No other Slavic shrine was at one time so famous as the one in Rugia (Ruyan). Thanks to her holiness and power, she threw European monarchs to her knees and conquered peoples ...
Here was the focus of all faith, all the hope of the pagan Slavs. And not only the Slavs - the Danish king Swain and many others donated booty to the temple of Arkona, and in the temples themselves, idols and rituals, scientists see a lot in common with the religion of the Celts. Gray-haired antiquity sleeps on the banks of the Rügen - she remembers the druids destroyed by Caesar! Back in the 11th century, pilgrims from the distant, seemingly Christian Bohemia, went to bow to his main shrine, the four-headed idol Svyatovit. The Arkon temple became the main religious center of the Slavic Pomorie. The temple had vast estates that gave him income, in favor of him taxes were collected from merchants who traded in Arkona, from industrialists who fished herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the war booty was brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewels in the temple.
For more than 350 years Arkona was the center of resistance of the Slavs against the aggression of Judeo-Christian Germany-Denmark-Poland. It was thanks to her that the 4th crusade was completely defeated, the largest in the history of the Middle Ages, (three armies totaling 200,000) campaign against the Slavs (AND THIS WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE !!!). There are many descriptions of how the 4th crusade was defeated. The German knights were divided into 3 columns, which were joined by the Danish king, the Pope's troops, French units from Brittany and others (well, as usual - all of Europe). I will not describe the whole company, but it is a fact that the Temporarily elected military prince of all Slavic associations Lyutichi, Obodritov and others, in turn, defeated all 3 columns with very cunning maneuvers, and at this time the Arkona fleet defeated the Danish fleet supporting the invasion from the sea. There is literature on this topic, so it's worth looking.
Everyone remembers about 300 Spartans, but few people do not know that we had our own 300 Slavic "Spartans" ...
The sacred city of Arkona was in those distant times the forge of martial arts of the European North. Ancient history Polabian Slavs bring to us the memory that there was a special type of military service at the temples. These temple warriors were originally called “knights”.
The phenomenon was unique, since there were no special troops at the temples of other peoples in Europe. The temple army was considered sacred among the Polabian Slavs. It consisted of young messengers of noble Slavic families. Moreover, these young men have remained professional warriors for the rest of their lives.
Three hundred (!) Knights - golden belts (dvij, twice-born), temple warriors of Arkona, kept all the surrounding tribes and peoples of the Baltic under their control. From whom they took tribute in peace, and from others they collected tribute with the sword.
As in Arkona, under the continents of other gods, other tribal centers also contained 300 knights, "recruited" from the best families of the Polabian tribes - after all, these were, in fact, the necessary guard troops of the sacred fortresses. Therefore, in battles, for example, against the Germans, in front of the Polabian troops, there were 300 knights on horses of the same color as the horse of the deity: for example, on white horses, 300 knights of Svyatovit, on black horses - 300 knights of Triglav.
About the origin of the word "knight":
The word "knight" consists of the root "vit", the pronoun "yaz" and the ending "ь" (er), which could be pronounced with the sound "e" (esi). The word as a whole stands for "wit I am".
The lands of the Polabian Slavs were famous for the temples of pagan gods, which existed (in addition to Arkona) in Radigosche, Retra, Korbel, and other cities. The gods were called by names with the ending "vit" ("viti" Sanskrit - light, the whole inhabited world). Moreover, their huge idols carved from wood were multi-headed: Svyatovit had 4 heads, Perevit - 5, Korevit - 5 faces (four - under one skull, the fifth - on the chest), Yarovit - 7. In German chronicles, the names of the gods are in every possible way distorted, but the Slavic ending "vit" was written correctly everywhere: the German wiht, wicht meant a certain person, person and referred to supernatural forces: spirits, demons.
From the Polabian gods - "vits" - and from nowhere else - the word "knight" came from. The word was used by the Czechs, who were closest ethnically to the Polabian Slavs, and "vitezky" meant "victorious" among them. That is, "knight" means "I am God" (in the sense as a guide). I will add that it is similarly believed that the Cossacks-kharacterniki during the battle directly communicate with the Rod itself.
