ABSTRACT
No Slavic divine name is mentioned in any of the early sources discussed above; Slavic names of the South Slavic god of lightning of Procopius and of the Wagrian Saturn of Widukind remain unknown. Only three authors definitely wrote about the Slavs: Procopius—about the Southern Slavs, St. Boniface—about Western Slavs (Wends), and Widukind—also about the West Slavic Wagri in modern Holstein. The other three authors discussed in this section wrote about the Rus’, whose ethnic identity is questionable, and described their customs not in their home territory, but abroad: in Volga-Bulgaria (ibn Fadlan), the Pecheneg area (Constantine), and Danube-Bulgaria (Leo). All three authors writing about the Rus’ mention chicken sacrifices. Widows’ self-immolation is mentioned by St. Boniface and ibn Fadlan, and their evidence is corroborated by later sources (Thietmar). However, such practices as boat burial and suicide of defeated warriors are certainly Scandinavian and not Slavic, while the sacred oak on Khortitsa Island and cultic images on a bank of Volga belonged most probably to local non-Slavic cults. Procopius’s evidence is especially important, since this is the only reference on the religion of the Southern Slavs, and it confirms the early existence of lower mythological figures, such as nymphs and spirits, known from modern folklore, in their religious beliefs. However, the belief in “one god” that Procopius attributed to the Slavs is a typically Christian “monotheistic” interpretation of primitive religions without a developed polytheistic pantheon of gods, which was attributed later to pagan Turks and Mongols. Is it a coincidence that no Slavic gods were mentioned in the early sources? Were there any Slavic gods at all before the mid-tenth century? We’ll try to answer this question in Part II of this study.
