What statue? Where? Veles is conspicuously
absent from the list of gods whose statues were erected by Grand Prince
Vladimir of Kiev ca. AD 980 (just a few years before he embraced
Christianity). According to a late and not very credible report, there was a
stone figure of Veles at Rostov (destroyed in the late 11th c.), but I
don't recall Perun being mentioned in the same context. Veles (~ Volos) "the
cattle god" is invoked as a witness of oaths in treaties between pagan Rus and
Byzantium; he also appears in later registries of pagan deities, and his
name almost invariably stands next to Perun's. He is a rather enigmatic god
(though probably an important and powerful one), and his functions are somewhat
obscure for lack of reliable data. There is some evidence of his
association with magic, poetic inspiration and oracular
powers. The connection with St. Blaise (Blasius, Vlas) is based on the
accidental similarity of their Slavic names. Some historians maintain that the
West Slavic chthonic deity Triglav ("Three-Headed" -- with a well-known oracular
shrine at Szczecin, where a sacred black horse was kept for divinatory purposes,
and a statue or a sanctuary at Brandenburg) should be identified with Veles, but
this connection is as insecure as most other information about
Veles.
The Old Indic name Valá- is a variant of
Balá- (identical with the common noun <balá-/valá-> meaning 'cave') --
difficult if not outright impossible to equate formally with Slavic Veles for
comparative linguistic reasons.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:49 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Etruscan and Anatolian
OK-I admit my sources are spread rather thin. However, I have found
others more who stand by it, and there is supporting evidence in folklore.
Veles, more specifically Volos, is definetly a god of commerce and cattle.
Veles and Perun are tradtional enemies. His statue was kept separate from
Perun's because of this. Volos is still known as the patron saint St. Blas, and
is associated with cattle. The tale involving Vala stealing Indra's cattle
is well documented.
I have seen Velinas and Velnias as well for the
Baltic deity. Perhaps Vels is an improper form, but I am not the only one who
uses it. I am out of town right now, but after I return perhaps I can take a
trip to the library to find more formal support for my argument.
-Mr. Caws