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{{About|a Slavic god|mountain in Germany|Bieleboh}} |
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{{short description|alleged Slavic deity of propitious fortune}} |
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'''Belobog''' (''White God'') is a reconstructed [[Slavic mythology|Slavic deity]] of light and Sun, the counterpart of dark and cursed [[Chernobog]] (Black God). It is uncertain whether such a deity was ever worshipped by polytheist Slavs, as there are no reliable historic records which mention this name. While in the past a great deal of scholars studying Slavic mythology took the dualism of Belobog and Chernobog for granted, modern research of the matter makes this theory very hard to maintain. |
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'''Belbog''' or '''Bielbog'''{{efn|In some modern Slavic languages the name is written and pronounced differently:<br/>[[Russian language|Russian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and {{lang-mk|Белобог, Belobog,}}<br/>[[Bosnian language|Bosnian]] and {{lang-hbs|Bjelobog, Белобог}}<br/>{{lang-be|Белбог, Бялун}} {{lang|be-Latn|Belbog, Belun |
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}}<br/>{{lang-uk|Білобог}} {{lang|uk-Latn|Biloboh}} <br/>{{lang-pl|Białobóg}}<br/>{{lang-cz|Bělbog}}<br/>{{lang-sl|Belibog}}<br/>{{lang-sk|Belboh}}|name=|group=}} (lit. "White God", reconstructed as ''*Bělobogъ'' or ''*Bělъ Bogъ'', from [[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bělъ|''*bělъ'']] ("white") + [[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bogъ|''*bogъ'']] ("god")<ref name=":0" />) is the assumed name of the alleged god of auspicious fate worshiped by the [[Polabian Slavs]]. His name was derived by analogy to the [[Chernobog]] (lit. Black God) mentioned by Helmod in the ''Chronica Slavorum'', who is a god of bad luck. The pair of these gods is often presented as evidence of "Slavic dualism," although their authenticity is controversial. |
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His name is variously given as '''Bilobog''', '''Belbog''', '''Bialbog''', '''Byelobog''', '''Bielobog''', '''Belun''' or '''Bylun''', '''Bielboh''' or '''Bialun''' ({{lang-be|Белбог, Бялун}}; {{Lang-pl|Białobóg}}; {{Lang-sh|Bjelobog/Белобог}}, {{Lang-sl|Belibog}}; {{lang-sk|Belboh}}; {{Lang-ru|Белобог}}, ''Byelobog''; {{Lang-uk|Білобог}}, ''Biloboh''). |
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==Sources== |
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===Helmold=== |
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In the later half of the 12th century, the German priest [[Helmold]] described, in his work ''[[Chronica Slavorum]]'', beliefs and customs of several [[West Slavs|West Slavic]] tribes who were still polytheists at the time. Amongst other things, he stated that: |
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''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'' (*in Latin) or ''Zherneboh'', meaning black god.'' |
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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. |
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=== ''Chronica Slavorum'' === |
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The German monk and chronicler [[Helmold]], who accompanied the [[Christianization]] missions against the [[Polabian Slavs|Elbe Slavs]], describes in his ''[[Chronica Slavorum|Chronicle of the Slavs]]'' the cult of Chernobog:<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Gorbachov|first=Yaroslav|date=2017-06-23|title=What Do We Know about *Čьrnobogъ and *Bělъ Bogъ?|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ruhi/44/2-3/article-p209_209.xml|journal=Russian History|language=en|volume=44|issue=2-3|pages=209–242|doi=10.1163/18763316-04402011|issn=1876-3316}}</ref> |
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{{Quote|text=Also, the Slavs have a strange delusion. At their feasts and carousals, they pass about a bowl over which they utter words, I should not say of consecration but of execration, in the name of [two] gods—of the good one, as well as of the bad one—professing that all propitious fortune is arranged by the good god, adverse, by the bad god. Hence, also, in their language they call the bad god Diabol, or Zcerneboch, that is, the black god. |
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{{hidden begin |
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|title = Latin original text |
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|toggle = left |
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}} |
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Est autem Slavorum mirabilis error; nam in conviviis et compotationibus suis pateram circumferunt, in quam conferunt, non dicam consecrationis, sed execrationis verba sub nomine deorum, boni scilicet atque mali, omnem prosperam fortunam a bono deo, adversam a malo dirigi profitentes. Unde etiam malum deum lingua sua Diabol sive Zcerneboch, id est nigrum deum, appellant. |
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{{hidden end}}|source=''[[Chronica Slavorum]]''|author=[[Helmold]]|title=}} |
