Disclaimer:

This essay was written at an

undergraduate level and, as such, has
not been peer reviewed nor subjected to
other forms of critical evaluation.
 Nicolas Jansens

Perun: Thor in Slavic Guise?

UKRN 2510 – A60:
Ukrainian Mythology
Prof. Anna Zavrazhyna
July 20th, 2012

The pantheon of the pagan Slavs remains an area of mystery, being revealed only by
painstaking reconstruction from the scant sources available to researchers today. One god
who has emerged from the mists of time is the thunder-god Perun. Many other thun-
der-gods have been worshipped by the ancient Slavs' contemporaries, both near and far.
As the course of history brought one such group of thunder-god worshippers from Scand-
inavia to become the princes of the eastern Slavic people, the question arises then, as to
who Perun really was. Was he a Slavic god, who by coincidence has many features in
common with the Scandinavian god Thor, or was he in fact Thor himself in Slavic guise,
impressed upon the ancient Rus' by their Scandinavian princes?

As the Primary Chronicle (Повість врем'яних літ)—originally compiled in Kyiv,

around the year AD 1113—tells us, in the year AD 988, following his own personal
conversion, Kyivan Prince Volodymyr the Great (r. AD 980-1015), began a process of
forcibly converting the populace of the Kyivan Rus' to Byzantine Christianity. As a part
of this process, he first ordered the destruction of the idols of the Slavs' ancient pagan
gods. At least one such pantheon of idols is recorded to have been erected just ten years
earlier at Volodymyr's own behest, on a hill beside a castle. The Chronicle describes the
idol of Perun specifically as being, “made of wood with a head of silver and a mustache
of gold”.1 It is likely, then, that this self same idol is the one that Volodymyr is said to
have ordered to, “be tied to a horse's tail and dragged down the hill along Borichev to the
creek [Pochaina]”, whereupon, “[h]e appointed twelve men to beat the idol with sticks,
not because he thought the wood was sensitive, but to affront the demon”. 2 Thus ended
the era of Perun, and pagan tradition, in the eastern Slavic lands.

Although information about eastern Slavic gods and pagan beliefs are incredibly
sparse within the historical record, some important characteristics of Perun may still be
1. S. H. Cross, “Primitive Civilization of the Eastern Slavs”, American Slavic and East
European Review, 5.1/2 (1946) 76.
2. Cross, 76.

1
deduced. Already from the short account of Perun's overthrow seen above we notice
Perun being accorded a position of greater significance among his fellow gods. This fact
reveals itself beginning even with the very first known account of the Slavic religion,
recorded by Byzantine historian Procopius in the sixth century AD in his History of the
Wars. In a brief passage, the social structure and rudimentary belief system of a tribe
called the Sclaveni—recognized by historians as being Slavic—are described. According
to Procopius, in addition to revering rivers, nymphs and other spirits, the Sclaveni,
“believe that one god, the maker of the lightning, is alone lord of all things, and they
sacrifice to him cattle and all other victims”. 3 Here the name Perun is not explicitly stated,
but the description of him as the maker of lightning fits the emergent pattern of research
by historians and anthropologists which reveals Perun to be a heavenly god of lightning
and thunder.

Returning to the Primary Chronicle, we find records of three treaties between the
Kyivan Rus' and the Byzantines in which Perun is mentioned. The first such treaty was
concluded in AD 907 as follows: “According to the religion of the Russes, the latter [Oleg
and his followers] swore by their weapons and by their god Perun, as well as by Volos,
the god of cattle, and thus confirmed the treaty”. 4 It is significant to note that Perun is
described here as “their god” (bogom svoim) while Volos is simply the god of cattle
(skotiem bogom). The second treaty, concluded in AD 945, stipulates: “If any of the
princes or any Russian subject, whether Christian or non-Christian, violates the terms of
this instrument, he shall merit death by his own weapons and be accursed of God and of
Perun because he violated his oath.”5 The Chronicle further describes the ratification of
the treaty as such: “In the morning Igor summoned the envoys, and went to a hill on
which there was a statue of Perun. The Russes laid down their weapons, their shields, and
their gold ornaments, and Igor and his people took oath (at least, such as were pagans)”. 6
Again, it is significant that in the first passage Perun is placed alone, alongside the Chris-

