Chernobog ( "Black God") and Belobog ( "White God") are an alleged pair of Polabian deities. Chernobog appears in Helmold's ''

Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

'' as a god of misfortune worshipped by the Wagri and Obodrites, while Belobog is not mentioned – he was constructed in opposition to Chernobog. Both gods also appear in later sources, but they are not considered reliable. Researchers do not agree on the status of Chernobog and Belobog: many scholars recognize the authenticity of these

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

s and explain them, for example, as gods of good and evil; on the other hand, many scholars believe that they are pseudo-deities, and Chernobog may have originally meant "bad fate", and was later associated with the Christian

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

Sources

In Latin records, this theonym is noted as and . The 12th-century German monk and chronicler Helmold, who accompanied the

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

missions to the Elbe Slavs, describes in his '' Chronicle of the Slavs'' the cult of Chernobog: Belobog does not appear in any reliable sources – he was created in opposition to Chernobog.

Later sources

The next sources that speak of Chernobog and/or Belobog appear only in the 16th century. Around 1530, a Dominican friar from

Pirna Pirna (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a ''Große ...

, Johan Lindner, recalls the gods in his compilation. Although he lived in or near the

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

n region, he probably only used written sources and monastic stories, and not field research, which made many historians deem his work unreliable, including Georg Fabricius and Petrus Albinus. They believed that although his sources were numerous and varied, he used them uncritically. At the end of the 17th century, also mentioned the Chernobog in his list of the Lusatian gods. This information is also considered unreliable because it came into being late, when the Lusatian paganism was probably completely extinct and about half of the gods he mentioned are of Prussian origin. In 1538, the Pomeranian chronicler Thomas Kantzow in his ''Chronicle of Pomerania'' wrote: Then Sebastian Münster, in ''Cosmographiae universalis'' of 1550, describes the harvest ritual associated with Svetovit and continues: "In general they (the Rugians) worshipped two gods, namely ''Belbuck'' and ''Zernebuck'', as if a white and a black god, a good and an evil

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

, God and Satan, as the source of good and evil, according to the error of the Manichaeans". The works of Kantzov and Münster are probably independent of each other (various forms of recording the name of the Belobog, the ''Chronicle of Pomerania'' was first published, but it was not published until the 19th century), but they use a common source, which, according to Miroslava Znayenko, could be the archive of the Abbey of , where the Belobog was forged. Daniel Cramer, a theologian and professor from

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

, probably held in his hands a copy of a chronicle from this archive or saw a quote from it, because in his ''Pommerisches Kirchen-Chronicon'' he probably paraphrased a part of it: Chernobog also appears in the anonymous ''Historia Caminensis'' as the god of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

, which is based on a work by Münster (both works speak of the "error of the Manichaeans"). Chernobog and Belobog also appear in other minor texts.

Interpretations

There is no consensus in the academic community about the status of Chernobog and Belobog in Slavic mythology, or whether the two gods existed at all in Slavic mythology. Some researchers completely reject the existence of Belobog due to his non-appearance in the sources. At least four views have developed in scholarship: # Chernobog is an epithet of Satan, and Belobog arose secondarily in later literature # Chernobog and Belobog are Slavic deities (actual theonyms or epithets of other deities) # Chernobog and Belobog are names of Christian figures with pre-Christian origin # Chernobog and Belobog are pseudo-deities, they did not exist in either the Christian or pagan vocabulary

As deities

Helmold's information led to the 19th century concept according to which there was supposed to be dualism in Slavic religion, which reached the Slavs from the

Iranian peoples Iranian peoples, or Iranic peoples, are the collective ethnolinguistic groups who are identified chiefly by their native usage of any of the Iranian languages, which are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages within the Indo-European langu ...

(

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

Bogomils Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. I ...

); Chernobog and the hypothetical Belobog were compared to

Ahriman Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...

and Ormuzd, the eternal enemies in

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

mythology. In this spirit, Chernobog was interpreted by Alexander Hilferding. Later, Alexander Afanasyev and Alexander Famitsin considered the eastern counterpart of Belobog to be Belun (field spirit). None of these scholars, however, considered dualism an important element of Slavic religion; such a view was expressed only by in his amateur work (1872), but his work is not considered important. Franciszek Slawski, in his , reconstructed the

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...

