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Radegast (god)

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For other uses, see Radogost.
An early 16th century depiction of Radogost in Georg Spalatin's Chronicle of Saxony and Thurinigia.

Radogost is an alleged deity of the Polabian Slavs, whose main temple was supposed to be located in Rethra. Nowadays it is considered that Radogost is in fact a nickname of Svarozhits.[1]

Sources

A depiction of Radogost according to Andrey Sergeevich Kaisarov.

The first source mentioning this theonym is the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum by Adam of Bremen:

The elderly Bishop John, captured with other Christians in the city of Mecklenburg, was kept alive to be exhibited in triumph. And consequently, lashed with whips for having confessed to Christ, he was then paraded in each of the cities of the Slavs to be mocked, as he could not be forced to renounce the name of Christ, his hands and feet were cut off and his body was thrown into the street, but not before removing his head, which the pagans stuck on a pike and offered to their god Radogost as proof of victory. These events occurred in Rethra, the capital of the Slavs, the fourth day before the ides of November.[2]
[...]
Among them, situated in the middle, are the extremely powerful Redarii, whose famous capital is Rethra, a seat of idolatry. There is a large temple built there, dedicated to the demons, whose prince is Radogost. His statue is made of gold, his baldachin bedecked with purple.[3]

— Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum

Following Adam,[4] Radogost is also mentioned by Helmold in his Chronicle of the Slavs, who writes about making annual sacrifices to him and using an oracle associated with his temple,[5] he also calls him "the god of the Obodrites".[6] It is also mentioned in the Annales Augustani of 1135, which tells of the destruction of Rethra by Burchard II, Bishop of Halberstadt, who took the local "horse worshipped as a god" on which he returned to Saxony.[7] The last source mentioning Radogost is the Passion of the Martyrs of Ebstorf.[8]

Etymology and interpretations

In Latin sources this name is noted as Template:Lang-la, Template:Lang-la, Template:Lang-la, Template:Lang-la,[9] while in scientific literature the prevailing notation is Radogost,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] or Radgost.[18]

The name is morphologically divided as Rado-gost. In the first part there is an Old Polabian continuation of the Proto-Slavic adjective *radъ "glad" of uncertain further etymology, and in the second a continuation of the Proto-Slavic noun *gostь "guest",[10][19] from Proto-Indo-European *gʰostis (cf. Gothic gasts "guest", Template:Lang-la "stranger"),[20][21] and can be understood as "Gladly hosted as a guest" or "Glad to host a guest".[22] The name is ultimately derived from the Proto-Slavic given name *Radogostъ[23][24][a], cf. Template:Lang-scr,[19] Old Polish Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl,[25][26] Old Slovene Template:Lang-sl,[19] probably attested as early as the 6th century in a Greek source mentioning a Slavic tribal chief named Ardagast (Template:Lang-grc; form before probable metathesis).[19][24] This name, expanded by the possessive suffix ‎*-jь (‎*Radogostjь),[27][19] formed many toponyms throughout Slavdom, cf. Polish villages Radogoszcz, Czech mountain Radhošť, Serbo-Croatian toponym Template:Lang-scr, Russian Radogoshch, and Russian hydronyms Radohoshcha and Radogoshch[27][19] and others,[19][24] as well as the town of Radogošč,[24] which was the political center of the Polabian tribe of Redari.

Thietmar, in his Chronicle (written around 1018 r.[28]) states that Svarozhits was the most worshiped god in Radogošč.[29] The same castle, however mentioned under the name of Rethra (Template:Lang-la), is also described about 50 years later by Adam of Bremen, who recognizes Redigast as the chief god of this city.[30][31][10]. Therefore, the dominant view[1] is that Radogost is the epithet of Svarozhits;[4][10][17] some scholars consider Radogost to be his alternative, later name.[32][33][34][22] Some scholars, however, recognize that the name of the city was mistakenly assumed to be the chief deity of the city.[35][32] It is unlikely, however, that Radogost was an independent deity who replaced Svarozhits, or that the information about Radogost is false.[36]

There were also attempts to combine the name Radogost with the name of the Gothic chief Radagaisus, but name Radagaisus has its own Gothic etymology.[b]

