SLAVIC MYTHOLOGY

Perun

In Slavic mythology Perun is the highest god. He remarked as the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the mountain, oak, eagle, firmament, horses and carts, weapons, war, and fire. He was first symbolized with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal. His name in the Slavic languages basiclly means thunder and lighting. Perun was a 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 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. Veles as he is known, was the water god of the underworld, who continually provoked Perun by stealing his cattle, children or wife. Perun chased Veles around the earth, attacking him with his lightning bolts from the sky. Veles ran away from him by transforming himself into deifferent animals, or hiding behind trees, houses or people. Wherever a lightning bolt struck people believed that Veles hid from Perun under or behind that particular place. In the end the people belived that, Perun killed Veles, or he chased him back down into his watery underworld.

Work Cited: "Perun." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006. Answers.com 15 Dec. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/perun

Work Cited:"Perun." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 22 Jan. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/perun

Moréna

She is most often believed to be a Goddess of winter and death. Her name is based on the Slavic root mor, used in words such as "confusion", "peril", "nightmare" and "death". The Burning of Moréna is a traditional folk festival still surviving in Slovakia. The Drowning of Moréna is a traditional folk fest in some parts of Poland. The two festivals are to symbolically welcome the spring and bury the winter. The ritual involves burning of a straw mannequin representing Moréna. She is mainly reresented as a beautiful dark haired woman with a long black dress, and with pointy ears looked somewhat as an elf.

Work cited: "Marzanna." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 15 Dec. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/marzanna