''*bělъ bogъ'' "white, bright deity" and Proto-Slavic ''*čŕ̥nъ bogъ'' "black deity, dark deity", for the latter the main attestation is supposed to be Helmold's account. Such dualism was advocated, for example, by

Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Poland ...

, Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov considered Chernobog to be a god who brings misfortune. Some authors have tried to prove the cult of Chernobog with the names of the '' Czorneboh'' and '' Bieleboh'' mountains in

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Polabian Slavs, Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia a ...

, where the gods are said to have been worshipped, but these names were not created until the modern era due to the popularity of the gods in the culture of those areas. When considering the authenticity of the gods, place names that are said to refer to Chernobog and Belobog are also mentioned as arguments, such as the village of in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

or the village of in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, also the neighboring villages of ''Černíkovice'' and in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

are said to be evidence of the authenticity of the cult of Chernobog and Belobog; however, the former actually comes from a personal name, likely of the founder.

As pseudo-deities

On the other hand, many researchers considered Chernobog merely a personification of bad luck, some mistake by Helmold or a pseudo deity in general. Andrzej Szyjewski considered Chernobog only a pejorative epithet for the devil,

Stanisław Urbańczyk Stanisław Urbańczyk (27 July 1909 – 23 October 2001) was a Polish linguist and academic, a professor at the universities of Toruń, Poznań and Kraków. He was the head of the Institute of the Polish Language at the Polish Academy of Sciences ...

said: His view was supported by Jerzy Strzelczyk. Chernobog was also supposed to be the personification of bad luck according to Martin Pitro and Petr Vokáč and Stanisław Rosik.

Aleksander Brückner Aleksander Brückner (; 29 January 1856 – 24 May 1939) was a Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literature (Slavistics), philologist, lexicographer, and historian of literature. He is among the most notable Slavicists of the late 19th ...

negated the existence of Chernobog (and Belobog) in Slavic religion and claimed that Chernobog was created under the influence of Christianity, including medieval depictions of the devil as a black demon, and compared him to the alleged Prussian god '' Pikulas'', which ultimately derives from the Polish word "

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

". The view was supported by e.g. Henryk Łowmiański. An extended analysis of ''Chernobog'' and ''Belobog'' was made by Michał Łuczynski. He points out, first of all, that Slavic linguistic material makes it easy to conclude that words like ''black god'' and ''white god'' have a pan-Slavic range and a Proto-Slavic origin. The attestations of the ''black god'' are as follows: Slovincian ''čǻrnï bȯ́u̯g'' "devil", Silesian "evil spirit, devil", and toponyms: Russian , Ukrainian and Serbian ; the attestations of the ''white god'': Slovincian ''bjǻu̯lï bȯ́u̯g'' "God", Silesian "a good, human-friendly deity; a good spirit", Serbian "fate", Bulgarian "luck, success", and toponyms: Czech , , Russian , , German , , and others. According to him, the above material leads him to assume that: the words ''black'' and ''white'' used in the expressions were used in their metaphorical sense, successively "bad" and "good", and the word ''god'' was used in its abstract sense of "fate, luck, fate". Accordingly, Proto-Slavic ''*čŕ̥nъ bogъ'' meant "bad fate", and ''*bělъ bogъ'' "good fate" and this was their original meaning. Evidence of this etymology is provided by analogies, e.g. Polish , Serbian , , Croatian all meaning "bad fate", "black fate". Subsequently, these terms passed into personal names category and were used to describe

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and the

as figures responsible for good fate and bad fate. Consequently, he considers Helmold's Chernobog to be a pseudo-deity, which has been misidentified by modern scholars as a deity due to Helmold's

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of ''black god'' and ''white god'' into Latin as ''niger deus'' and ''bonus deus'' which suggests that Slavic ''bog'' used in these terms = Latin ''deus'', and personal names ''*Čŕ̥nobogъ'' "devil" and ''*Bělobogъ'' "God/Jesus" as semantic neologisms belonging to the Christian cultural circle, not pagan, as religious, not mythological terms, as may be further indicated by the toponymy (the Christian places of worship in Bielboh and Belovozhskiy monastyr).