Legend of Radhošť

The statue of Radogost on Mount Radhošť by Albín Polášek.
See also: Radegast (statue)

In Czechia, there is a local legend associated with Saints Cyril and Methodius, according to which Radogost was worshipped on Mount Radhošť. According to this legend, Cyril and Methodius decided to go on a Christianizing mission to the mountain. They set out to Radhošť from Velehrad through Zašová, where they baptized people. When they were approaching the mountain, they heard sounds of musical instruments and singing from the distance. When they reached the mountain, they saw pagan rituals led by prince Radoch. When the prince heard about the newcomers who were belittling the pagan gods, he began to rebuke Cyril and wanted to use force against him. At this point a glow appeared around the cross held by Cyril – Cyril began to speak of the "one true god" and the pagan gods as "an invention of hell". Then there was a noise and thunder and all the statues of the gods broke into a thousand pieces. Later, on the spot where the magnificent temple and idol of Radogost had stood, the saints erected a cross.[38]

This legend is often found in publications about the mountain and, although the tale has been debunked many times by historians, it still appears in some authors and folklore. The legend first appears in 1710 in Sacra Moraviae historia sive Vita S. Cyrilli et Methodii by parish priest Jan Jiří Středovský. In the chapter dedicated to the name of the mountain and its origin, he refers to the testimony of a priest, according to whom a legend circulated among the people about a god of the same name, who stood on the top of the mountain and was overthrown by missionaries. On this basis, Středovský created a colourful story about a crowd of worshippers and pagan rituals on the mountain. There is also no archaeological or historiographical evidence that the heavily forested area on the mountain was inhabited in the past.[39]

In culture

References

Notes
  1. ^ Possibly from the earlier form *Ordogostъ;[24] ESSJa reconstructs the Proto-Slavic forms with a soft sign: *Radogostь, *Ordogostь.[19]
  2. ^ "(Having) a light spear" from raþs "light" and *gais "spear".[37]
References
  1. ^ a b Rosik 2020, p. 215.
  2. ^ & Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 85.
  3. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 82.
  4. ^ a b Szyjewski 2003, p. 109.
  5. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 155.
  6. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 159.
  7. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 199.
  8. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 221.
  9. ^ Alvarez-Pedroza 2021, p. 532.
  10. ^ a b c d Gieysztor 2006, p. 169.
  11. ^ Szyjewski 2003, p. 138, 139.
  12. ^ Rosik 2020, p. 215, 216.
  13. ^ Brückner 1985, p. 74, 75.
  14. ^ Pitro & Vokáč 2002, p. 92.
  15. ^ Niederle 1924, p. 128.
  16. ^ Loma 2002, p. 144, 145.
  17. ^ a b Urbańczyk 1991, p. 27.
  18. ^ Ivanov & Toporov 1980, p. 450–456.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h ESSJa 2005, p. 147–148.
  20. ^ Boryś 2005, p. 174.
  21. ^ Derksen 2008, p. 180–181.
  22. ^ a b Pitro & Vokáč 2002, p. 95.
  23. ^ Rzetelska-Feleszko 2019, p. 31.
  24. ^ a b c d e Vasilyev 2017, p. 169–170.
  25. ^ Gloger 1896, p. 112, 116.
  26. ^ Brückner 1927, p. 452.
  27. ^ a b Rospond 1983, p. 114.
  28. ^ Gieysztor 2006, p. 167.
  29. ^ Urbańczyk 1991, p. 26.
  30. ^ Urbańczyk 1991, p. 26–27.
  31. ^ Łowmiański 1979, p. 173–174.
  32. ^ a b Strzelczyk 1998, p. 172.
  33. ^ Łowmiański 1979, p. 170.
  34. ^ Loma 2002, p. 344.
  35. ^ Brückner 1985, p. 73–74.
  36. ^ Rosik 2020, p. 215–216.
  37. ^ Strumiński 1979, p. 792.
  38. ^ "Radhošťská legenda". Matice Radhošťská. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  39. ^ Muras 2016, p. 28–29.
  40. ^ Orr 1994, p. 23–34.
  41. ^ Tomáš Lokša. "Pivovar Radegast slaví 50 let" (in Czech). Poznávejte Beskydy. Retrieved 2022-03-15.

Bibliography

Dictionaries

Further reading

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