Svarog

Svarog is a Slavic god of fire and blacksmithing, who was once interpreted as a sky god on the basis of an etymology rejected by modern scholarship. He is mentioned in only one source, the Primary Chronicle, which is problematic in interpretation. He is presented there as the Slavic equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus. The meaning of his name is associated with fire. He is the father of Dazhbog and Svarozhits.

Etymology
The theonym Svarog presents in several forms. The Primary Chronicle has Соварога (Sovaroga), Сварогъ (Svarogǔ), Сварогом (Svarogom), and Сварога (Svaroga). The Sofia Chronograph has Сварог (Svarog) and Сварож (Svarož).

The fire etymology was one of the first to be proposed by the Slovene linguist Franc Miklošič (1875), who explained the theonym Svarog as consisting of the stem svar ('heat', 'light') and the suffix -og. The stem svar itself was derived from an earlier *sur "shining".

That etymology is also supported by contemporary linguists and etymologists, but the etymology of the stem svar can also be explained differently. The root svar derives from the Proto-Slavic *sъvarъ, which consists of the prefix *sъ- meaning "good, (ones') own" and the stem *varъ "fire, heat", which is continued, for example, by Old Church Slavonic варъ, varǔ ("heat"), or Old East Slavic варъ, varǔ "sunny heatwave, scorching heat, heat" (from Proto-Indo-European *wār- "warmth"). This root was then extended by the suffix *-ogъ, which has no specific function. The common noun *sъvarogъ "good, own fire, heat" was then transferred to the name of the god because of his function as a divine blacksmith, a god wielding fire, working with fire.

The *sъvarъ stem is also the origin of words related to blacksmithing. Some examples are Old East Slavic сварити, svariti "to forge something at high temperature", Old Polish zwarzyć "to weld, chain two pieces of iron", and modern Russian and Slovenian words (e.g. сварить, svarit', variti, "to melt", "to weld").

Some researchers, including Aleksander Brückner and Vatroslav Jagić, have suggested that the name stemmed from the word svar meaning "argument, disagreement", or the verb svariti "to quarrel". Brückner translated this theonym literally as "wrangler, brawler", which would also be associated with fire. However, this etymology has been criticized.

In earlier scholarship, the dominant view was that the root svar was borrowed from an Indo-Iranian language (e.g., from Sanskrit स्वर्, svar "radiance", "sky", "sun"), but this etymology is nowadays rejected due to phonetic difficulties.

Legacy
After Christianization, Svarog was preserved in toponymy and vocabulary. In Bulgaria these are the towns of Сва́рог, Svarog, Сва́рошка бара, Svaroshka bara, in the Czech Republic it is the Svaroh mountain, and the Sorbian name Zwarogk. Brückner also added the Polish town of Swarożyn here, based on a notation in the German Latin Swarozino from 1205, but the original notation was Swarozina and is dated 1305, so it should be read as Swarocino, from the personal name Swarota, or, as other records indicate, the town was called Swaryszewo, from the personal name Swarysz. Modern notation Swarożyn should be regarded as false transcription.

In the Russian dialect (Novgorod) the obsolete word сва́рог, svarog meaning "fire" and "blacksmith", is preserved. The Romanian word sfarog, meaning "something burnt, charred, dried", was probably borrowed from an unspecified South Slavic language, probably Bulgarian, and the source word is reconstructed as *svarogъ.

Svarog-Svarozhits
A god named Svarozhits appears in the sources as well. Some scholars have suggested that Svarozhits means 'young Svarog' or is a diminutive of Svarog. The argument for the existence of only one god is based on the fact that in Serbo-Croatian the suffix -ić means 'young' or 'small' (e.g., Djurdjić is not the 'son of Djurdjo', but 'little Djurdjo'). Brückner also believed that the Lithuanians called their gods fondly, e.g. Perkune dievaite meaning 'little god Perkun' and not 'god Perkun'. However, most scholars disagree with this interpretation. The suffix -its, -ich (from Proto-Slavic *-iťь) is most often a patronymic suffix (e.g. Polish pan 'master' → panicz 'son of a master'). The family relationship between Svarog and Svarozhits is also indicated by accounts of these gods.

Interpretations
Because it is unclear to what extent the fragmentary translation of the Chronography can be used, and because of only a single source about Svarog, as well as uncertain clues in folklore, the interpretation of this god is problematic. Some scholars have even suggested that Svarog was created from the figure of Svarozhits and never existed in the beliefs of the Slavs.

God of fire, blacksmithing, sun
Czech historians Martin Pitro and Petr Vokáč believe that Svarog is a god who receded into the background after the creation of the world, but at the same time is a celestial smith and sun god.

It is possible that Svarog echoes the mythology of northern Europe: the smith in Norse and Baltic mythology forges weapons for the Thunderer, and as in Finnish mythology, the smith god Ilmarinen is the creator of the Sun, the sky, and many wondrous objects. The smith god also fights the powers of chaos in defense of his creation.

Aleksander Gieysztor interpreted Svarog as celestial fire (the sun), Perun as atmospheric fire (the thunderbolt), and Svarozhits-Dazhbog as earthly fire (fire).

Jiří Dynda rejects the understanding of Svarog as a sovereign deity of heaven or a deus otiousus type deity, and points out that in the source Svarog, or rather his prefiguration, does not bear the characteristics of such a deity, except for the paternity of the solar deity, which he considers a secondary feature. Instead, he compares him to the figure of the magician and hero Volkh Vseslavyevich from Russian bylines, and to the ancient blacksmiths who, in Russian folklore, make weapons for heroes and weld the hair of men and women symbolically uniting them into marriage, which include, for example, the blind father of the hero Svyatogor.

It is possible that Svarog is related in some way to mythological bird Rarog (saker falcon), perhaps on the taboo basis pointed out by Roman Jakobson. In Vedism Indra is sometimes called Indra Vritrahan, "Indra the victor of Vritra". In the Iranian version of this motif, Veretragna is transformed into the falcon Varhagan during his duel with Vritra. Czech Raroh, Rarach is a generous yet vengeful demonic being associated with the campfire, taking the form of a bird or dragon, with a body and hair of flame, who flies out through the chimney as a ball of fire or whirlwind. He indicates a Balto-Slavic motif: the names raróg, rarok in Polish, jarog in Czech, and raragas or vanagas in Lithuanian refer to a bird with glowing eyes.

Sky god
On the basis of solar and celestial etymology, Svarog is often interpreted as a celestial creator deity whose role in cult mythology has been overlooked. Svarog would have been the heir of a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European *Dyḗus. In this case, he would correspond to deities such as the Vedic Dyaus or the Baltic Dievs, but also to the Greek Zeus or the Roman Jupiter – the latter two deities, however, took on thunderer characteristics and occupied an important place in their respective pantheons.

Michal Téra interprets Svarog as the counterpart of the Vedic sky-god Dyaus, who according to some accounts is the father of the fire-god Agni-Svarozhits and of the sun-god Surya-Dazhbog. He also links him to the mystical figure Svyatogor, whose place in the bylinas is taken by Ilya Muromets, Perun's heir – according to Téra described as tired, whose weight the earth cannot bear, and he compares this last motif to the mythical separation of Heaven and Earth which is necessary to put the world in order. He also believes that Svarog appears in the myths of the creation of the world.

Łowmiański developed a theory that the cult of the Proto-Indo-European god *Dyḗus developed among the Slavs in two forms: in the form of Svarog among the West Slavs, and in the form of Perun among the East Slavs. Subsequently, the cult of Svarog was to be transported in the 6th century by Serbs and Croats from West Slavs to the Balkans.