HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yarovit, Iarovit (or Yerovit, Ierovit) is a Polabian
god of war A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been po ...
, worshipped in Vologošč ( Circipanians) and
Hobolin Havelberg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a populati ...
( Hobolians; modern Havelberg). Sources give only a brief description of his cult, his main temple was located in Vologošč, where there was a golden shield belonging to Yarovit. By one Christian monk he was identified with the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
.


Etymology

In Latin records, this theonym is noted as and . These notations should be read as ''Yarovit'', since in Latin German texts the Slavic element ''jar-'' is sometimes written as ⟨ger-⟩ or ⟨her-⟩ ( = Slavic ''Jarišov'', = Slavic ''Jeruš'', = Slavic ''Jarogněv'' etc.). The notation by ⟨h⟩ is the result of changing the grapheme ⟨g⟩ → ⟨gh⟩ → ⟨h⟩ due to matching Polish pronunciation with German writing. The Old Polabian form is reconstructed as ''*Jerovit''. Scholars connect the root ''jar-'' with the Proto-Slavic adjective ''*jarъ(jь)'' "vigorous, strong" ( dated "vigorous", "impulsive; uncouth; ruthless",
Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
: "harsh") or with ''*jarъ'' "vernal" (
Old Czech The Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as ''Bohemian''. Early West Slavic Among the innovations in common West Slavic is the palatalization of ve ...
: ''jarý'',
Old East Slavic 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 ...
: "vernal"). In favor of deriving the stem from the Proto-Slavic ''*jarъ(jь)'' is supported by the fact that in Proto-Slavic there was a word
homophonous A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...
to the theonym: ''*jarovitъ(jь)'' ( dialectal
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: , Serbian: ,
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
: ). In the second part there is supposed to be a suffix ''-vit'' (hypothetical PS ''*-vitъ'') meaning "lord, ruler, hero". The suffix is supposed to derive from ''*vitędzь'' "warrior, hero" of Germanic etymology. Some researchers, however, have rejected the connection of the suffix with ''*vitędzь'' precisely because of the Germanic origin of the word; some scholars have linked the suffix to the word ''*vitati'' "to invite, to wish health", or the not independently attested verb ''*viti''. Depending on which meaning of the root ''jary-'' a given researcher takes, the theonym is translated, for example, as "Young master" or "Strong, Mighty Lord". Some researchers also divide the theonym as ''Yar-ovit'', where the suffix ''-ovit'' means "one who has a lot of (something)", "characterized by (something)", and the theonym ''Yarovit'' is supposed to mean "One in whom there is a lot of what is strong, powerful".


Sources

The god Yarovit appears in the
hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
of
St. Otto Otto of Bamberg (1060 or 1061 – 30 June 1139) was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189. Early life Th ...
, who led Christianization missions among the
Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...
and Pomeranians: in 1151 ''Life of Saint Otto, Bishop of Bamberg'' by the monk , and in ''Dialog on the Life of Saint Otto of Bamberg'' written in 1158–1159 by monk . Ebo reports that in April 1127, St. Otto returned to
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
to continue his Christianization missions. He first reaches
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
, and the next day goes to
Hobolin Havelberg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a populati ...
(now Havelberg). In this town, almost no one wore Christian names anymore, and when Otto arrived, the town was decorated with flags in honor of the god Yarovit. Then, in May, Otto sends his companions, Ulrich and Albin, to Vologošč, where the well-known temple of Yarovit was located, and began Christianization. A pagan priest who heard about this was to leave the town in temple clothing and, pretending to be Yarovit himself, order a resident he met in the forest to tell the city residents that they should kill the Christians, otherwise they would all die. In the evening, on the same day:
..some of the venerable bishop’s followerswished to examine the temple in that same city and proceeded to do so without further precaution; whereupon some of the citizens suspected that they wished to set their temple ablaze and, assembled together, they went out to meet them with the discordant clatter of arms. Then the pious Ulrich turned to his companions and said: “It is not without reason that they have assembled; be assured that they have been hastened by our entry.” Hearing this, the companions turned back on their path and sought refuge for their flight. But a clergyman named Dietrich, who had gone ahead of them and had approached the doors of the temple, not knowing where to turn, boldly burst into the shrine itself, and, seeing a golden shield hanging on the wall which had been dedicated to Yarovit, their god of war, and which they considered it unlawful to touch, seized the shield and faced them. They, as ignorantly simple men, thought that their god Yarovit was advancing to meet them and, stupefied, they retreated and fell to the ground. Dietrich, perceiving their folly, threw away the shield and fled, thanking God that He had thought fit to deliver His servants out of their hands.
– Ebo, ''Life of Saint Otto, Bishop of Bamberg''
Herbord gives similar information about an attempt to kill Christians – a Christian priest who hid in a pagan temple took a large shield covered with gold plates, which no man could touch, which was taken out only in times of war. This shield was dedicated to "to their god Yarovit, who in Latin is called ''
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
''." In Herbord's version, the god's threat uttered through the priest's mouth was supposed to read as follows:
I am your god; I am the one who covers the meadows with grass and the forests with leaves, raises crops in fi elds and trees, (gives) fertility to cattle. Everything that people use come from my power.
– Herbord, ''Dialog on the Life of Saint Otto of Bamberg''