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Although the name "Belbog" is not mentioned anywhere in the ''Chronicle'', many researchers, by analogy to the ruler of bad luck-Chernebog, reconstruct the ruler of good luck-Belbog. |
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===Toponymy=== |
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Another clue for existence of Belobog is a number of [[toponym]]s in Slavic countries which have that name. They include [[Bělbožice]] in [[Czech Republic]], [[Bilobozhnytsia]] in [[Ukraine]]. Sometimes the toponyms are paired with those having the name Chernobog as in the case of hills [[Bileboh]] and [[Czorneboh]] near [[Bautzen]] in [[Sorbia (region)|Sorbia]], and of the Czech Bělbožice which is likewise paired with [[Černíkovice (Plzeň-North District)|Černíkovice]]. This was one of the arguments for the dualism theory.<ref name=SMR>{{cite book |
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Belbog was first mentioned directly in the 16th century. In 1538, the Pomeranian chronicler [[Thomas Kantzow]] in his ''Chronicle of Pomerania'' wrote:<ref name=":0" /> |
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|author=Š. Kulišić |
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|author2=P. Ž. Petrović|author3=N. Pantelić |
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|script-title=sr:Српски митолошки речник |
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|origyear=1970 |
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|publisher=[[Nolit]] |
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|location=Belgrade |
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|language=Serbian |
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|pages=21–22 |
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|chapter=Бели бог |
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}}</ref> |
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===Language=== |
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{{Quote|text=I have heretofore related all manner of faithlessness and idolatry, in which they had engaged before the time of the German Empire. Earlier yet, their ways are said to have been even more pagan. They placed their kings and lords, who ruled well, above the gods and honored the said men [as gods] after their death. In addition, they worshipped the sun and the moon and, lastly, two gods whom they venerated above all other gods. One [of them] they called Bialbug, that is the white god; him they held for a good god. The other one [they called] Zernebug, that is the black god; him they held for a god who did harm. Therefore, they honored Bialbug, because he did them good and so that he might [continue to] do them good. Zernebug, on the other hand, they honored so that he should not harm them. And they appeased the said Zernebug by sacrificing people, for they believed that there was no better way of assuaging him than with human blood, which is actually true, if only they had seen it in the right light: that Zernebug seeks nothing other than the death of Man’s body and soul. |
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Existence of Belobog is also posited by expression ''he doesn't see a white god'' recorded in [[Serbian language]] and [[Macedonian language]], and ''shouting [all the way] to the white god'' from [[Bulgarian language]].<ref name=SMR/> |
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{{hidden begin |
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|title = German original text |
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|toggle = left |
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}} |
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Ich hab hiezuvor mannigerley unglawben und abgoͤtterey angezeigt, so sie bei Zeiten des Teutzschen keiserthumbs gehapt. Aber zuvor seint sie noch viele heidnischer gewest, haben yre khonige und hern, so wol geregiret, vor Goͤtter aufgeworffen, und dieselbigen nach yrem totte geehret. Darneben haben sie Sonne und Mon angebetet, und zu letzst zween Goͤtter, die uͤber alle ander Goͤtter wehren, gemacht. Einen, den sie Bialbug , das ist den weissen Got, genennet; den hielten sie vor einen gutten Got; den andern Zernebug , das ist der schwartze Got, den sie vor einen Got hielten, der schaden tette. Darumb ehreten sie Bialbug deshalben, das er ynen guts tette und thun solte; Zernebug aber ehreten sie darum, das er nicht schaden solte. Und demselbigen Zernebug pflagen sie offt menschen zuslachten; dan sie meinten, er wurde nyrgentz durch besser gestillet, wan durch menschenblut; welchs dan zwar wahr ist, wan sie es nhur recht verstanden hetten; dan Zernebug sucht nicht anders, dan des Menschen tot an leib und sele |
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{{hidden end}}|source=''Chronik von Pommern in niederdeutscher Mundart''|author=[[Thomas Kantzow]]|title=}} |
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==Slavic dualism== |
