszta…
Croatia: Perušić, Peruški… Bosnia Herzegovina: Vareš, Perunac,
Perunovac, Perunika, Perunička Glava, Peruni Vrh, Perunja Ves, Peruna Dubrava,
Perunuša, Perušice, Perudina and Perutovac…
Ukraine: Perechyn Bulgaria: Pernik, Perushtitsa…
Finland: Tampere, Pernå, Pornainen, Porvoo…
Cultural references Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time character
Perrin Aybara is largely based on Perun. In addition to the name similarity
Perrin's choice of weapons include the axe, hammer, and bow. Like the god,
Perrin can speak with wolves. Additionally, in texts that allude to
Slavic mythology Perun's name is usually replaced with St. Elias; in the Wheel of
time, Elyas Machera is yet another character that can speak to wolves.
Folk Metal band Turisas makes references to Perun in their song "A Portage to the
Unknown," as well as describing the general look of one of the ancient
symbols of Perun. French technical death metal band Gorod
reference Perun in their song "Elements and Spirit" as the only one "worthy to
bear the name of God." Ukrainian Black Metal band Nokturnal
Mortum tell about Perun in their song "Perun's Celestial Silver," with
references to arrows, lightning, and the punishment of thieves.
Ukrainian far-right band Sokyra Peruna In Marvel Comics a member of the Soviet
super-group, The People's Protectorate is named Perun,
Also in Marvel Comics, in the alternate continuity of Ultimates 2, the terrorist
group The Liberators has a member named Perun. He is described as a Soviet Thor.
Perun appears in the Hellboy limited series Darkness Calls, in which he aids
Hellboy before being killed by the Baba Yaga.
In the Warren Ellis limited series Supergod, the post-Soviet Russian
"supergod" is based on Perun. Perun is a major character in The Iron
Druid Chronicles novel, Hammered by Kevin Hearne.
See also The shrine of Perun in Peryn
The cult of Peroun in Peryn and in Novgorod
Prenj Montenegrin perun
Perperuna Perkūnas
Perkwunos Pajonn
nickname of Petar Perunović Thor
Indra Zeus
Veles Varpulis
Saint Elijah the Thunderer Axe of Perun
Taranis Pirwa
References Perun: The God of Thunder by Mark Yoffe
and Joseph Krafczik; Peter Lang Publishing
Graves, Robert: New Larousse Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Crescent
Ryan, W. F.:The Bathhouse at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and
Divination in Russia, Pennsylvania State University Press
Znayenko, Myroslava T.: The gods of the ancient Slavs: Tatishchev and the
beginnings of Slavic mythology, Slavica Yoffe, Mark; Krafczik, Joseph: Perun:
The God of Thunder, V. 43.), Peter Lang Publishing
External links A description of petroglyphs of Perun in
a subterranean Early Slavic shrine in Slovenia
perun.ca Notes