Chernobog

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Chernobog (also spelled Crnobog, Czernobóg, Černobog or Zernebog from the Russian Чернобог, each name meaning "black god") is a mysterious Slavic deity of 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.

[edit] Sources

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.

[edit] Folklore

A veneration of this deity perhaps survived in folklore of several Slavic nations. In some South Slavic vernaculars, there exists an interesting phrase do zla boga (meaning "to [the] evil god," or perhaps "to [the] evil [of] God," which may denote ownership rather than some dark attribute), used as an attribute to express something which is exceedingly negative. No-one is really aware of the literal meaning of these words anymore; exclamations such as Ovo je do zla boga dosadno!, To je do zla boga glupo! can be safely translated as "This is devilishly boring!", "That is immensely stupid!" without any actual loss in meaning. The word Bog ("God"), however, in all Slavic languages today is used as personal name of the Christian God, who is not considered evil; thus, the expression zli bog, "evil god", could be a relic from antiquity. If we assume that Chernobog indeed was an evil and dark god of the ancient Slavs (or perhaps merely an evil aspect of some other deity), we may conjecture this expression was some ancient curse invoking him.

[edit] In popular culture

Chernobog has made appearances in various media. As Chernabog, he features in the "Night On Bald Mountain" sequence in Disney's Fantasia (1940). This character appears as a boss in Kingdom Hearts. He appears in American Gods by Neil Gaiman, as "Czernobog", and much later in the novel as "Bielebog" (it is implied that the two are different aspects of the same character, sharing the same existence, but separated by the seasons). The dark god "Tchernobog" from the computer game Blood was likely based on this god. In Shadow Hearts, Yuri Hyuuga, who fuses with various beings from several mythologies in order to battle, can take on the form of Czernobog. In the alternate history novel The Peshawar Lancers, the Russian Empire turns to Chernobog worship after a comet impact causes widespread famine and cannibalism. In Persona 3 Chernobog is one the protagonist's available personae under the Moon arcana.