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Then [[Sebastian Münster]], in ''Cosmographiae universalis'' of 1550, describes the harvest ritual associated with [[Svetovid|Svetovit]] and continues: "In general they (the Rugians) worshipped two gods, namely Belbuck and Zernebuck, as if a white and a black god, a good and an evil [[Genius (mythology)|genius]], God and Satan, as the source of good and evil, according to the error of the [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]]". The works of Kantzov and Münster are probably independent of each other (various forms of recording the name of the Belebog, the ''Chronicle of Pomerania'' was first published, but it was not published until the 19th century), but they use a common source, which, according to Miroslava Znayenko, could be the archive of the Abbey of {{ill|Białoboki (Trzebiatów)|lt=Białoboki|pl|Białoboki (Trzebiatów)|WD=}}, where the Belebog was forged. [[Daniel Cramer]], a theologian and professor from [[Szczecin]], probably held in his hands a copy of a chronicle from this archive or saw a quote from it, because in his ''Pommerisches Kirchen-Chronicon'' he probably paraphrased a part of it:<ref name=":0" /> |
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It is further questionable how much the symbolism of white and black representing good and evil — a fairly Christian concept — was important to polytheist Slavs, if they even considered it. From other historic sources describing Slavic polytheism, we for instance know that [[Svetovid]], the god of [[Rügen]] island, was symbolised by a white horse and [[Triglav (mythology)|Triglav]], a high god in the city of [[Szczecin]], was symbolised by a black one; yet none of them was considered to be an evil or dark deity by people worshipping them. Fourth and final, even if we assume – disregarding all the points noted above – that there really was a Belobog standing in opposition to Chernobog, the question still remains whether these were gods themselves or simply alternate names of some other Slavic deities. Being that Helmold's inscription comes from a very late time, the 12th century, and that it concerns only several groups of polytheist West Slavs, it would not seem likely that these two gods (or more probably, just one god, Crnobog,) were deities of the original Proto-Slavic pantheon. |
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===Peisker's theory of slavic dualism=== |
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{{Quote|text=To this monastery they (the founding monks) gave the name Belbug, [more] correctly Bialbuck, which in the Wendish tongue means literally ‘the white god,’ thus to give [the Slavs] to understand that, unlike their (the Slavs’) heathen ancestors, the Christians did not know of any black god. The name [Belbug] also well befits the clothes of the Premonstratensians, who [always] went dressed in white. The foundation of the monastery took place anno 1163. |
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Regardless, many hypotheses and even more speculations were put forth about the supposed Belobog-Chernobog dualistic structure of Slavic mythology. The most plausible theory concerning this issue was put forth by Czech historian [[Jan Peisker]]. In the West Slavic area, he found more than thirty different [[toponyms]] which contained representations of some ancient polytheist sacred scene. The structure of toponyms was always the same: a running river, flanked on the west side by a rock with a name indicative of devil, fear, darkness, blackness, hell, and on the east side by a hill or a mountain peak with a name associated with Sun, heaven, light, whiteness. |
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{{hidden begin |
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|title = German original text |
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|toggle = left |
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}} |
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Diesem Kloster haben sie den Namen Belbug gegeben, so viel als Bialbuck welches in seiner Wendischen Sprach soviel heist als den Weissen Gott , damit zu verstehen zu geben, daß die Christen von keinem schwarzen Gott wie ihre heidnische Vorfahrn wusten. Welcher Nahm sich dann zu der Praemonstratenser Kleidung, welch in Weiß gekleidet giengen, wol schicket. Diese fundation des Klosters Belbuck ist geschehen Anno 1163 |
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{{hidden end}}|source=''Pommerisches Kirchen-Chronicon''|author=[[Daniel Cramer]]|title=}} |
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Peisker put forth a theory that these remains of old Slavic sacral places are connected with Iranian dualistic [[Zoroastrian]] mythology. On the east side of rivers, a good, white god (equivalent of Zoroastrian [[Ahura Mazda]]) was worshipped, but the west side was reserved for his enemy, an evil, black god (equivalent of Zoroastrian [[Ahriman]]). |
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The Belebog also appears in the anonymous ''History of Caminensis'' as the god of the [[Vandals]], which is based on a piece by Münster (both works speak of the "error of the Manichaeans"). The Belebog also appears in other, later, minor texts.<ref name=":0" /> |
