Hello everyone! This is Casimir with The Skald’s Circle again. Today we’ll be talking about the Norse and the Slavs, and the connections they as a people and their mythology had.
Alright, now, it’s not often that I make stretches with my information. So, please, bear with me on this. The Slavs and the Norse were separated for the most part by a relatively small sea. They regularly interacted; for instance, Russia derives its name from the Kievan Rus, which were also known as the Varangians, who were known Norsemen (Which is another amazingly cool story that I may get into during another article). It goes beyond that though. There are two gods, one from Norse, and the other from Slavic myth, with eerie similarities. They are named Thor and Perun. They are both gods of thunder. Both have magical chariots pulled by goat(s). Both of them are even described as rugged warrior gods with red hair who throw their weapons. Both were also major deities — head deities even if you believe in such a thing. (Yes, for a long time Thor was considered a head deity because he was the most commonly worshiped).
Perun’s Axe (left) compared to Thor’s Hammer (Right)
There are absolutely undeniable connections between the two. However, that’s to be expected. There is a not overly commonly known group of people who are known as the Indo-European. They traveled east to west and settled a lot of what we know of as Europe. More so, they were identified at as having red hair. It was a trait they spread through all of the lands that they marched through. However, I will not make claims without backing the information up. I merely wanted to make the connection known or at least commonly known. The Slavs and the Norse were both absolutely amazing people from history. They traded with each other, both willingly and unwillingly. There is documentation that the Polish king, Boleslaw the Brave gave Cnut the Great a contingent of Polish warriors to help take England. This is a fascinating topic to me, and if anyone would be willing to discuss it, maybe give me another idea for the next article, I would love that.
I hope you have enjoyed this lesson with History with the Skald’s Circle. If you’d like to know more, or perhaps discuss it with me I’m always more than willing. Also, if you have something you would like us to research, please let us know! Until then, I’ll be back next week with another fascinating topic. This is Casimir, signing off, and remember, always check your sources!
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