PerunPerun is the highest god of the Slavic pantheon, model example of the Lord of Thunder (cf. Thor), in classification of Dumézil the god of 2nd function (physical and military power), members of Slavonic squads swore on his name (Russ.); attributes: mountain, oak, firmament (in Indo-European languages was joined with notion of sky of stone), horse, cart, weapons of stone - then metal (hammer, axe, arrow), fire. Myth - reproduced on the ground of folkloristic given: the fight of Perun against demonic opponents (main opponents - Żmij, Veles, aerial dragons and crowd of smaller ghosts: biesy (sing. bies), czarty (czart), latawce (latawiec), porońce (poroniec) etc. Polish spelling.) stealing waters, cattle, divine partner of god (Perperuna), hiding before anger of Thunderlord under/in a man, horse, cow, tree, stone, at last in to water (a fish with red eyes). Perun is helped by płanetnicy (sing. płanetnik), chmurni-cy(-k), obłoczni-cy(-k) (Pl), stuh(-y), zduh(-y), stuhac(-e), zduhac(-e), vjetrogonj-e(-a), jedogonj-e(-a) (Serb) and, after to carriage names from demoniac enemy to the helper, zmaj(-e), zmej(-e) (Bulg) and żmij(-e) (Pl.) (spirits, living peoples and even animals with spirit or with body being raised to sky during storm) fighting with smok(-i) ("a dragon") (Pl.) zmej(-e) (Russ.), (ch)al-a(-y) (SouthSlav.).\n \nPerun was represented with silver hairs and golden moustaches (Russ.), his weapon: stones, stone - arrows. Their remainders according to folk beliefs are fulgurites and belemnites, and sometimes archaic tools, all they are called in Slavic countries perun's stones, thunderbolt stones, thunderbolt wedge, or perun's arrow, devil's finger but also God's finger, and even Mother of God finger (compare to: Lith.: "Berkun's finger" - sic!), also a hammer and an axe. Thunderbolt stones are sometimes transferred back to skies (by wind or pł anetnik). Weapons of Perun protected before bad luck, evil powers, disease, and thunder itself.\n \nLike Thor, Perun's vegetable hypostasis was oak (about of what one mentioned higher), especially distinctive (the oldest, greatest, growing on a hill)- a space under - general place of worship and folding of sacrifices (with a bull, an ox, a ram, eggs); marked oaks stood on country borders - communities, these "stations" were visited during holidays of village late spring and summer (SouthSlav.) (compare to: Iupiter Quernus, see also: Perkunas). Perun is also connected with other plants: perunika, perin (Serb., Russ.). Primary relations with almost identical Perkunas from Latvian mythology show the close affiliation between, and common origin of, the Balto-Slavic tribes. In the Vedic religion this god is called Varuna. The similiarities between Perun and the god Thor in Norse mythology caused an amalgamation of the two gods in Kievan Rus. Christianity replaced Perun with Saint Elijah the Thunderer.
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