Interpretations

The sowing festival dedicated to Yarovit, witnessed by Otto, probably took place on April 15. It is believed that the theonym Jarowit is relatively new and has replaced earlier ones on a
taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
basis. According to
Henryk Łowmiański Henryk Łowmiański (August 22, 1898 near Ukmergė - September 4, 1984 in Poznań) was a Polish historian and academic who was an authority on the early history of the Slavic and Baltic people. A researcher of the ancient history of Poland, Lithu ...
, the story about the priest disguising himself as Yarovit and threatening the citizens was invented by Christians to ridicule the priest. Scholars interpret Yarovit differently. According to
Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Po ...
, Yarovit is the obvious god of war, and he compares his golden shield guarded in the temple to the shield guarded in the Roman
Regia The Regia ("Royal house") was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Via Sacra at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the ...
. This god was said to be a Polabian hypostasis of
Perun In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmam ...
. According to Andrzej Szyjewski, this god manifests solar, martial qualities, and was also responsible for the sphere of fertility, harvest and youth. Some researchers also link the figure of Yarovit with an East Slavic character named '' Yarilo'', who is considered by some researchers to be an East Slavic deity. Information about ''Yarilo'' does not appear until 1765, and it is described there as a folk custom abolished by the bishop. According to ethnographic material, one of the girls was dressed in Jarilo's clothing; ''Jarilo'' was to be a young man in a white robe, barefoot, with a human head in his right hand, ears of rye in his left, wearing a wreath of herbs and was to sit on a white horse. The identity or connection between Yarovit and Yarilo is supported primarily by the fact that both names contain the same stem ''jar-'' and that the holidays associated with one and the other took place on April 15 (or on a similar date). The view of the relationship between Yarovit and Yarilo is supported, for example, by Gieysztor, Michal Téra, Roman Zaroff. However, many researchers consider the relationship between the two figures to be controversial or unsubstantiated, such Łowmiański,
Stanisław Urbańczyk Stanisław Urbańczyk (27 July 1909 – 23 October 2001) was a Polish linguist and academic, a professor at the universities of Toruń, Poznań and Kraków. He was the head of the Institute of the Polish Language at the Polish Academy of Sciences ...
or Jerzy Strzelczyk, just as it is considered controversial to interpret Yarilo as a deity. Some scholars also consider Yarovit and
Svetovit Svetovit, Sventovit, Svantovit is the god of abundance and war, and the chief god of the Slavic tribe of the Rani, and later of all the Polabian Slavs. His organized cult was located on the island of Rügen, at Cape Arkona, where his main temple ...
to be identical or synonymous deities. The first to propose such a view was
Aleksander Brückner Aleksander Brückner (; 29 January 1856 – 24 May 1939) was a Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literatures (Slavistics), philologist, lexicographer and historian of literature. He is among the most notable Slavicists of the late 19th ...
, who recognized that the words ''*jarъ(jь)'' and ''*svętъ'' were formerly synonymous and that both meant "strong", while ''*svętъ'' began to mean "holy, sacred" only under the influence of Christianity. Therefore, the theonyms ''Yarovit'' and ''Svetovit'' mean the same thing, as do the given names ''Yaropelk'' and ''Svetopelk'', with the theonym ''Yarovit'' supposed to have originated first, later replaced by ''Svetovit'' by
Rugians The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians ( grc, Ρογοί, Rogoi), were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his ''Germania'' who called them the ''Rugii'', and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Som ...
. The view of a close relationship between the two deities has been supported by, for example Urbańczyk, Łowmiański or Zaroff. However, the view that ''*jarъ(jь)'' and ''*svętъ'' were synonyms is criticized and often unsupported by modern scholars.


In archeology

There are two stone slabs in St. Peter's Church in Wolgast. The first, measuring 86 × 46 cm, was found in 1920 under the floor, and was later built into the wall of the church. On this slab was carved a man in a long robe, with his hands raised, holding a spear in his right hand. Later, a
Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...
was carved above his head. The figure is perhaps standing on a hill. The stone is called the ''Yarovit's stone'' (). The second slab measures 193 × 117 cm. It depicts a man wearing a long robe decorated below the waist with an ornament; in his right hand he holds a spear, whose spearhead has been destroyed by a Maltese cross. The left hand arches over the hip, which corresponds to miniature figures from the Slavic period.


See also

*
Yarri ''Eucalyptus patens'', commonly known as yarri or blackbutt, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branch ...
*
Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
*
Erra Erra can refer to: * Erra (god), a Babylonian god * Erra, Estonia, a settlement in Sonda Parish, Ida-Viru County, Estonia * Erra, the purported home planet of the pleiadean aliens described by ufologist Billy Meier * Pizzo Erra, a mountain in Switz ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Slavic gods War gods