And by the way, if we recall the Cossacks, their custom to wear a mustache and forelock, earlier we will see Svyatoslav the Brave (Varangians-Rus before baptism shaved their heads and beards almost without exception, as the Arabs and Byzantines report. Their God Perun was depicted with a "silver mustache", and on the miniatures of the Radziwill Chronicle - with a military forelock on his head.), and even earlier ...
"The Slavs themselves, contrary to our usual image of an" ancient Slav "with shoulder-length hair and a beard with a shovel, cut short, or even shaved their hair and beards. Noble warriors - lyutichi !!! (according to Titmar) - could as a sign of a high clan and military leave a clump of un-shaved hair on the crown or on the front of the skull. The Arkonian idol Svyatovit had shaved heads and beards "in accordance with the folk custom", according to Saxon Grammar. Only the priests wore long hair and beards "contrary to custom."
So, most likely, the legendary Cossacks-characterists are the bearers of the traditions and knowledge of the temple knights of Arkona ...
Arkona (Jaromarsburg)
Arkona is a city and religious center of the Baltic Slavic tribe Ruyan. The city of Arkona existed until the XII century and was located on the cape of the same name on the island of Rügen (Germany).
Geographically, the city of Arkona is located on the cape of the same name (Arkona), on the island of Rügen, in its northern part. Since ancient times, this territory was controlled by the Slavic tribe Ruyan, who were also called the Polabian Slavs. Archaeological excavations indicate that about 14 settlements were located in the area of \u200b\u200bCape Arkona.
Date of foundation of the city is unknown, but from medieval European chronicles (in particular - from the work "Acts of the Danes" by Saxon Grammar), we know that the city was destroyed by the Danes in the second half of the 12th century, during the reign of Prince Yaromar I. Following this event, the Ruyan tribe, according to modern historians, adopted Christianity, which is actually unlikely, if only in view of the fact that in other regions the original faith of the Slavs was inferior to the new religion with a lot of blood, and "religious wars" in the territory of Ancient Russia were fought up to the XIV-XV centuries.
The already mentioned Saxon Grammaticus wrote that the Danes destroyed the temple complex of Arkona, which in fact was a cross between a city, a temple and a fortress. In size, Arkona, the city of the Slavs, surpassed all cities known at that time. In the center was the sanctuary of Sventovit (Svetovita), the ancient Slavic god, the patron saint of heavenly truth (many tribes, in particular the Ruyan themselves, revered him as the supreme god). The sanctuary was supposedly about 480 meters long (north to south) and 270 meters wide (east to west).
In the process of archaeological excavations, which were carried out in 1921, 1930, as well as in the period from 1969 to 1971, it was discovered that individual fragments temple complex were built in the 9th century, however, there is no information regarding the dating of most of the surviving structural elements. Judging by the "Acts of the Danes" of Saxon, the Grammar Arkona by the XII century was already considered an ancient city, this suggests that the temple-fortress was built much earlier.
A detailed description of the Svetovita temple, which was located in the very center of Arkona, can be found in the Acts of the Danes, and within the framework of this material it makes no sense to retell this medieval text. Another thing is important. This temple was probably the largest religious building in all of Europe, and its decoration could have been the envy of the palaces of the most powerful emperors. For more than three and a half centuries, "noble knights", Catholics and faithful, tried to capture Arkona. Not a single "crusade" ended at the walls of this legendary city. And each time, 300 warriors came out to meet the invaders, only 300 warriors on white horses and in bright red cloaks. There is a legend that they could not be defeated, for they were protected by Svetovit himself, the great god of the eternal truth. Also, legends say that "three hundred warriors of Arkona" traveled throughout the Slavic lands, protecting the shrines from enemies. And wherever they appeared, foreign forces washed themselves in blood, and fear settled in the hearts of the survivors forever.