In popular culture

In Disney productions

An alternative version of Chernobog named Chernabog appears in the symphonic poem ''

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian s:St. John's Eve (Gogol, unsourced), literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed ...

'' by Russian composer

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

. He is depicted as a giant winged demon summoning the souls of the dead. One segment of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's '' Fantasia'' (1940) was based on this work. The character may have been originally intended as a representation of Satan; in the film, Disney calls him "Satan himself". A full-length live-action film based on the segment was announced in 2015. Since ''Fantasia'', Chernabog has appeared in many Disney productions: * ''

Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the sequel to Disney's 1940 animated feature film '' Fantasia''. Like its p ...

'' (1999) – a sequel to the 1940 film; Chernabog appears in references to the first film * ''

House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...

'' (2001–2003) – guest starring in one episode along with other characters from ''Fantasia'' * ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

'' (2013) – in the episode "Touchdown and Out" as Mickey Mouse's opponent. In the episode "The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!", he is visible in the background during the introductory subtitles. * '' Kingdom Hearts'' (2002) – as a boss during the ''End of the World'' * '' Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' (2012) - as a boss during the ''Fantasia'' inspired world ''Symphony of Sorcery''

Movies and shows

* ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (2011–2018) – appears in "Darkness on the Edge of Town" episode * ''

American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana (culture), Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shad ...

'' (2017–2021) – television series adaptation of the

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

novel with the same name

Books and comics

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

: ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' (1820) – Zernebock is depicted as the god of the ancient

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

* '' Heirs of Alexandria'' series (2002) – as an antagonist * S. M. Stirling: '' The Peshawar Lancers'' (2002) – the action takes place in 2025, 147 years after the meteorite rain that destroyed the Earth. The

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, believing that

and

abandoned the world, began to worship Chernobog * Chernobog appears as the god of chaos, darkness, and night in the Balto-Slavic pantheon of the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

. He is a member of

Winter Guard Winter guard (sometimes spelled "winterguard") is an indoor Color guard (flag spinning), color guard sport and performance art derived from military ceremonies. Modern winter guard is a competitive, performance-based activity which incorporates c ...

, a group of Russian superheroes * Chernobog is the principal villain in '' Spinning Silver'' (2018), appearing as a demon of fire who possesses the Tzar

Video games

* ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

'' (1997) – Tchernobog is the primary antagonist, being depicted as a "bloodied, horned Dark God of monstrous appearance", who controls the cult known as "the Cabal" * ''

Persona 3 is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Atlus that is the fourth main installment in the ''Persona (series), Persona'' series, which is part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2 in ...

'' (2006) - Chernobog is one of the many Personas the protagonist can embody for its powers in battle. * ''

Crusader Kings II ''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On Octob ...

'' (2012) – In expansions, ''Monks and Mystics'', when a player plays as a pagan Slavic ruler, a Chernobog appears as a "Satanic" god, worshipped by a "Cold Bloods" sect * '' Smite'' (2014) – as a playable character added in the May 2018 update. He is also the first god of the Slavic pantheon in this game * '' Arknights'' (2019) – Chernobog is the name of the first town that the story takes place in. * '' Honkai: Star Rail'' (2023) – Belobog is the name of the blizzard-stricken town in the first planet, Jarilo-VI, where the story takes place. * '' Grand Theft Auto Online'' (2017) – An MLRS based on the Soviet MAZ-543M appears as the Chernobog. * ''

Zenless Zone Zero ''Zenless Zone Zero'' is a free-to-play action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo (with publishing outside mainland China under HoYoverse, Cognosphere, d/b/a ''HoYoverse''). The game was released on Windows, iOS, Android (oper ...

'' (2024) - Koleda Belobog is the name of one of the playable characters and is the president of the construction company Belobog Heavy Industries.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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