List of Slavic pseudo-deities

Slavic pseudo-deities are Slavic deities described in popular and sometimes even scientific literature, whose historicity is not recognized by the vast majority of scholars, i.e. the deities in question are not deemed actually to have been objects of worship among pagan Slavs. The pseudo-deities of the Slavs, like those of other ethnic groups, were created as a result of mistakes, as a result of the creation and falsification of Slavic Romantics, or even as a result of falsification for political motives. Much of them are originated from the works described as "pseudo-mythology". The reason for the last two may be that, unlike, for example, those of Greek mythology, the sources on Slavic mythology are severely limited.
The first Slavic pseudo-deities began to appear as early as the Middle Ages, mainly in Latin Christian texts, as a result of mistakes. Slavic pseudo-deities on a large scale began to appear from the 18th and especially the 19th century. In 1768, a popular forgery of the time appeared, the so-called Prillwitz idols, depicting alleged Slavic deities decorated with alleged Slavic runes. Based on this forgery, many deities were created by Andreas Masch and later by. In the 19th century, Czech philosopher Ignác Jan Hanuš was a popular fantasist, particularly known for his Die Wissenschaft des slavischen Mythus and Bájeslovný kalendář slovanský. Russian, who was rather uncritical in treating sources in his Bozhestva drevnikh slavyan, was also influential, as was Belarusian with his work . In addition to the above-mentioned authors, every Slavic country had forgers of varying popularity. Contemporary falsification of the Slavic pantheon is continued by in Poland, and by Alexander Asov in Russia.

Popular pseudo-deities

Dzidzilela – according to Jan Długosz, the Polish equivalent of Venus, goddess of love, weddings and fertility.

Chislobog – pseudo-deity of time and/or numbers invented in the 1900s, mentioned in the Book of VelesVesna – alleged goddess of spring
Jutrobog, Jutrnyboh – a supposed god worshipped in Lusatia. His name consists of the word jutry, jutrny "morning" and the word bog "god" and means "Morning God, Aurora". The town of Jüterbog is supposed to be named after him, although it is also possible that the last syllable is not bog but bok "side", and the name of the city can be translated as "side facing the morning ".
Kyi – alleged Polish god of blacksmithing who appears in the sermons of Gniezno.Kupala – a deity created by medieval chroniclers based on the name of the Kupala Night holiday Koliada – personification of the New Year cycle and a figure in folk rituals mistakenly interpreted by Alexander Afanasyev as a goddess
Lada – alleged Polish deity first mentioned by Jan Długosz as a god of war, equivalent to Mars, then by Maciej Miechowita recognized as the Polish equivalent of Leda. ' – the goddess of love, a word found in Russian folk songsYesha – the chief god of Poles according to Jan Długosz, the equivalent of the Roman Jupiter; nowadays the authenticity of the god is rejected
' – hypothetical water goddess proposed by Nikolay Kostomarov, rejected by modern scholarship , Pozvizd – a wind deity mentioned by Maciej Miechowita, and Pohvist, mentioned by Marcin Kromer as a god of inclement weather, in reality probably spirits or demons Flins – alleged deity of death worshipped by the remnants of the Sorbs, mentioned in Cronecken der Sassen Krodo – originally a pseudo-chief-deity of the Saxons in later centuries ascribed to the Slavs' – a figure from South Slavic mythology borrowed by East Slavic writers and later recognized as a deity
' – a 19th-century Russian pseudo-god of borders, equivalent to the Roman TerminusUslad – a deity mistakenly created by Siegmund von Herberstein, then repeated by Stryjkowski, who took a fragment of Primary Chronicle, us zlat, as theonym, and compared it to Cupid.

