In Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....

, Hors is the Slavic

Slavic peoples

The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

 sun god

Solar deity

A solar deity is a sky deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms...

.

The name Hors comes from the Iranian languages

Iranian languages

The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....

 (Scythian

Scythian languages

Scythian languages refers to all the languages spoken by all the peoples of a vast region of Eurasia named Scythia extending from the Vistula river in East Europe to Mongolia during ancient times. Included also are some languages of eastern Iran and the Central Asian subcontinent...

 or Sarmatian) — see , Middle Persian

Middle Persian

Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...

: xvaršêt, «shining sun».

According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, in 980

980

Year 980 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Otto II renounces his claim to Lorraine.* The Viking ring castle of Trelleborg is constructed in Denmark....

, Vladimir I of Kiev

Vladimir I of Kiev

Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, , Vladimir, , Volodymyr, was a grand prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' in .Vladimir's father was the prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty...

 «placed the idols at the hill outside the palace: wooden Perun

Perun

In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons and war...

… and Hors, Dažbog

Dazbog

Dažbog , alternatively Dazhbog, Dazbog, Dazhdbog, or Dadzbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and possibly a cultural hero...

 and Stribog

Stribog

Stribog in the Slavic pantheon, is the god and spirit of the winds, sky and air; he is said to be the ancestor of the winds of the eight directions. The etymology of the name is disputed, see ....

 and Simargl

Simargl

Semargl or Simargl is a deity or mythical creature in East Slavic mythology. An idol of Semargl was present in the pantheon of Great Prince Vladimir I of Kiev. It may be the equivalent of Simurgh in Persian mythology who is also represented like a griffin with a dog body...

 and Mokosh

Mokosh

Mokoš is a Slavic goddess attested in the Primary Chronicle, connected with female activities such as shearing, spinning and weaving....

».

Based on the situation in the transfer of the gods of the pantheon of great prince Vladimir, the Hors was the second most important deity in this period. The author of Tale of Igor's Campaign provides the name of the Hors epithet Great.

Hypotheses about the functions of the god Hors based on the interpretation of the text of the Tale of Igor’s Campaign. It is believed that the Hors was the god of the solar disk. Hors moved across the sky during the day, and under the ground — at night. Based on a literal reading of the text Tale of Igor’s Campaign can be assumed and the existence of representations of the sacred «way of Hors», which Vseslav crossed somewhere between Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 and Tmutarakan

Tmutarakan

Tmutarakan was a Mediaeval Russian principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa . It was situated on the Taman peninsula, in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia,...

.

In connection with the motif of movement Hors among scientists there is a perception of «Riding of Hors».

External links

• Hors // Mythological Dictionary (Russian)
• Hors // Dictionary-reference of the Tale of Igor’s Campaign. Vol. 6. T-Ya and additions. M., 1984. (Russian)