3. Cross, 75.
4. Cross, 75-76: “[...] po russkomu zakonu kljašasja oružjem svoim i Perunom bogom svoim i
Volosom skotiem bogom i utverdiša mir”. Russian translation: “[...] по закону русскому, и
клялись те своим оружием и Перуном, своим богом, и Волосом, богом скота, и
утвердили мир”.
5. Cross, 76: “ašče li že kto ot knjazj ili ot ljudii russkich, li chrestejan, ili ne chrestejan,
prestupitj se, eže estj pisano na charatji sei, budetj dostoin svoim oružjem umreti, i da budetj
kljat ot Boga i ot Peruna, jako prestupi svoju kljatvu”. Rus.: “Если же кто-нибудь из князей
или из людей русских, христиан или нехристиан, нарушит то, что написано в хартии
этой, - да будет достоин умереть от своего оружия и да будет проклят от Бога и от
Перуна за то, что нарушил свою клятву”.
6. Cross, 76: “zautra prizva Igor sly i pride na cholm kde stojaše Perun; i pokladoša oružje svoe
i šit i zoloto; i chodi Igor rotě i ljudi ego eliko poganych Rusi”. Rus.: “На следующий день
призвал Игорь послов и пришел на холм, где стоял Перун; и сложили оружие свое, и
щиты, и золото, и присягали Игорь и люди его - сколько было язычников между
русскими”.

2
tian god of the Greeks, suggesting his supremacy within the Slavic pantheon. The second
passage reinforces this notion, as Perun is the only Slavic god to whom Igor and his men
swear their oaths. The third treaty to mention Perun, signed in 971 between Sviatoslav of
Kyiv and John Tzimisces of Byzantium, contains a passage written from the perspective
of the Kyivan Rus' which states: “If we fail in the observance of any of the aforesaid stip-
ulations [...], may we be accursed of the God in whom we believe, namely, of Perun and
of Volos, the god of flocks”.7 Here the reintroduction of Volos to the oaths of the Rus'
creates an interesting complication, because if we isolate this single passage, it is not self
evident that Perun is indeed the supreme god of the Slavs or in any way more significant
than the god Volos. We will return to this point later, but for now we can interpret this
passage in light of the treaty of AD 907, in which both gods were also mentioned, but
with a discernible difference in the status each is accorded.

Further mentions of Perun in the Slavic historical record are found in both the
Memory and Eulogy of Volodymyr, written in the eleventh century, and Discourse on How
the Gentiles, being Pagans, first worshipped Idols, from the twelfth century, which echo
the Chronicle's account of Volodymyr's conversion of the Rus' to Christianity. The former
reads: “He overthrew Perun and Khors and many others, and destroyed idols, and cast out
all godless deceit”,8 while the latter tells us that they, “after holy baptism cast out Perun,
and took after Christ our God, but even today in the country districts they pray to him, the
accursed god Perun, and to Khors, and Mokosh”.9 Again Perun is not alone, but instead of
Volos, we hear of Khors and Mokosh. It should be mentioned, as well, that further written
sources exist which refer to pagan gods of the eastern Slavs but which do not mention
Perun at all, such as the Tale of Igor's Expedition, which again mentions Khors, in addi-
tion to Dazhbog and Stribog. These gods do not, however, fulfill a role of such import as
that of Perun to whom such solemn and binding oaths are sworn in the Primary Chron-
icle. It seems fair, then, to assume that Perun was viewed, at least among the Kyivan Rus',
about whom these sources are written, as the supreme god of the Slavic pagan pantheon.

7. Cross, 76: “ašče li ot tech preže rečenych ne sochranim [...], da iměem kljatvu ot boga, v ego
ze věrujem, v Peruna i v Volosa skotija boga”. Rus.: “Если же не соблюдем мы чего-либо
из сказанного раньше, пусть я и те, кто со мною и подо мною, будем прокляты от бога,
в которого веруем, - в Перуна и в Волоса, бога скота”.
8. Cross, 76-77: “Peruna i chorsa i iny mnogi popra, i skruši idoly i otverze vsju bezbožnuju
lestj”.
9. Cross, 77: “po svjatom ze kreščenji Peruna otrinuša, a po Christa Bogy jašasja, no i noně po
ukrainam moljatjsja emu prokljatomu bogu Perunu, i Chorsu, i Mokoši [...]”

