Svarog


Svarog is a Slavic deity known primarily from the Hypatian Codex, which contains a Slavic translation of the Chronicle of John Malalas. Svarog is there identified with Hephaestus, the god of the blacksmith in ancient Greek religion, and as the father of Dažbog, a Slavic solar deity. On the basis of this text, some researchers conclude that Svarog is the Slavic god of celestial fire and of blacksmithing.

Name etymology

derived the deity's name from the word “swar”. There are also numerous Indo-European language similarities and reconstructed pre-Slavic * sъvariti - forging, casting, molding something hot.
The traces of pre-Christian cult of Svarog/ Swaróg are in numerous place names, such as Greater Poland Swarzędz, Pomeranian Swarożyn south of Gdańsk, or Polabian Swarzyn, Czech Svarov, Svařeň, as well as taboo forms of the name of the deity present in such place names as Twarożna Góra in Poland, Tvarožná in Czech Moravia, Tvarožná in Slovakia, or Tvarog - castle ruins in Dobrova, near Krško in Styria, Slovenia.
Swaróg's sons are Swarożyc, Dażbóg, Perun and Weles. There are also hypotheses recognizing Swarożyc and Dażbóg as his personifications.
Swarożyc, Svarožič are patronyms created by adding the suffix "-yc", "-ič" to the name Svarog, Swaróg, and changing the phoneme "g" to "ż", "ž", according to Slavic grammar rules - indicating descendants of Swaróg.
Redigost, worshiped in Radgosc, Mecklemburg was also reported in medieval sources as Swarożyc, Svarožič.
Swaróg was compared by Roman Jakobson to a Raróg bird, a flame-eyed falcon, which would be one of his taboo names. According to other hypotheses, he was a divine blacksmith, father of other gods and creator of the Sun who is in heaven, and is an idle god.