Old Slavic myths, God of thunder and sky-Perun

Perun, source

Today, i will write about Perun, which is a Slovenian god of thunder and sky. This deity is very important in Slavic mythology and it is considered to be one of the main Slavic gods. Svarog is also the god of sky, but his function is not identical to Perun's function. Svarog is actually regarded as the God of the universe and the god of the spiritual, immaterial heaven in which live ones who passed away.  

We can say that the Svarog rules higher sky, while Perun rules lower. The Svarog rules universe, and Perun rules the atmosphere. Perun is one of the most powerful gods. He is usually seen as a destroyer, since he is a god of weather and natural disasters. Perun is a member of the largest and the strongest Slavic trinity (triglava) together with Svarog and Svetovid. In some scripts, it is also mentioned that he is a brother of Veles.

Perun and Veles, source

Perun punishes perjurers, as well as all the people who are evil. It is related to justice, like most of deities  associated with the planetary sphere of Jupiter. Perun punishes the evil and disobedient ones by closing their heaven doors. The most often way of punishing is using thunder.  In many early Middle Age writings and even in peace treaties, the Slavs swore to respect the Perun, or he would have to punish ones who broke what was agreed.

In Christian annals from the early Middle Ages, Perun is most often satanized. This proves that Perun's cult was firmly rooted in Slavic nations. 

Perun and the thunders, source

Dedication to Perun is indicated by the fact that until today, many toponyms and plants carry Perun's name (Perun's peak and Perun's coast in Russia, Perin mountain in Bulgaria...) Even today, there are proverbs and curses in some of the Slavic languages that contain Perun's name. In the Polish word piorun means thunder. In the Baltic, the Slavic Thursday was called a perendan (day of Perun), etc.

The legends say that, when Perun rode through the sky in his carriage, whole sky thundered. Perun is represented on the statues as a strong man with a beard. Parts of his clothes say that he is a shield warrior, which is the case with most Slavic gods.  Perun's usually had a stone mall in his hand and with it, he turned everything that he touched into stone. In Perun's possession there were also golden apples. Some folk songs in Serbian feature this.

Perun in scripts, source

Perun was also associated with fire and fiery animals. His animal was a hot cock, a kind of Slovene Phoenix. His animals were dragons. Perun's rituals connected with fire. In his temples, the eternal fire always had to burn. Otherwise, the entire service in the temple would die.

Perun was also a fighter against drought. One theory says that he had an influence on the rain, and the other that Dodola, Perun's wife, had that influence to.

Dodola, source

After the arrival of Christianity, the role of Perun is taken over by St. Elijah. In the folk tradition Perun remained, as well as in the stories about him. The church saturated Perun, probably because of his strong cult and great influence on the lives of people.

Despite attempts to destroy cult of Perun, his name left. Moreover, Perun stayed one of the most famous and most remembered Slavic gods.

 Prophet Elijah, source

Most of informations from my text, I got from Serbian site www.starisloveni.com.