3
 Other characteristics which may be ascribed to Perun are that he was a heavenly thun-
der-god, the “maker of lightning”,10 and, thus, the “creator of fire”.11 Images of Perun
depict him as a great bearded man wielding a throwing axe, or hammer, and arrows,
which were representations of his thunderbolt and were thereby associated with his
personal power. As such, he became a patron god, and the protector, of soldiers. He is
associated with oak trees and high places (hills, mountains), which tended to be found
together and were natural targets for lightning strikes. Such places, after experiencing a
lightning strike, were believed to be “areas of communion between heaven and earth”. In
fact, the name Perun is still found in the toponymy, especially of mountains, of Slavic
lands, such as the Pirin Mountains (Пирин) in Bulgaria and Mount Perun (Перунова
Гора) in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Lastly, Perun was believed to have ridden across the sky in
an iron chariot, pulled by a giant goat.12

What is important to note here is that most, if not all, of Perun's characteristics are
found ascribed to similar thunder-gods within other Indo-European cultures (and even
among some neighbouring, although not ethnologically related, cultures). Some of the
better known examples of pre-Christian thunder-gods are Zeus of the Greeks, Jupiter of
the Romans, Thor of the Scandinavians, Taranis of the Celts, Perkunas of the Lithuanians,
and Ukko of the Finns. Most such deities were also associated with the axe or hammer.
Thor would cast his hammer at his foes, while Zeus would throw axes. 13 In fact, up until
recent times, many Europeans have held the belief that stone axes and arrow-like fossils
which are found buried underground are in fact thunderbolts, cast from the sky by a thun-
der-god, in what appears like a lightning strike. 14 The theme of thunder-weapons being
cast by gods is so far reaching that they are in evidence not only in Europe, but also in
western and central Asia, and even in parts of Africa. 15 Further parallels can be drawn, as
well, between Perun and other thunder-gods. Zeus was also a supreme god, and was asso-
ciated with oak trees, as well as sky, rain, thunder and lightening, arguably by the same
rationale as for Perun, since oak trees commonly grew upon mountains, which were
naturally subjected to violent weather. 16 Taranis was a sky-god of storms, associated with

10. Edward S. Reisman, “The Cult of Boris and Gleb: Remnant of a Varangian Tradition?”,
Russian Review, 37.2 (1978) 144.
11. Irving H. Anellis, “Perun's Revenge: Understanding the "Duxovnaja Kul'Tura"”, Studies in
Soviet Thought, 27.1 (1984) 2.
12. Reisman, 144. Mike Dixon-Kennedy, “Perun”, Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth
and Legend, 1998 ed., 217.
13. Martti Haavio, “The Oldest Source of Finnish Mythology: Birchbark Letter No. 292”,
Journal of the Folklore Institute, 1.1/2 (1964) 58. H. R. Ellis Davidson, “Thor's Hammer”,
Folklore, 76.1 (1965) 5.
14. Oscar Montelius, “The Sun-God's Axe and Thor's Hammer”, Folklore, 21.1 (1910) 60.
Dixon-Kennedy, 217.
15. Davidson, 5. A. H. Krappe, “Picus Who Is Also Zeus”, Mnemosyne, 3.9.4 (1941) 255
16. Patrick Shaw, “On Worshipping the Same God”, Religious Studies, 28.4 (1992) 512-513.

4
an oaken club, and often depicted holding a wheel (as would be found on a chariot), and a
spiral spear.17

The most interesting parallels, however, can be drawn between Perun and the Scand-
inavian thunder-god Thor, particularly because the ruling class of the Kyivan Rus', known
as Varangians, were descendants of Scandinavians themselves. As we have similarly
concluded about Perun, Thor was the most worshipped Scandinavian god. He was also a
god of the heavens, had a red beard and a great voice, and he rode in a chariot pulled by
two goats, bearing the hammer Mjöllnir, which, when thrown, created a thunderbolt, and
would return to his hand. Just as Perun was a protector god, so was Thor, though, in his
case, of both gods and men.18 Given the number of parallels between the two gods, is it
then possible to conclude that Perun was in fact a Slavic adaptation of the Scandinavian
god Thor?

