''Koročun'' or ''Kračun'' (see other variants below) is one of the names of

Slavic pagan Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balk ...

holiday Koliada. In modern usage, it may refer to the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...

in certain Eastern European languages, and also to the holiday of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Names and etymology

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

: Карачун, ''Karačun''; * bg, Крачон, ''Kračon'' or Крачунек, ''Kračunek'' * cz, Kračun; * mk, Крачун, ''Kračun''; *

Old Russian Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

: , ''Koročunŭ''; *russian: Корочун, ''Koročun'' or Карачун, ''Karačun''; * Ruthenian: К(е)речун, ''K(e)rečun'' or Ґ(е)речун, ''G(e)rečun''; * sr, Крачун, ''Kračun''; * sk, Kračún; * hu, Karácsony; * ro, Crăciun. Max Vasmer derived the name of the holiday from the Proto-Slavic ''*korčunŭ'', which is in turn derived from the verb ''*korčati'', meaning ''to step forward''. Gustav Weigand, and Alexandru Philippide offer a similar Slavic

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

, based on ''kratŭkŭ'' (''curt'', ''short'') or ''kračati'' (''to make steps''). On the other hand,

Hugo Schuchardt Hugo Ernst Mario Schuchardt (4 February 1842, Gotha (town), Gotha (Thuringia) – 21 April 1927, Graz (Styria)) was an eminent Germany, German linguistics, linguist, best known for his work in the Romance languages, the Basque language, and in mixed ...

Vatroslav Jagić Vatroslav Jagić (; July 6, 1838 – August 5, 1923) was a Croatian scholar of Slavic studies in the second half of the 19th century. Life Jagić was born in Varaždin (then known by its German name of ''Warasdin''), where he attended the elem ...

, and proposed a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

origin of the word,Archiv für Slavische Philologie
1886, Vol XI, pp. 526–7.Archiv für Slavische Philologie
1912, Vol XXXIII, pp. 618-22. as does also the '' Romanian Etymological Dictionary'',''Romanian Etymological Dictionary''
Crăciun
/ref> tracing its roots back to the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''creatio,-nis''. However, most probably the Romanian word, as well as the Hungarian, are loanwords with Slavic roots.

Religious and mythological significance

''Koročun'' or ''Kračun'' was a pagan Slavic holiday. It was considered the day when the Black God and other spirits associated with decay and darkness were most potent. The first recorded usage of the term was in 1143, when the author of the Novgorod First Chronicle referred to the winter solstice as "Koročun". It was celebrated by pagan

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

on December 21, the longest night of the year and the night of the

. On this night,

Hors Khors, Хорсъ is a Slavic god of uncertain functions mentioned since the 12th century. Generally interpreted as a sun god, sometimes as a moon god. The meaning of the theonym is also unknown: most often his name has been combined with th ...

, symbolizing old sun, becomes smaller as the days become shorter in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, and dies on December 22, the winter solstice. It is said to be defeated by the dark and evil powers of the Black God. On December 23, Hors is resurrected and becomes the new sun,

Koleda Koliada or koleda (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, to Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating ...

. Modern

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

tend to associate this holiday with ancestor worship. On this day,

Western Slavs The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...

lit fires at cemeteries to keep their loved ones warm, and organized feasts to honor the dead and keep them fed. They also lit wooden logs at local crossroads. In some

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

, the word came to denote unexpected death of a young person and the

evil spirit Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is generally ...

that shortens life. Max Vasmer, ''Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language'', Корочун.

References

{{reflist Slavic mythology December observances Observances honoring the dead

Names and etymology

Religious and mythological significance

See also

References