Radegast, also Radagast, Radigost, Redigast, Riedegost or Radogost is an old god of Slavic mythology. Since the name can easily be dialectically adjusted and translated as “dear guest” or “welcomed guest”, Radegast was proclaimed as the Slavic god of hospitality and as such entered the hypothetical, reconstructed Slavic pantheon. Even myths concerning him were constructed based on various folk customs of sacred hospitality. Similar customs, however, are known in many Indo-European mythologies without a distinct deity associated explicitly with them. Another possible etymology may be from Slavic "rada" – council, and "gościć", "hostit", "goszczący" – to host, Radogost being the name of the council or assembly host, leader, or speaker, and one of the attributes of the god. This view could be supported by the political role Radegast temple played in the life of West Slavic tribes. According to some literary sources he is also the god of war, night, fire, and the evening sky. He is completely black, is armed with a spear and helmet, and it pleases him to be invited to banquets.
According to one of the romantic authors, Radegast was beloved by Hors, described as the beautiful young goddess of the moon. However he ignored her, unlike the god of the windStribog, who loved her. Stribog secretly stole Radegast's cloak and towards morning he sneaked into Hors chamber, where she let him seduce her and got her pregnant. Radegast was outraged, but not because of Hors rather for the stolen coat. Hors felt cheated and lonely. She begged for mercy for her newborn girl and suggested that she could be a goddess of Autumn, but the main god Svarog disagreed and the dispute was not settled. As a result, this season does not have a goddess and the goddess Živa fights over it with the goddess Marzanna. Mt. Radhošť, in the Moravian-Silesian Beskidsmountain range, is traditionally associated with the worship of this god; according to legend, missionaries Cyril and Methodius when they visited the mountain on their trip to Great Moravia, had his idol demolished. The original statue once placed on Mt. Radhošť, sculpted in 1929 by Albin Polasek, is now located in Frenstat's Town Hall. When the statue was moved to the mountain in 1931, the truck became stuck in a steep turn, and heavy rain accompanied by storm and lightning killed one of the soldiers. A second casting by Albin Polasek stands in the center of Prague's Zoo. The granite version, now found on Mt. Radhošť, is a more recent copy funded by the Radegast Beer Company in 1998. More information and sculptures of Radegast can be viewed at Polasek Museum in Winter Park, Florida. The name Radhošť itself is supposed to be a Czech transcription of Radegast.