But, as mentioned above, Arkona nevertheless fell. The Danish king Voldemar I sent 15,000 of his best soldiers to capture the city. 300 knights of Arkona were killed in that battle, but not one of Voldemar's warriors returned home. Moreover, the Danes, having lost the lion's share of their forces, did not dare to move further, deep into the territories controlled by the Ruyan tribe. However, in this case we are talking about a legend. If we turn to the information left to us by medieval European chroniclers, then everything in that distant year, 1168, developed somewhat differently. Under the leadership of Voldemar I (including the allied forces of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony) there were more than 30,000 people. On May 9, 1168, he landed on the island of Rügen near the city of Arkona. 2,500 warriors, the regular army of Arkona, came out to meet him. Chroniclers write that almost all Slavic soldiers fell in the first battle, but Voldemar also lost more than a third of his personnel in just one day. Only civilians and 200 guards remained in the city, who served directly in the Svetovita temple. The siege of Arkona lasted until June 12, and after one of the walls of the fortress ( Arkona was almost entirely wooden) was set on fire by the invaders, the Danes managed to break into the city. It is believed that the wall did not have time to be extinguished, because after a month of siege in Arkona the water ran out.
After the city was taken, Voldemar's troops approached the main temple, the Sventovit sanctuary, which was protected by the chief priest and 200 knights. Chroniclers write that the battle for the sanctuary lasted more than two weeks. After the capture of Arkona, Voldemar had slightly less than 15,000 soldiers, which was clearly not enough to further advance inland. Then the Danish king offered Jaromar I, the Ruyan prince, peace.
It's hard to say what is true in this story and what is pure fiction. How does the legend of the fall of the city of Arkona relate to historical facts? It's hard to say, especially if you remember that history is always written by the winners. But even if the "winners" honestly told us that less than 3,000 Slavic soldiers managed to "halve" the 30,000th army of the Danes, then the beautiful legend of the "three hundred warriors of Arkona" does not look so fabulous, does it?
Unfortunately on this moment the truth is not known to us. It is also unknown where all the wealth of the temple went. Part, of course, was plundered, but, for example, the three-meter kummir of Sventovit, which according to legend was the highest value of Arkona (Saxon Grammaticus writes that it was created from gold, platinum and other noble materials), disappeared without a trace. There is a legend according to which the Danes tried to snatch a blade from the hands of a kummir of excellent work, after which they fell down dead. Subsequently, the kummir was simply thrown into the sea, for Voldemar's soldiers decided that "he was cursed." Probably, the blade of Sventovit was made of meteorite steel, the same Saxon Grammaticus hints at this.
In fact, it is important that the memory of Arkona, the city of the Slavs, is alive. The legend of three hundred invincible warriors is also alive. And this means that the ancient culture of our Ancestors is not doomed at all, because we remember. We remember, despite the fact that "the history is written by the winners."
The West Slavic Baltic tribes (Vendians), settled between the Elbe (Laba), Oder (Odra) and Vistula, reached high development by the 9th-10th centuries AD, having built on the Rane (Rügen) island the sacred city of temples Arkona, which served for all Baltic Slavs the role of the Slavic Mecca and the Delphic Oracle. The Slavic tribe of Rans formed a priestly caste in their midst (like the Indian Brahmins or Babylonian Chaldeans) and not a single serious military-political issue was resolved by other Slavic tribes without advice with wounds.
200 million from Arkona to the southwest is today's Hamburg
The wounds (Ruans) possessed the runic writing of the Vendian tradition, the graphics of which differed markedly from the known older and younger runes (probably the term wounds itself came from the Slavic wound, that is, carve runes on wooden plates). The construction of the city of temples and the rise of the pagan culture of the Vendian ethnos was a retaliatory measure of the Slavic priestly elite for the ideological rallying of the Baltic Slavs against the intensified expansion of first Frankish, and then German and Danish aggressors, who under the banner of Christianization carried out systematic genocide of the Slavic population and expulsion from the occupied territories. By the XIII-XIV centuries, under the intense pressure of the Danish and German crusaders, the Slavic principalities of Paradise, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and others fell, and the Baltic Slavic Vendian ethnos ceased to exist. Let us cite information from Western chroniclers (Adam of Bremen, Otgon of Bamberg, Titmar of Merseburg) about the paganism of the Baltic Slavs.
Arkona was built on the high rocky coast of the island of Rügen and was inaccessible from the Baltic Sea. There were many temples of all the tribal Slavic gods in the city. The main god of Arkona was Svyatovit, whose idol was installed in a special temple.
