Perun- Slavic god of thunder
The mythological character
In the pantheon of Slavs there is the deity Perun, which they revered with special importance.
Traditions of Perun tell of a deity who is associated with the lord of war but also contrastingly representing the forces of good.
When the sun is threatened by storm clouds that hide it in its shadow, Perun smashes them with his lightning, allows the sun to reappear, thus ensuring the continuation of life on earth. The Slavs believe that humans are constantly threatened by Veles, the god of the Underworld who steals their cattle, abducts them, or causes misery. At such moments, Perun hits him with his lightning and forces the evil god to hide back in his asylum.
When Christian preachers appear among the Slavs, some of the attributes of Perun are transmitted to the Christian prophet St. Elijah.
Etymology
Its name derives from the Indo-European root * (s) per-, which means ‘to strike’, ‘to strike’ (Slavic * râti, * perǫ, Bulgarian feathers, to perv, feather, Lithuanian perti ‘to strike, to beat’) and in Slavic language has a derivative * perun, ‘thunder, lightning’, a word that is preserved in Russian and Ukrainian. Perun, a Belarusian. a feather, a fountain. perun, gender. piorun “thunder”.
1550s, from French Pyrénées, from Latin Pyrenæi montes, from Greek Pyrene, name of a daughter of Bebryx / Bebrycius who was beloved of Herakles; she is said to be buried in these mountains (or that the mountains are the tomb of herakles reared over her corpse). The name is said to mean literally “fruit-stone,” but Room says it might be Greek pyr “fire” + eneos “dumb, speechless,” which perhaps translates or folk-etymologizes a Celtic goddess name. “In medieval times there was no overall name for the range and local people would have known only the names of individual mountains and valleys” [Room, Adrian, Place Names of the World, 2nd ed., McFarland & Co., 2006]. Related: Pyrenean.
Perunika – flower with the name of Perun
Relationships with other deities
The name of the god is therefore identical with the name of the German god Thor – þórr, Donner, Thunder “lightning, thunder”. In all likelihood, the cult of Perun experienced the influence of the German cult on Thor or vice versa. In the language of the Slavic Slavs Thursday was called Peräunedån, which calculates it. Donnerstag and English Thursday.
Perun’s image corresponds to the Baltic Perkunas, the Scandinavian Thor, the Greek Zeus, the Latin Jupiter, the Celtic Tarinis. After Christianization on a daily basis, he was identified with Saint Elijah.
Other links
The name of the Pirin Mountains and the Pyrenees Range comes from Perun.
It is believed that the name of the German city Pron is also associated with the name of the god Perun. From the name of Perun comes the name of the flower iris.
The link between Eastern and Western Europe is the influence of the Celts.
View from peak Polezhan, Pirin
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*бебрики – наименование на племе, което според Страбон се преселват от Мала Азия (Битиния) в Европа.
