Slavic gods drawn by Stanisław Jakubowski, part 2/20:
St. Bruno, apostle of the Prussians and brother of the Emperor Henry II, and Thietmar, Bishop of Merzeburg, left to us in their chronicles the informations about the god of the sun, flames and war - Swarożyc [English spelling: Svarozic or Svarozhic]. The most detailed description can be found in Thietmar’s chronicle.
The temple of Swarożyc was situated in the land of the Slavic tribe of Redarians [see: Lutici] in the town called Rethra [or Redigast / Radogoszcz]. This settlement was situated on a peninsula surrounded on two sides by waters of a lake. On this hill, which was around 120-130 meters high, the settlement was located and two gates were leading inside, always open. A third gate, smalIer one, led to the steep shore of the lake. The enclosure was divided into a lower one, surrounded with a high mound and a wall of granit e blocks, and a higher one, protected by defensive ramparts and 3 high wooden bastions, through which passages for the people on feet and the horsemen were leading.
The tempIe itself, built artfully out of wood on a square plan, was raised on the highest situated point of the higher enclosure, but instead of on regular foundations, it was built on horns of various animals, and the outside walIs of this tempIe were ornamented with bas-reliefs. Among the many statues of gods which stood inside of the tempIe, St. Bruno mentions Swarożyc as “the first”. Broad and comfortable stairs made of stone were leading from the middle gate of the lower enclosure to the middle gate of the higher one.
Here by the tempIe a black horse was held, similarly to the white horse held in Arkona for the god Świętowit, which was used only for predicting the future. Here were also all the war-ensigns of the Lutici federation of clans stored, which were taken away from the tempIe only when the clans were leaving for battles, and which were returning to the temple's treasury together with the prey of war.
The priests of Swarożyc were holding a great power over the Slavic tribes living on the rivers of Elbe, Oder and Vistula for long centuries. Only in the year 1069 the Bishop Burchhardt of Halberstadt, leading mighty regiments of German knights, destroyed the whole country of the Lutici federation, took Retra, plundered the treasury and returned to Germany on the holy horse of Swarożyc.
After the destruction of Retra the Redarians rebuilt the tempIe, but moving far north from their original settlements (to an island located in the mouth of the Oder river), for in the German chronicles there are notes about destroying the Swarożyc’s tempIe again twice, in the years 1126 and 1151. One of rebuilt tempIes was seen and described by the chronicler Adam of Bremen.
There are also similar names of gods Swaróg [Svarog] and Swarożyniec, known from the chronicles of old Rus. The name Swaróg has the same meaning as the Sanscrit name Djaus, the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter. One of the theories claim, that the Swarożyc of Rethra could be the son of Swaróg [Svarog], who replaced there the father just like Zeus replaced Kronos.
Name of the god survives for example in the name of the Swarożyn village, located in northern Poland.
Source of image: Stanisław Jakubowski "Bogowie Słowian" [”Gods of the Slavs”], 1933. Text is based on the same source, rephrased with corrected grammar and modern English spelling of the names, and contains some additional / updated informations.
For the Polish readers: you might check my bibliography page for more resources under the section dedicated to Slavs and Slavic history.
Check more under my tags Slavic mythology or Polish mythology, and other stories uder the tag tales and legends.
