Slavic

Slavic mythology is the least documented of the major European pagan traditions — the Slavic peoples had no writing system before Christianization, and the medieval chroniclers who recorded their beliefs were hostile churchmen intent on proving the pagans' error. Yet from fragmentary sources — the Russian Primary Chronicle, Helmold's Chronicle of the Slavs, Adam of Bremen, archaeological evidence, and the rich folklore that preserves older mythological material — a coherent picture emerges. Perun, the thunder god, ruled the sky and was patron of warriors and princes. Veles (Volos), the horned god of cattle, wealth, and the underworld, was Perun's cosmic adversary. Their eternal conflict — Perun in the treetops, Veles in the roots — echoes the Indo-European cosmic tree mythology. Mokosh was the earth mother. Svarog was the celestial smith. After Christianization (9th-12th centuries), the old gods were submerged but not destroyed: Perun became St. Elijah, Veles became St. Blaise, and Mokosh merged with the Virgin Mary. The folklore tradition — Baba Yaga, the Firebird, Koschei the Deathless — preserves pre-Christian mythology in narrative form, making Slavic folklore one of the richest in Europe.