> "Chernobog" occurs in a single early source --
>Helmold of Bosau's _Chronica Slavorum_ (12th c.). Helmold mentions a
>hostile deity of the Polabian Slavs, "Diabol sive Zcerneboch, id est
>niger deus", the bringer of misfortune.
Thanks for that. Boy, they really extrapolated from that like crazy -- all
the way to Russia. But it never made sense from what I know of folk
tradition.
I've always been curious to know how Chernobyl would be translated.
I once read a Russian (well, maybe Ukrainian?) story about a girl who fell
into a pit of serpents and was taught all the secret arts, but was
cautioned never to reveal the secret name of Chernobyl (which was the herb
mugwort). Of course, as these stories go, this is exactly what happened,
and she lost her power of second-sight.
Max