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Though Peisker's theory does have some merit, and is certainly interesting, its idea of dualism was unable to withstand serious scrutiny. |
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== Interpretations == |
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There is no consensus among researchers on the authenticity of the cult of Chernobog and Belebog. Some researchers believe that both gods are Helmod's invention, some assume the possibility of the existence of these gods, some assume that Chernobog and Belebog are nicknames for other gods. According to [[Aleksander Gieysztor]], the gods are not a full personification, but a hypostasis of evil and good.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Gieysztor, Aleksander.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/212627528|title=Mitologia Słowian|date=2006|publisher=Wydawn. Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego|isbn=83-235-0234-X|edition=3|location=Warsaw|pages=160-161|oclc=212627528}}</ref> [[Veselin Čajkanović]], based on the names of Serbian places and sayings, believed that the Belebog is in fact [[Perun]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Kulišić|first=Špiro|title=Serbian mythological dictionary|last2=Petrović|first2=Petar Ž.|last3=Pantelić|first3=Nikola|publisher=Nolit|year=1970|location=Belgrade|pages=28-29}}</ref> |
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While [[Slavic languages]] are related to the [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] group of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo European language family]] inasmuch as both went through [[satemization]], and the ancient [[Proto-Slavs]] were certainly to some degree influenced by their Iranian-speaking neighbours of West Asia (such as the [[Scythians]] and [[Sarmatians]]), the idea that the Slavic peoples as a whole are a direct offshoot of Zoroastrian [[Persian people|Persians]] is not only unprovable, but also quite improbable.{{by whom|date=October 2018}} |
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The arguments for the authenticity of Belebog are the names of places in different parts of the Slavic region: the neighboring villages of {{ill|Bělbožice|lt=Bělbožice|cs|Bělbožice|WD=}} and [[Černíkovice (Plzeň-North District)|Černíkovice]] in the [[Czech Republic]], which are to prove dualism, Białobożnica in [[Ukraine]], [[Bela Crkva, Banat|Bela Crkva]] ("White [[Eastern Orthodox church architecture|Tserkov]]"), [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] [[Vinča-Belo Brdo|Belo Brdo]] ("White Hill") in [[Serbia]].<ref name=":2" /> There are also two places known locally as "White gods" (''Belye bogi'') near [[Radonezh]] ([[Moscow Oblast|Moscow region]]), one of which may have served as a pagan place of worship.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> In the ''Annals of Premonstratensia'' it was claimed that the name {{ill|Białoboki (Trzebiatów)|lt=Białoboki|pl|Białoboki (Trzebiatów)|WD=}} derives from "Belbok, the idol of Pomeranians, which means the god of white and good". However, historians are not sure of the place's etymology and many have suggested that the name comes from the word ''buk'' ("beech") or ''bok'' ("side").<ref>{{Cite book|last=Strzelczyk, Jerzy.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41479163|title=Mity, podania i wierzania dawnych Słowian|date=1998|publisher=Dom Wydawniczy Rebis|isbn=83-7120-688-7|edition=Wyd. 1|location=Poznań|pages=48|oclc=41479163}}</ref> |
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===Two aspects of one god=== |
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Some authors also used Mount [[Bieleboh]] (and [[Czorneboh]]) in [[Upper Lusatia]], where the gods were supposed to be worshipped, but the names were most likely only created in modern times because of the popularity of the gods in the culture of the region. |
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Furthermore, the dualistic theories were questioned by the Serbian scholar of myths and folklore, [[Veselin Čajkanović]], who compared the solar deity mentioned in Russian historic sources, [[Dazhbog]], with a far darker and chthonic character of Serbian folklore having an almost identical name, Dabog. Čajkanović pointed out that solar gods in various mythologies tend to have double aspects, one benevolent and light, representing the Sun in the sky during the day, and other malevolent and chthonic, representing the Sun in the underworld during the night. He concluded that two seemingly opposite gods, good and evil, light and dark, could actually be simply two different aspects of a single Slavic deity, Dazhbog. |
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Russian philologists [[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Vyacheslav Ivanov]] and [[Vladimir Toporov]] probably struck the final blow to Peisker's theory with their studies of [[Proto-Indo-European religion#Mythology|Indo-European myth]] about the battle of a Storm god and a Dragon and its Slavic version, the fight of [[Perun]] and [[Veles (god)|Veles]]. In many Slavic countries, there are toponyms reminiscent of the two: The name of Perun is associated with a hill or mountain peak, and the name of Veles with water or a lowland under it. The opposition between the two of them is not that of good versus evil, but rather of above versus below. |