West Slavs

Polabian Slavs

Goderac – Arnold of Lübeck, in Chronica Slavorum, wrote that Bernon, bishop of Schwerin, destroyed the pagan cult, and in place of the deity Goderac ordered St. Godehard, bishop of Hildesheim, to be worshipped, taking advantage of the similarity of names. The deification was the result of a mistake – the name Goderac appears as early as 1171 in Henry the Lion, who granted the bishopric of Schwerin "the village of St. Godehard, which was once called Goderac," and the name itself is probably derived from a personal name, perhaps that of the village owner.
Julius Caesar – According to Life of Saint Otto, Julius' spear was venerated in Wolin, which was also called Julin after Julius Caesar. According to the authors, it was supposed to be in a wooden column and slightly rusty. The Julius theme was later developed by Wincenty Kadlubek in his account of the battle of the Lechites led by Leszko III against Julius.
Suentebueck – The 15th-century Passion of the Martyrs of Ebstorf speaks of Slavs who abandoned Christianity after the death of Charlemagne, who were said to have erected statues of Suentebueck, Vitelubbe, and Radegast that had been toppled earlier. Strzelczyk interprets the name as svęty byk "sacred bull", or less likely Svęty Vit "Saint Vitus".
Vittelube – A deity also mentioned in the Passion. Probably recognized by the author as the name of a deity because of the occurrence of the local name Vietlübbe next to the local name Radegast, both in the district of Gadebusch.
Svitibor, Zuttibor - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. Christian Knauthe translated the name as "Holy Forest".
Puscetus - a deity mentioned by Abraham Frentzel. According to Christian Knauthe, the name sounded like the Slavic word bosowske "elderberry", "Deus Sambuceus like", and meant "one who lives under the Sambuceus tree".
Ciza - goddess of maternal feeding according to Christian Knauthe. Her name was supposed to be derived from the Slavic word zyz "breast".
Püsterich – In the middle of the 16th century, a bronze figure of a pot-bellied man with one arm raised to his forehead, the rest of the limbs missing, was found at Castle in the Kyffhäuser mountains. There are two holes in the head, the head and torso is hollow inside. There were different interpretations of this figurine: Abraham Frentzel recognized Püsterich as a deity of Slavs from Thuringia linking him with the Polish word bystry "smart, bright, shrewd", others regarded him as a god of fire, or a god of both Slavs and Germans. The figurine was used as a toy, it acted as a kind of steam boiler, heated water poured out through holes in the head.

Prillwitz idols

Many of the deities were created by Andreas Gottlieb Masch, a German theologian who studied the so-called Prillwitz idols, taking them to be authentic Slavic statues, but which are now recognized as 17th century forgeries. The drawings for his book were made by Daniel Woge, a German painter and illustrator. Masch's information was further repeated by Martin Friedrich Arendt, a German botanist and antiquarian, and Bernhard Severin Ingemann, a Danish writer.
Andreas Gottlieb Masch:

Sieba
Zibog, Siebog
Nemisa
Podba
Percunust
Schwaixtix
Zislbog, Zislbocg
Zirnitra, Zir
Wodan
Balduri
Ipabog, Ipabocg
Misizla
Plusso
Zois

Martin Friedrich Arendt:

Tara
Othin
Gestrab
Raziva
Tsibaz
Hela
Kricco
Opora
Karevit
Hirovit
Marovit
Gilbog
Juthrbog
Urii
Pya
Mita
Sicksa
Berstuk
Gudii

Czechs

Václav Hájek, a Czech chronicler who is accused of making up many events in his work, lists the deities in his Chronicle: Klimba, Krasatina, Krosina.
Hájek gained imitators after his death: Pavel Stránský, Jan Jiří Středovský, Juraj Papánek, who added the following deities by themselves: Chasoň, Ladoň, Zeloň, Živěna, Nočena, Krasopaní, Hladolet.
Priest Antonín Liška, one of the translators of Homer into Czech, also made up deities. He replaced Greek theonyms with similar Czech ones or just transferred them into Czech. He gave up to three versions of the same invented Czech name, writing them in brackets or footnotes:

Bělobohyň
Boležal
Bořivoj
Buraš
Děvany
Dáloboj
Hněvoň, Hněvoš, Hněvsa
Hrozivec, Protiva, Lidosvit
Chasoň, Jason, Slunce Hyperionovec
Jarec, Jaroš, Jařec
Kolohledi
Lada, Pěnonorka
Lichoplesy, Ochechule
Meneslav
Milostenky
Nevid
Netřena
Peroun
Pršenky
Pyripalič
Radhost Zevs
Skuhravec
Sudičky
Světloň
Svrchovanec
Uměná, Umka
Ukryta
Vodan, Vodeň, Vodín
Vodanky víly
Vzteklice
Žalotok
Žehlan
Živena

Another forgery is the glosses added to Mater Verborum, a Czech-Latin dictionary, added by Václav Hanka, containing deities invented by him:

Sytiwrat
Hladolet
Kirt
Kralomocz
Smrtonoss
Chtytel
Dobropan
Porvata
Příje
Letnicě
Chliba
Jasni
Svoba
Zcuor or Ztuor
Jarobud
Stracchus

Hanka also mentions gods from other sources, e.g. Belebog, Perun, Živa, Svetovit, Triglav, Veles, Lada, Devana, and Morana. In addition, he mentions many demons, including vesna.