The idol was huge, taller than a man, with four heads on four separate necks, with bobbed hair and shaved beards. The four heads, apparently, symbolized the power of God over the four cardinal points (like the four winds) and the four seasons of time, that is, the cosmic god of space-time (similar to the Roman Janus). In his right hand, the idol held a horn, lined with different metals and filled with wine every year, the left hand was bent in an arc and rested against the side. The horn symbolized the power of God over productivity and fertility, that is, as a god of life and plant power. A bridle, a saddle and a huge battle sword and shield (symbols of the god of war) were located near the idol. The sacred banner of Svyatovit, called stanitsa, stood in the temple. This village of wounds was honored as Svyatovit himself and carrying it in front of them on a campaign or battle, they considered themselves under the protection of their god (the battle banner can also be attributed as a symbol of the god of war).
After harvesting the bread, many people flocked to Arkona and a lot of wine was brought for sacrifices and a feast. Apparently this happened in September, in Slavic - Ruyen, hence the second name of the island Ruyan. On the eve of the holiday, the priest Svyatovita with a broom in his hands entered the inner sanctuary and, holding his breath, so as not to defile the deity, cleanly swept the floor. The broom and sweeping symbolically signify the end of the time cycle, in this case the annual one, for the next day fortune-telling is carried out on a pie, similar to the East Slavic Christmas carol.
This means that the priests of paradise used the September style of time reckoning (the year began with the autumn equinox). The next day, in the presence of all the people, the priest took out the horn of wine from the hands of the idol of Svyatovit and, having carefully examined it, predicted whether or not there would be a harvest for the next year. Having poured out the old wine at the feet of the idol, the priest filled the horn with new wine and drained it in one breath, asking all kinds of blessings for himself and the people. Then he again poured the horn with new wine and placed it in the hand of the image. After that, they brought the idol a cake of sweet pastry taller than a man's height. The priest hid behind a pie and asked the people if they could see him. When they answered that only the cake was visible, the priest asked God that they could make the same cake the next year. In conclusion, in the name of Svyatovit, the priest blessed the people, ordered them to continue to honor the Arkonian god, promising as a reward an abundance of fruits, victory at sea and on land. Then everyone drank and ate to the bone, for abstinence was taken as an offense to the deity.
Arkona was also visited for divination. The sacred horse Svyatovit, white with a long mane and tail, which had never been trimmed, was kept at the temple.
Only the priest of Svyatovit could feed and mount this horse, on which, according to the belief of the wounds, Svyatovit himself fought against his enemies. It was with this horse that they wondered before the start of the war. The ministers stuck three pairs of spears in front of the temple at a certain distance from each other, to each pair a third spear was tied across. The priest, having uttered a solemn prayer, led the horse by the bridle from the entrance of the temple and led it to crossed spears. If a horse stepped through all the spears, first with its right foot, and then with its left, this was considered a happy omen. If the horse first stepped with his left foot, then the campaign was canceled. Three pairs of copies may symbolically reflect the will of the gods of heaven, earth and underground (3 kingdoms according to Russian fairy tales) during divination.
Thus, the main symbol-oracle of the Arkonian cult was the war heroic horse of Svyatovit of the white suit - "yar horse", from which the name of the sacred city "Ar-kona", that is, the ardent horse or the city of the ardent horse, may have originated.
In addition to the functions of an oracle-soothsayer, Svyatovit's horse also played the role of a biological indicator of the state of the life force phase at a given moment in time. If the horse was lathered, with tangled and disheveled hair, then the life force phase was considered negative (depressive) and the planned campaign was canceled. If the horse was in excellent physical condition (passionate), then the planned campaign was blessed.
Unfortunately, literary sources do not give an unambiguous answer on the method of this fortune-telling: according to some, the horse is in the temple all night before the fortune-telling, according to others, the priest (or Svyatovit himself) rides on it all night.