It is already believed that such a transference of identity was made once, following
the conversion of the Rus' to Christianity. Within Eastern Orthodox Christianity, saint
Elias has merged with, and become the successor of, Perun, due to their many shared
characteristics. The Slavic form of the name Elias (or Ilias) comes from the hellenized
form of Hebrew 'Eliyahu', which is often translated into English as Elijah. In the Old Test-
ament, the prophet Elijah calls fire from heaven to light a sacrifice to God; 19 he summons
a great storm from Mount Carmel; 20 he communes with God atop Mount Horeb where
God sends a great wind, an earthquake, and fire; 21 and he ascends to heaven in a chariot of
fire.22 With the rise of Christianity, St. Elias replaced Zeus within the Greek world, just as
he did, over time, the many other European thunder-gods, including the Slavic Perun. 23

If such a transference could take place in such a hostile environment, where one reli-
gion sought to replace and eradicate the other, how much more likely is it, then, that two
more-similar religions, neither having an agenda of domination, could undergo a similar
process of transference? In such a case, the direction of transfer would be most likely to
follow the political power structure, which in this case would imply that the eastern Slavs
were most likely to acquire new features of religion from their Varangian overlords.

Historian Edward S. Reisman makes a compelling case for the presence of the Scand-
inavian values of the Odinnic priest-king among the Kyivan Rus', even after conversion to

17. Harry Mountain, “Taranis”, The Celtic Encyclopedia, 1998 ed., 995.
18. Davidson, 3-5. Reisman, 145. Anders Andrén, “Behind "Heathendom": Archaeological
Studies of Old Norse Religion”, Scottish Archaeological Journal, 27.2 (2005) 121.
19. 1 Kings 18:30-39
20. 1 Kings 18:42-45
21. 1 Kings 19:7-18
22. 2 Kings 2:11-12
23. Reisman, 146.

5
Christianity, in the case of the murder of Kyivan princes Boris and Gleb, the first canon-
ized saints of the Kyivan Church. The common view of the role of the Kyivan prince is
that of the 'passion-sufferer' (страстотерпец), in the vein of Christ, meant to give one's
life for the people. Reisman challenges this view by looking beyond the Christian
sources, into Slavic and Varangian paganism.24

The god Odinn was a dominant member of the Scandinavian pantheon, and therefore
of the Varangians as well. He had an established ritual of sacrifice to him by which a
human victim would be hung from a tree and stabbed with a spear. This ritual was meant
to be a repetition of Odinn's own self-immolation. Because the Scandinavian kings were
viewed as being associated with the nation's fertility and fortune, there developed a tradi-
tion, both in legend and in history, of sacrificing the king to Odinn in order to alleviate
bouts of misfortune, such as famine. In this sacrificial function, the kings came to be seen
as priest-kings, having the ability to mediate between the gods and men. This unique rela-
tionship and responsibility is attested even among the continental Germanic tribes, and
such was its importance that it can be found in Scandinavian literature even 150 years
after Christianity succeeded in Scandinavia. Thus, Reisman rejects the notion that only
twenty-seven years after the conversion of the Rus' would the Varangian princes have
fully abandoned their pagan ways.25

Upon examination of the hagiographic record of the deaths of Boris and Gleb,
Reisman points out a number of details consistent with the Odinnic ritual sacrifice. After
he is killed, Gleb's pierced body is thrown between two tree trunks. In one such source the
trees are defined as part of an oak grove, which was sacred to Perun. 26 Accounting for this
connection and other instances of pagan sacrifices among the Rus' being brought to trees,
Reisman concludes:

The location of Gleb's body “[...] between two trunks” would indicate the
sacral role of the tree in the prince's sacrificial death, and the phrase
would reflect aspects of both the Varangian and native Russian ritual
sacrifice.27
Thus, rather than subscribing to the Christian notion of 'passion-sufferer', Reisman sees
here the fulfillment of the role of the Scandinavian priest-king. Whether or not Reisman's
conclusions are fully accurate or not, the importance of considering his account lies in the
fact that it demonstrates the probability of transference of Scandinavian beliefs to the Rus'
via their Varangian overlords and the likelihood of their retaining many of those beliefs
even into the Christian era.
24. Reisman, 141-142.
25. Reisman, 146-150.
26. Reisman, 150-151.
27. Reisman, 151.