East Slavs

Book of Veles

The Book of Veles is a 20th century forgery that has gained particular popularity among Ukrainians. It lists, in addition to authentic gods, the following pseudo-gods:

Vyšenʹ
Lelja
Letnica
Kolendo
Krʹšenʹ
Deržatelʹ
Snvʹіj
Belojare
Lado
Kupalo
Senic
Žitnec
Veniŝč
Zernic
Ovsenic
Prosicʹ
Studecʹ
Ledic
Ljutecʹ
Ptiščec
Zverenc
Milic
Dozdec
Plodec
Jagodnec
Pščelic
Rostic
Klenčič
Zzerenč
Vetricʹ
Slomicʹ
Gribicʹ
Loviščʹ
Besedicʹ
Snezicʹ
Stranicʹ
Sventicʹ
Radnicʹ
Sveticʹ
Korovicʹ
Krasicʹ
Travicʹ
Steblicʹ
Rodicʹ
Maslecʹ
Živicʹ
Vedicʹ
Listvicʹ
Kveticʹ
Vodišč
Zvezdicʹ
Gromič
Semišč
Lipecʹ
Rembicʹ
Brezičʹ
Zelenicʹ
Goricʹ
Stradicʹ
Spasicʹ
Listeverzicʹ
Mʹjuslicʹ
Gosticʹ
Raticʹ
Stranicʹ
Čurncʹ
Rodicʹ
Ognebog Semerogelʹ
Čislobog
Kvasur

Others

Uslad – a deity mistakenly created by Siegmund von Herberstein, then repeated by Stryjkowski, who took a fragment of Primary Chronicle, us zlat, as theonym, and compared it to Cupid.
Zimtserla – goddess who first appears in the Russian translation of Kingdom of the Slavs, by the Croatian writer Mauro Orbini. The translator incorrectly transferred the theonym Semargl, written by Orbini as Simaergla, by writing the letter a as s and removing the letter g, probably due to euphony, and thus Simserla was created. The goddess is then mentioned by Mikhail Popov in his mythological dictionary; according to him, the corrupted name may have been derived from the words зима, zima, and the verb стерть, stiertʹ, and would be a goddess of flowers, similar to Aurora. Zimtserla later appears in many Russian texts. She was erroneously believed to be the Aurora of the "Slavonians" and a "Queen of Flowers" or goddess of spring, akin to Roman Flora.

South Slavs

One of the major forgeries from the South Slavs is the Serbian Песме и обичаи укупног народа српског by Miloš Milojević:

Kupalo
Koledo
Koled
Živboža
Živanija
Svaroga
Prprьruša
Pravid
Svevid
Ljelj
Ljelja
Poljelj
Poljelja
Lada
Branjanj
Živ
Davor
Gostoslav
Vodan
Vodana
Moran
Morica
Pra Pra Bog
Preslav
Višnji
Ježdraksin
Belgostić
Tug
Pravd
Crnobar
Vihor
Kračun
Praovil
Belbožić

The second important forgery is Veda Slovena by Stefan Verković:

Kuledo
Kuleda
Ognen
Vishnu
Vodin
Surva
Rosna
Žijne
Surica
Iognica
Masina
Rue
Vitna
Igne
Jognica
Dʺžna
Dia
Jara
Druida

In Croatia, a long list of authors contributed to romanticized interpretations, uncritical theories and unverifiable claims about Croatian pagan beliefs. This group includes the likes of Giorgio Sisgoreo, Marin Držić, Matija Petar Katančić, Pavao Ritter Vitezović, Natko Nodilo, Nikola Sučić and Franjo Ledić, among others. These authors' works are now sources of many pseudo-deities and fabricated systems in what is today popularly considered Croatian folklore, including Črt, Sarmand, Velja and an entire systematically presented "Croatian pantheon" containing deities such as Bjelobog, Danica, Domovoj, Slava, Vesna, Voloska, Zora and Žibog.