What gods turned out to be "strangers" in their pantheons: Freya-Slav, antique Kolyada and others

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

We recognize each ancient culture, including by the pantheon of gods they worshiped - and we do not always think that these gods may be “non-native”. In fact, the borrowing of gods, or other people's myths for their gods, or other people's heroes went on constantly as the peoples met, communicated, traded and fought. So many of the gods in whom we are "confident", as in the Greek, Scandinavian or Slavic, are in fact aliens.

Horse and Simargl

You can find articles in which Khors and Simargl are mentioned among the Slavic gods - only because they were in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir. However, one should not forget that Vladimir, who did not feel very confident on the throne, was in constant religious quest - more precisely, he was looking for a way to establish his position among the military elite with the help of religion. And before betting on Christianity, he most likely tried to establish his own pagan pantheon, in which the warrior god (and not the god of fertility) would dominate and which included the gods revered by the non-Slavic warriors of Kiev.

These gods were represented by Khors and Simargl, who, most likely, were already gaining popularity among the local population and therefore were especially convenient for Vladimir. The sun-faced Khors and the winged Simargl probably came with the Alano-Sarmatians.

Christmas carols and mermaids

It is not entirely clear whether Kolyada is an ancient Russian deity or a god-like personification of a calendar holiday, but his name definitely has Latin roots - from calendae, the first days of the month among the ancient Romans. No wonder, the Slavs actively contacted with the ancient world - or, rather, the ancient world actively contacted everyone in a row.

The name of the mermaids is also assumed to have a Latin origin - from the name of the holiday Rosalia, dedicated to the dead - a complete analogue of the Rusal Week. Moreover, the image itself is much older than the name, but before contact with the Romans it had completely different names, like Mavka (now in Ukrainian, they come from the root meaning death) or Vodnitsa (there is in Belarusian).

Freya and other vans

There is an interesting hypothesis that the Vans are gods that the Scandinavians borrowed from the Slavs-Antes or Proto-Slavs-Wends. According to some sources, the Vanir live in the fabulous Vanaheim; according to others, this Vanaheim has a precise geographic location relative to the lands of the Ilmen Slovenes - slightly to the east and to the south. Some believe that these are the Carpathians, others - that the Volga region. The very name of the Vanir is tied to the word "Wends" as a kindred one.

In any case, attention is drawn to the fact that Freya actually duplicates the functions of Odin and his wife, has the right to half of the killed soldiers and is the daughter of the hostage god from the Vanir, that is, in some way alien to the Aesir. It is assumed that she embodies some kind of southern warlike (and loving) deity, the steppe version of Athena or Epona. In general, the duplication of functions and the personal history of the deity as adopted is believed to indicate that the deity was borrowed.

Athena, Minerva and the owl-eyed Iberian

If we talk about deities who are too influential for their not the most important place in the official hierarchy and who duplicate many other people's functions, then, of course, I remember the ancient Greek Athena - the patroness of war, wisdom, agriculture, crafts, weaving, shipbuilding, sailors, lovers and even work with iron. The circumstances of her birth are mysterious - she simply left Zeus's head. But she was worshiped in some now Greek places long before Zeus; in fact, she had to be "adopted". Athena's roots are believed to be North African.

The Roman counterpart of Athena, Minerva, came to ancient Roman culture from the Italian Etruscan tribe, and to those, as it is believed, in fact, from the Greeks. On the Iberian peninsula (now there is Spain), the almighty owl goddess, who is considered a relative of Athena, descended from the same North African deity, was very actively worshiped. The culture of this owl-eyed goddess gave Spain many megalithic (that is, consisting of huge stones) sanctuaries, as well as, of course, sculptures. In general, this African goddess conquered the entire northern coast of the Mediterranean.

Adonis

Another god borrowed by the ancient Greeks is Adonis. Even his name is just a euphemism for Baal, who was often afraid to be called out loud. Most likely, the cult of Adonis sailed with the Phoenicians and their alphabet (yes, the Greek alphabet is the evolution of the Phoenician, as our Russian is a descendant of the Greek).

Epona

Those who loved to drag foreign gods were the ancient Romans. But even among them in the pantheon of "newcomers" the goddess Epona was an insignia - she was revered by the horsemen, and the horsemen were the political, military and social elite of Ancient Rome. Moreover, before contact with the Celts, they did not think of their goddess of horses and riding.

Epona not only patronized everyone who rode, but was also associated with the world of the dead, so for soldiers who needed to be friends with luck and the gods of death, she was an important figure. Apparently, having seen it among the Gauls, the Romans realized that they lacked this throughout history.

Having conquered territories in Britain, the Romans brought with them the cult of Epona and he took root there as a native - and all because there were enough Celts in Britain. So her cult flourished there like nowhere else, and allowed the Romans and Celts to reconcile with each other. Sometimes.

Argimpasa

Not all ancient civilizations should be appropriated by alien gods - the Scythians also did not always worship their own deities. For example, they recognized Argimpasa during a trip to Ascalon (now - the territory of Syria). According to legend, the Scythians plundered her temple, and she responded by sending them a “female disease” (apparently, the regulations). From such a sharp turn of affairs, the Scythians immediately began to respect the goddess. By the way, the Scythians also worshiped the Greek Ares, but the profane are not confused in his origin.

In general, a lot can be learned about the people by the way they see their gods and worship them: What gods did the Aztecs pray to and who taught people to love.