Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2008 1:22:09 GMT -4
He made up Czernobog/Bieblebog? Wow, that's pretty cool.
Yep. Someone asked him (in his blog) who his favourite gods were, and he mentioned that they were some of his favourites and he'd made them up.
Yep. Someone asked him (in his blog) who his favourite gods were, and he mentioned that they were some of his favourites and he'd made them up.
Neil Gaiman most assuredly did NOT make up Czernobog. I still can't figure out how to link, but from wikipedia:
Chernobog (also spelled Crnobog, Czernobóg, Černobog or Zernebog from the Russian Чернобог, each name meaning "black god") is a mysterious Slavic deity about whom much has been speculated but little can be said definitively. The only sources, which are Christian ones, interpret him as a dark and cursed god, but it is questionable how important he really was to ancient Slavs. The name is attested only among West Slavic tribes of the 12th century, hence it is speculated that he was not a very important or very old deity.
The only historic source on Slavic mythology mentioning this god is the 12th-century Chronica Slavorum, a work written by German priest Helmold which describes customs and beliefs of several Wendish and Polabian tribes who were at that time still resisting the growing pressure of Christianization. Helmold wrote that: The Slavs, they say, have one peculiar custom: during feasts, they pass a goblet amongst them in circle, for purpose not to praise, but rather to curse in the names of gods, good and evil, for every good thing praising a good god, and for every bad thing cursing an evil god. This god of woe in their language is called Diabolous or Zherneboh, meaning black god.'
On the basis of this inscription, many modern mythographers assumed that, if the evil god was Chernobog, the Black God, then the good god should be Belobog or the White God. However, the name of Belobog is not mentioned by Helmold anywhere in his Chronica, nor is it ever mentioned in any of the historic sources that describe the gods of any Slavic tribe or nation. Additionally, the inscription quoted above is more likely Helmold's own interpretation than an accurate description of Slavic pre-monotheistic beliefs: Helmold, being German, did not know the language of Slavs, and being a Christian priest, did not have much, if any, contact with the Slavs themselves; while his information about Slavic mythology is valuable, one would be wise not to take it for granted.
The only historic source on Slavic mythology mentioning this god is the 12th-century Chronica Slavorum, a work written by German priest Helmold which describes customs and beliefs of several Wendish and Polabian tribes who were at that time still resisting the growing pressure of Christianization. Helmold wrote that: The Slavs, they say, have one peculiar custom: during feasts, they pass a goblet amongst them in circle, for purpose not to praise, but rather to curse in the names of gods, good and evil, for every good thing praising a good god, and for every bad thing cursing an evil god. This god of woe in their language is called Diabolous or Zherneboh, meaning black god.'
On the basis of this inscription, many modern mythographers assumed that, if the evil god was Chernobog, the Black God, then the good god should be Belobog or the White God. However, the name of Belobog is not mentioned by Helmold anywhere in his Chronica, nor is it ever mentioned in any of the historic sources that describe the gods of any Slavic tribe or nation. Additionally, the inscription quoted above is more likely Helmold's own interpretation than an accurate description of Slavic pre-monotheistic beliefs: Helmold, being German, did not know the language of Slavs, and being a Christian priest, did not have much, if any, contact with the Slavs themselves; while his information about Slavic mythology is valuable, one would be wise not to take it for granted.
I had heard of Czernobog in my teens from a neighbor in the city, WAY before Gaiman was writing. And Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has had a Czernobog perfume oil since 2001.