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{{Main|Bieleboh|Czorneboh}} |
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===Symbolism corrupted by Christian ideology=== |
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In Serbian folklore there is the expression "not to see a white god", and in Bulgarian "to cry out to a white god", which probably means the same as heaven or heavenly god.<ref name=":2" /> In Bulgarian folklore, there is also the expression "I have no White God from this man", which may mean a lack of good will.<ref name=":1" /> |
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Perun, being the god of thunder and sky, was worshipped in high places. On the other hand, the places reserved for Veles, the god of underworld and cattle, were in lowlands near rivers or springs. |
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With the arrival of [[Christianity]], the once supreme god Perun was usually identified with one of the heavenly saints (or sometimes even with the Christian God), while Veles, being a god of the underworld, had the bad luck of ending associated with the Christian [[Devil]]. Thus, [[christianization]] somewhat altered certain (but not all) of these toponyms in that some of them became associated with the devil and hell, while others with heaven and light, blurring their original symbolism. |
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== Popular culture == |
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* Belebog is mentioned as a brother of Chernebog in the [[American Gods (TV series)|American Gods]]. In the spring they change places<ref>{{Cite web|title=American Gods mythology guide: Who is bloodthirsty Slavic deity Czernobog?|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-06-21/american-gods-mythology-guide-who-is-bloodthirsty-slavic-deity-czernobog/|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Radio Times|language=en}}</ref> |
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* Belebog in graphic novel ''Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero'' is the name of one of the [[kaiju]] |
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==In popular culture== |
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Belobog is referred to in ''[[American Gods]]'' by [[Neil Gaiman]] (as "Bielebog"), where he replaces his brother Czernobog in the spring. Czernobog / Bielebog lives in a Chicago apartment with the three [[Zorya]]. Towards the end of the novel, when the 'springtime' following the war between the gods begins, Czernobog himself begins to lighten in personality, and at one point muses that perhaps Bielebog actually is himself; this may be meant to reflect the more modern views about historical Slavic polytheism. |
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{{notelist}} |
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==See also== |
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*[[Radegast (god)|Radegast]] |
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{{Reflist}} |
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*[[Lada and Lado]] |
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*[[Fakelore]] |
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==References== |
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<references/> |
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{{Slavic religion}} |
{{Slavic religion}} |
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[[Category:Slavic gods]] |
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[[Category:Solar gods]] |
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[[Category:Reconstructed words]] |
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Revision as of 05:36, 25 January 2021
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2014) |
_--_Maxim_Sukharev.jpg)
Belobog (White God) is a reconstructed Slavic deity of light and Sun, the counterpart of dark and cursed Chernobog (Black God). It is uncertain whether such a deity was ever worshipped by polytheist Slavs, as there are no reliable historic records which mention this name. While in the past a great deal of scholars studying Slavic mythology took the dualism of Belobog and Chernobog for granted, modern research of the matter makes this theory very hard to maintain.
His name is variously given as Bilobog, Belbog, Bialbog, Byelobog, Bielobog, Belun or Bylun, Bielboh or Bialun (Template:Lang-be; Template:Lang-pl; Template:Lang-sh, Template:Lang-sl; Template:Lang-sk; Template:Lang-ru, Byelobog; Template:Lang-uk, Biloboh).
Sources
Helmold
In the later half of the 12th century, the German priest Helmold described, in his work Chronica Slavorum, beliefs and customs of several West Slavic tribes who were still polytheists at the time. Amongst other things, he stated 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 (*in Latin) 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.