The Arkonian temple became the main sanctuary of Slavic Pomorie, the focus of Slavic paganism. According to the common conviction of the Baltic Slavs, the Arkonian god gave the most famous victories, the most accurate divinations. Therefore, for sacrifices and for fortune-telling, Slavs flocked here from all sides of Pomorie. From everywhere, gifts were delivered to him under the vows of not only individuals, but also entire tribes. Each tribe sent him an annual sacrifice tribute. The temple had vast estates that gave him income, in favor of him taxes were collected from merchants who traded in Arkona, from industrialists who fished herring off the island of Rügen. A third of the war booty was brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewels in the temple. At the temple there was a permanent squad of 300 knights on white war horses, equipped with heavy knightly weapons. This squad participated in campaigns, withdrawing a third of the spoils in favor of the temple.
The phenomenon of the Arkonian temple is reminiscent of the Delphic oracle among the Greeks. The analogy goes further: as foreigners sent gifts to Delphi and turned for predictions, so the rulers of neighboring peoples sent gifts to the Arkonian temple. For example, the Danish king Sven donated a golden cup to the temple.
The reverence that the Baltic Slavic tribes had for the Arkonian shrine was involuntarily transferred to the wounds that stood so close to this shrine.
Adam Bremensky wrote that the Baltic Slavs have a law: in general affairs, nothing to decide and not to undertake contrary to the opinion of the paradise people, to such an extent they were afraid of wounds for their connection with the gods.
Shrines similar to those of Arkon also existed in Shchetin, where the idol of Triglav stood, in Volegoshche, where the idol of Yarovit stood, and in other cities. The Triglav sanctuary was located on the highest of the three hills, on which the city of Szhetin was located. The walls of the sanctuary were covered inside and outside with colored carvings depicting people and animals. The three-headed statue of the god was removed with gold. The priests argued that the three chapters are a symbol of the power of God over the three kingdoms - heaven, earth and hell. In the temple were laid up weapons obtained in wars, and a tenth of the spoils prescribed by law, taken in battles at sea and on land. There were also kept gold and silver bowls, which were taken out only in holidaysfrom which noblemen and noble people drank and divined, horns gilded and decorated with expensive stones, swords, knives and various objects of worship.
There was also a holy horse in Shchetin dedicated to Triglav. Nobody could sit on it. One of the priests took care of him. With the help of this horse, fortune-telling was performed before campaigns, for which they stuck spears into the ground and forced the horse to step over them.
The third center of paganism among the Baltic Slavs was the city of Radigoszcz in the land of the rats. According to the description of Titmar of Merseburg, the city lay among a large forest on the shore of Lake Dolen. This forest was considered sacred and inviolable. Inside the city, where three gates led, there was only one wooden sanctuary, the walls of which were decorated on the outside with the horns of animals, and on the inside with carvings depicting gods and goddesses. In the sanctuary there were formidable statues of gods, dressed in helmets and shells, and the first place among them was occupied by the idol of Svarozhich, revered by all Slavs.
A prominent sanctuary was also the Ruevita or Yarovita temple in Volegoshche (the city of the god Veles) in Pomorie. The meaning of this god is clearly determined by the words that, according to the story of the life of Saint Otgon Bambergs, pronounced on behalf of God by his priest: "I am your god, I am the one who dresses the fields with bread and forests with leaves, the fruits of fields and gardens. The fruits of the living and everything that is serves for the benefit of man - in my power. "
Ruevit was depicted with seven faces on one head, seven swords in a sheath were tied to his belt, and he held the eighth in his right hand.
The image, functions and name of Ruevit indicate that he was the calendar god of counting the biorhythms of life force both days of the week and seven-day segments, starting from the day of the autumn equinox (Ryuen). According to the ancients, every day of the week has its own emotional and physiological coloring and characteristics (its own sword and its own face). The countdown of the biorhythms of life force begins from the moment a person is born, according to a woman's account from left to right in seven-day weeks and ends with death - a sword in his right hand and a skull (symbols of death).
In the East Slavic tradition, such functions are performed by Veles, the god of underground (chthonic) life force.
A shield was dedicated to the idol of Ruevita, to which no one dared to touch and which was taken out of the temple only during the war, and the people either left or fell prostrate to the ground. The removal of the shield from the temple (tantamount to the opening of the temple gate) conventionally meant the opening of the earth and the emission of blessed life forces by it, contributing to the victory over enemies (the shield is a conventional symbol of the earth).
