--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> 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
Kiev is where I am talking about. The statue was erected in the
marketplace instead, because he was Perun's enemy. I agree he is
associated with the themes you talked about. I also believe his
attributes as cattle god, deity of natural powers and the otherworld
are pretty well known, if lacking in formal documentation. I agree he
was an important deity, right up there with Perun.
I don't buy the coincidental similarity argument in regards to
Saint Blasius. If there is any credibility to the argument that
saints absorb the attributes of older traditional deities, then this
would be a case where it would be in order. Veles was an important
diety, and this is certainly a region where traditional beliefs
stayed strong. Even without the similarity in names, I think the
argument is strong.
I will leave the linguistic point to those more skilled in that
field than myself. However, I would like to point out that this cave
etymology connects well with the underworld theme I am working with.
-Mr. Caws