Toponymy
Another clue for existence of Belobog is a number of toponyms in Slavic countries which have that name. They include Bělbožice in Czech Republic, Bilobozhnytsia in Ukraine. Sometimes the toponyms are paired with those having the name Chernobog as in the case of hills Bileboh and Czorneboh near Bautzen in Sorbia, and of the Czech Bělbožice which is likewise paired with Černíkovice. This was one of the arguments for the dualism theory.[1]
Language
Existence of Belobog is also posited by expression he doesn't see a white god recorded in Serbian language and Macedonian language, and shouting [all the way] to the white god from Bulgarian language.[1]
Slavic dualism
It is further questionable how much the symbolism of white and black representing good and evil — a fairly Christian concept — was important to polytheist Slavs, if they even considered it. From other historic sources describing Slavic polytheism, we for instance know that Svetovid, the god of Rügen island, was symbolised by a white horse and Triglav, a high god in the city of Szczecin, was symbolised by a black one; yet none of them was considered to be an evil or dark deity by people worshipping them. Fourth and final, even if we assume – disregarding all the points noted above – that there really was a Belobog standing in opposition to Chernobog, the question still remains whether these were gods themselves or simply alternate names of some other Slavic deities. Being that Helmold's inscription comes from a very late time, the 12th century, and that it concerns only several groups of polytheist West Slavs, it would not seem likely that these two gods (or more probably, just one god, Crnobog,) were deities of the original Proto-Slavic pantheon.
Peisker's theory of slavic dualism
Regardless, many hypotheses and even more speculations were put forth about the supposed Belobog-Chernobog dualistic structure of Slavic mythology. The most plausible theory concerning this issue was put forth by Czech historian Jan Peisker. In the West Slavic area, he found more than thirty different toponyms which contained representations of some ancient polytheist sacred scene. The structure of toponyms was always the same: a running river, flanked on the west side by a rock with a name indicative of devil, fear, darkness, blackness, hell, and on the east side by a hill or a mountain peak with a name associated with Sun, heaven, light, whiteness.
Peisker put forth a theory that these remains of old Slavic sacral places are connected with Iranian dualistic Zoroastrian mythology. On the east side of rivers, a good, white god (equivalent of Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda) was worshipped, but the west side was reserved for his enemy, an evil, black god (equivalent of Zoroastrian Ahriman).
Though Peisker's theory does have some merit, and is certainly interesting, its idea of dualism was unable to withstand serious scrutiny.
While Slavic languages are related to the Iranian group of the Indo European language family inasmuch as both went through satemization, and the ancient Proto-Slavs were certainly to some degree influenced by their Iranian-speaking neighbours of West Asia (such as the Scythians and Sarmatians), the idea that the Slavic peoples as a whole are a direct offshoot of Zoroastrian Persians is not only unprovable, but also quite improbable.[by whom?]
Two aspects of one god
Furthermore, the dualistic theories were questioned by the Serbian scholar of myths and folklore, Veselin Čajkanović, who compared the solar deity mentioned in Russian historic sources, Dazhbog, with a far darker and chthonic character of Serbian folklore having an almost identical name, Dabog. Čajkanović pointed out that solar gods in various mythologies tend to have double aspects, one benevolent and light, representing the Sun in the sky during the day, and other malevolent and chthonic, representing the Sun in the underworld during the night. He concluded that two seemingly opposite gods, good and evil, light and dark, could actually be simply two different aspects of a single Slavic deity, Dazhbog.
Russian philologists Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov probably struck the final blow to Peisker's theory with their studies of Indo-European myth about the battle of a Storm god and a Dragon and its Slavic version, the fight of Perun and Veles. In many Slavic countries, there are toponyms reminiscent of the two: The name of Perun is associated with a hill or mountain peak, and the name of Veles with water or a lowland under it. The opposition between the two of them is not that of good versus evil, but rather of above versus below.
Symbolism corrupted by Christian ideology
Perun, being the god of thunder and sky, was worshipped in high places. On the other hand, the places reserved for Veles, the god of underworld and cattle, were in lowlands near rivers or springs.
With the arrival of Christianity, the once supreme god Perun was usually identified with one of the heavenly saints (or sometimes even with the Christian God), while Veles, being a god of the underworld, had the bad luck of ending associated with the Christian Devil. Thus, christianization somewhat altered certain (but not all) of these toponyms in that some of them became associated with the devil and hell, while others with heaven and light, blurring their original symbolism.
In popular culture
Belobog is referred to in American Gods by Neil Gaiman (as "Bielebog"), where he replaces his brother Czernobog in the spring. Czernobog / Bielebog lives in a Chicago apartment with the three Zorya. Towards the end of the novel, when the 'springtime' following the war between the gods begins, Czernobog himself begins to lighten in personality, and at one point muses that perhaps Bielebog actually is himself; this may be meant to reflect the more modern views about historical Slavic polytheism.