The idol of Ruevita, along with the idols of Porevita and Porenut, stood in the princely residence of Karentia's Rani. According to the news of the life of Saint Otgon, the same god under the name Yarovit (Gerovit) was honored by the Gavolians, celebrating a special holiday in his honor. According to Titmar of Merseburg, the Baltic Slavs had many temples and gods, equal to the number of their volosts.
In 1166, the Danish king Valdemar with his army and auxiliary detachments of the invigorating and Pomor princes (their vassals) finally conquered the island of Rügen, which was a stronghold of Slavic paganism and sea robberies. All pagan temples and shrines were destroyed.
The West Slavic Arkonian cult of Svyatovit, during the conquest of the East Slavic lands by the Baltic knights, received a new name - the cult of Perun or, in the common people, Belobog. The princely squad, as the main bearer of the druzhina-princely cult of Perun, received the caste name rus (rus - light brown, light, white - after the color of the caste god of war Perun-Belobog, who was also the cosmic god of the light part of the day). The lands controlled by the princely squad, collecting rent or tribute from the population of these lands, were called the Russian land. And the princely warriors were called Rusyns.
For the East Slavic tribes who lived in a tribal system, engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing, hunting, and the extraction of furs and honey, the main peasant caste god was Veles (Chernobog), the patron saint of agricultural work, cattle breeding and fertility, and there was a separate caste of magi-priests.
Belobog (Perun) was familiar to the Eastern Slavs, but in comparison with Veles, he performed secondary functions as a giver of thunder and rain, which he was prayed for in dry times.
Unlike the Baltic Slavs, who were engaged in sea robbery (the island of Rugen) and raids on neighbors, which is why they received the chronicle name Varangians-Rus, the Eastern Slavs, due to their peasant way of life, were less in need of the god of war.
When the Baltic Slavic princes conquered the East Slavic lands, the caste-squad god of war Perun-Belobog was proclaimed dominant, and the peasant Veles-Chernobog was of secondary importance, which was recorded in the texts of treaties between the Russian princes and the Greeks: god ".
Before, before the organization of the druzhina-princely system in the East Slavic lands, both of these gods - Belobog and Chernobog - seemed to be equal as the god of Day (good) and the god of Night (evil). Perhaps the Cherno God-Veles was revered higher in the peasant environment for his functions as a god of fertility and vitality.
We observe the same thing in the Christian era: the peasant Nikola-Ugodnik (deputy Veles) is revered higher than Ilya the Prophet (deputy of Perun the Thunderer).
In connection with the above, we will try to clarify the origin of the term "Belaya Rus", primarily associated with the emergence of the Polotsk principality and the advance of the Arkonian cult of Svyatovit into its territory. In the Russian chronicle under the year 980 there is an entry: "Bebo Rogovolod came to zamoria and have power in Polotsts. And sometimes you came out with him Tur, and you were in Turov, from worthless and Turovtsi you were nicknamed".
The conquest of the Slavic lands by the German knights under Henry I and Otgon I (919-973) belongs to about the same period. The Polabian and Baltic Slavic lands were divided into 18 German margraves with ecclesiastical subordination to the Bishop of Magdeburg. N.M. Karamzin mentions the consanguineous relations between the Pomor and Polotsk princes. The very names and nicknames of the Polotsk prince Rogovolod and his daughter Rogneda indicate a possible connection with the Arkonian cult of Svyatovit (holding the fertility horn in his hand).
Thus, it can be assumed that the emergence of the term "White Russia" is associated with the displacement of the Slavic Pomor princes by the Germans from the Baltic Pomerania, who brought the Arkonian cult to Polotsk during its conquest in 980.
An important argument in favor of the proposed hypothesis is the discovery of the Zbruch idol of Svyatovit in the Ternopil region.