6
 Regarding the transference of Thor into Slavic Perun specifically, some further evid-
ence yet exists, in support of this hypothesis. Amulets have been recovered in Scand-
inavia, and other Germanic territories, dating back as early as the ninth century, repres-
enting Thor's hammer Mjöllnir.28 These amulets bear a striking resemblance to Slavic axe
amulets, believed to represent Perun's axe (секира Перуна).29 Additionally, a description
of an idol of Thor, given by Snorri Sturluson in Kringla heimsins, finds an interesting
parallel in the Primary Chronicle. Sturluson's account says: “He has a hammer in his
hand; he is big and hollow, and beneath him is some kind of footstool on which he stands
when he is outside. He is abundantly adorned with gold and silver [...]. There sat Thor, of
all the gods the most honored, adorned with gold and silver”. 30 The similarity to the
Chronicle's description of Perun's idol is striking: “made of wood with a head of silver
and a mustache of gold”.31 One can even draw a possible linguistic connection between
the name of Thor's thunder-weapon Mjöllnir, from Old Norse, and the Russian word for
lightning molnija (молния).32

It seems, then, logical to conclude that a connection did exist between Thor and
Perun, but to what extent? As almost all of the existent texts which discuss Perun were
written after the arrival of Christianity, already over a century after the arrival of the
Varangians, it becomes difficult to distinguish which features of Perun might have
developed indigenously to the Slavs and which were imported from Scandinavian culture.
If we accept modern theories about Proto-Indo-European society, much in the same way
that Indo-European languages have diverged from a common origin, we can accept that
Indo-European gods will have also diverged from a common origin. In this way we can
explain the breadth of similarities found among Indo-European thunder-gods, by hypo-
thesizing that they all developed from a single Proto-Indo-European thunder-god. As
such, it is likely, then, that the Slavic god Perun was inherited as a common deity of the
Indo-European tradition, but that following the Varangian overlordship of the Eastern
Slavs, elements of the Scandinavian thunder-god were then merged into the cult of Perun.

It may also be possible that Thor-Perun was the supreme god of the Varangians, but
not of their Slavic subjects. This could explain the passages in the Primary Chronicle in
which Volos is mentioned alongside Perun. It is evident already from passages such as,

28. Davidson, Plates I, II.

29. A. Jonowski, “From the North-Eastern to Central Europ̨. Silver-inlayed Axe from the Early
Medieval Chamber Grave in Pié on the Chełmno Land (Poland)”, Археология и история
Пскова и Псковской земли, eds. P.G. Gaidukov, et al. (Pskov: 2010) 171-172.
30. Haavio, 56.
31. S. H. Cross, “Primitive Civilization of the Eastern Slavs”, American Slavic and East
European Review, 5.1/2 (1946) 76.
32. Krappe, 255

7
“[...] and Igor and his people took oath (at least, such as were pagans)”, 33 that not all the
Rus' held identical beliefs. In this light, it becomes possible to interpret the passage, “[...]
may we be accursed of the God in whom we believe, namely, of Perun and of Volos, the
god of flocks”,34 as referring to a mixed group of oath takers, one of pagan Varangians for
which the god in whom they believe is Perun, and the other of pagan Slavs for which it is
Volos. Lacking better and more numerous sources, however, such hypotheses must
remain only conjecture.

The link between Thor and Perun seems self-evident in terms of its existence, espe-
cially if one examines the thunder-gods of the cultures bordering on both Scandinavia and
Slavic lands. Further study could build a yet more convincing case for such a conclusion,
but the parallels presented here are strong enough to speak for themselves. The extent of
the transference from one god to the other, however, remains, for the time being, beyond
the reach of current study.

33. Cross, 76: “[...] i chodi Igor rotě i ljudi ego eliko poganych Rusi”. Rus.: “[...] и присягали
Игорь и люди его - сколько было язычников между русскими”.
34. Cross, 76: “[...] da iměem kljatvu ot boga, v ego ze věrujem, v Peruna i v Volosa skotija
boga”. Rus.: “[...] будем прокляты от бога, в которого веруем, - в Перуна и в Волоса,
бога скота”.

8
Bi
bli
ogr
aphy

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