The advancement of the Arkonian cult to the East Slavic lands can be traced in a number of characters and plots of East Slavic folklore:
- a war heroic horse of white suit in epics and fairy tales, bringing luck and victory to its owner and at the same time possessing the properties of an oracle-diviner;
- the heroic "sword-kladenets" mentioned in fairy tales;
- a magic bridle (horse Svyatovit), which has the properties of keeping evil spirits;
- a horseshoe (a conventional symbol of the horse Svyatovit), nailed to the door "for luck" and to scare away evil spirits;
- the character of a white horse (sometimes a horse's head on a stick) in the Christmas rite of Kolyada;
- Christmas-time fortune-telling of rural girls about the upcoming marriage by means of a white horse stepping over the shafts;
- an image of a carved horse's head on the roof of a dwelling, a horse.
In Russian epics, the allegorical language of symbols shows the transfer of power to the Russian Perun (Ilya Muromets) from the Arkonian Svyatovit (Svyatogor), as well as from the Pomor Triglav (three cups of green wine).
In conclusion, let us draw the main conclusion that the origins of the Russian pagan pre-Christian culture go back to the Arkonian sanctuary of the island of Rügen, which in all Russian conspiracies is called the island of Buyan.
« By the island of Buyan ", which Pushkin colorfully described in his" Tale of Tsar Saltan ", not only the notorious barrel with the hero of the work of Alexander Sergeevich floated, but also the armada of Danish kings who wanted to conquer the lands of the free Baltic Slavs.
It is precisely this connection between Fr. Buyan and Fr. Ruyan was carried out by the historian Wilinbach, proving the identity of the names of the legendary island.
Ruyan with the capital Arkona was one of the last pagan fortresses of the most ancient and autochthonous Slavic civilization, its western wing - the lands of the Polabian-Obodrit Slavs.
In modern Germany, many Slavic sanctuaries have been reconstructed, and this is not surprising, because all of its territory beyond the Oder (glorious name of Odra) and Elba (resp. Laba) until the Middle Ages was inhabited by numerous Slavic tribes, known as Lyutichi, Viltsy, Bodrich, Pomorians, Serbs-Sorbs and many others. The Germans and other Germanic and Romanic peoples called the Baltic Slavs Vendians. Vendy-Wends are often mentioned as the ancestors of the Slavs.
Over time, almost all of these tribes were assimilated by the most powerful Germanic-Catholic onslaught to the east - it. Drang nach Osten. But so far in Germany, the Slavs-Sorbs have retained their identity (their number is about 250,000 people.) .
This relict ethnos remained to us in memory of the former Slavic hegemony in that region and the stubborn, long-term resistance of the Polabian Slavs to German colonization. Assimilation was bloody, there was a powerful outflow of the Slavic population of these lands to the neighboring fraternal countries - Poland and the Czech Republic. But a particularly fierce struggle took place in the very north of the lands of the Polabian Slavs - on the island of Ruyan (modern German Rügen) near Cape Arkona.
Cape Arkona was the location of the cult center of the same name for the Baltic Slavs. It was dedicated to the Slavic deity Sventovit. This God was responsible for fertility and was central in the pantheon of deities of the inhabitants of Ruyan.
Danish chronograph XIV century. Saxon Grammaticus in his work "Acts of the Danes" gave a detailed description of Arkona and the temple with the priest Svyatovit (Sventovita).
The idol of Svyatovit had four faces, facing the cardinal points, and held a horn with wine in its hand. According to the level of wine in it, the minister of the cult determined the degree of yield for the coming year.
"Svetovid", ill. from "Mythology of Slavic and Russian" A. S. Kaisarov, 1804
Central holiday in the solar pagan cycle there was a day of the autumn equinox - it was in September that the Slavic new Year and festivities with feasts and round dances were organized right in the Sventovit sanctuary. The Ruyans were preparing a large honey cake as tall as a human being. The priest stood up for him and asked the audience: "Can you see me?" If it was visible, then he wished that the next year the cake completely overshadowed him.
On the territory of Arkona was located a warehouse of all the wealth obtained by peaceful and military means. The Ruyans gave the priest Sventovit about a third of the funds obtained. In its barns and bins were jewelry and clothing, many fabrics and other valuables. There were about 300 horses in the stable at the temple. You can even say that the priest was a central figure in the state of the rebellious island. It was he who planned the routes and tactics of military campaigns, including using the widely used divination practice.
With axon Grammaticus described a ritual associated with a white horse that stepped over a symbolic gate made of three lances. If the horse stepped with the right foot, then the campaign will be successful, if with the left, then it is worth reconsidering the direction of the movement of the army. This horse was an inviolable figure; only the priest himself could take care of him, and pulling out even a hair from his mane was considered a grave offense.
Ilya Glazunov. Rugen Island. Priest The Ruyans were not only engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, but were truly conquerors of the sea. They controlled a huge territory of the Baltic Sea, waging constant wars with the Vikings. Some Danish provinces even paid tribute to Ruyan's Slavs.
Perhaps the expansionist policy of the Baltic Slavs was partly related to their response to the well-known German ideological paradigm “drang nach Osten”. After all, attempts to colonize the lands of the Ruyans and convert them to Christianity took place practically throughout the entire length of Slavic-German contacts, starting from Frankish times.
There is an opinion that the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich "Red Sun" erected a pagan pantheon in Kiev, on Podol, in 980 out of solidarity with the rebellious Slavic relatives of Arkona.
Surrounded by aggressive neighbors, Arkona resisted for a long time, until in 1168 it was destroyed by the army of the Danish king Valdemar I, who defeated the Ruyan prince Jaromir.
Bishop Absalon destroys the idol of the god Svyatovit in Arkona in 1168 The stones of the Arkona sanctuary were used to build a Catholic church in Altenkirchen in 1185. The stone with the image of the priest Sventovit is still kept there.
"Stone of Svantevit" in the Altenkirchen church on the island of Rügen The greatest leader of the Reformation Philip Melanchthon wrote that after the fall of Arkona and its complete plundering by the colonialists - Catholics, most of the Slavs-Ruians migrated to the east - to where the coast of the Gulf of Riga is now. He also etymologically linked the names of Riga and Ruyan. It is quite possible that the Ruyans found refuge with their kindred pagan Balts, the ancestors of modern Latvians. After all, it is known that the Baltic and Slavic tribes are the closest genetically, culturally and linguistically in comparison with other Indo-European peoples.
Arkona is also associated with the anti-Normanist doctrine of Lomonosov, in which the great Russian scientist postulated a version of the Ruyan Slavic roots of Rurik and his entourage. Mikhail Vasilyevich believed that the Varangians called up in 862 by the Novgorodians were natives of Ruyan, or other lands of the Baltic Slavs, and had nothing to do with the Germans.
The Slavic legends about the legendary elder Gostomysl (the ruler of Novgorod) tell about the calling of his grandchildren, headed by Rurik. The daughter of the gray-haired leader, Umila, was married to one of the princes of the Baltic Slavs, and Rurik, thus, was a representative of the cheer clans and Novgorod Slovenes, if we start from this legendary version. And this is quite plausible, since archaeologists have established the continuity of archaeological artifacts, types of buildings of the Slavs of Novgorod and the southern Baltic coast.
In addition to archaeologists, the idea of \u200b\u200ba single cultural space was expressed by Academician Zaliznyak, an outstanding representative of Russian linguistics, who outlined in his works a single Novgorod-West Slavic linguistic continuum.
The Slavic citadel of the Baltic - Arkona - reminds us of great era domination of the developed spiritual culture of our ancestors.
Chalk cliffs of Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen (Ruyan), where the main sanctuary of the Baltic Slavs was located. Arkona today
Cape Arkona (German: Kap Arkona) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rügen. About 1 million people come to admire the location of the ancient sanctuary of Ruyan every year.
The place is very beautiful and picturesque. A high bank (45 m) of chalk and marl is located on the Witt peninsula in the north of the Rügen island (near the fishermen village Witt).
The main attractions of Arkona are two lighthouses, two military bunkers, a Slavic fortress and several tourist buildings (restaurants, souvenir shops). On the western side of the cape there is a ring-shaped rampart, which housed the temple of the Vendian god Svyatovit. Also near ancient castle Jaromarsburg, you can take a photo against the background of a modern wooden carved statue depicting the four-faced Slavic deity Svetovid.