One of the most important deities in the East Slavic pantheon, and one of the most complex, Veles demands a detailed study to unravel the layers of powers attributed to him. How can one be a god of death, serpents and magic, but also of order, oaths and fertility? Both a saint and the devil? What role does Veles play in Slavic religion? What relation does he have to other gods? This thorough overview will allow us to answer these questions and to reconstruct the worship of Veles for contemporary Slavic paganism. Glory to Veles! Слава Велесу!

Historical Sources

Veles is mentioned in a few ancient sources concerning the pagan Rus. In the Primary Chronicle, he is called a “god of flocks” [1] (скотий бог, skotiy bog), and the Rus swear to him alongside Perun in an oath with the Byzantines [2]. Oath-swearing to Veles was also documented among the pagan Rus in Yaroslavl [3]. Despite these mentions, Veles is not listed among the idols at Kiev. Meanwhile, in the Song of Igor’s Campaign, he is referred to as the “grandfather of Boyan” [4], a gusli player and sorcerer.

Veles’s worship was suppressed much like the other gods. In post-Christian sources he was often associated with the devil, [5] especially among the West Slavs. However, while Perun’s statues were toppled both in Kiev and Novgorod upon the conversion of the Rus, it appears that worship of Veles survived at least a century after this official conversion. Abraham of Rostov toppled a stone idol of Veles among Finns living in Yaroslavl in the twelfth century [6].

Little can be learned from these scattered references to the deity. What we know for certain is that Veles was believed to be a god of livestock, music and magic. We also know that his worship spread to non-Slavic neighbors of the Russians, unlike other Slavic deities. All of these hint at his significance, but historical sources alone paint an incomplete picture of the East Slavic cult of Veles.

Toponyms

A number of place names in the Balkans are directly connected to Veles’ name. The most apparent toponym is Veles, Macedonia. Other towns scattered throughout the region include Velestovo in Macedonia, Velesnica in Serbia, Velešići in Bosnia, and Volosko in Croatia. Lastly, the Velež Mountain in Bosnia and Veliz Mountain in the Czech Republic bear his name.

Volosovo is a city in northwestern Russia. While founded in the 1800s, it took its name from a nearby village. It is believed, and the city’s official statement on it’s contemporary coat of arms (which includes a depiction of Veles) states, that Veles was worshiped in the region [7]. While other toponyms of Veles in Russia are less clear, such as the Vologda River’s disputed etymology, the relative prevalence of Veles toponyms among the South Slavs should not lead us to believe Veles was not important in the East as well.

Linguistic Sources

In the absence of a satisfactory historical account of the pre-Christian Slavic cult of Veles, we will need to turn to the root of his name. This will allow us to both establish comparative mythological connections and to tease out more the aspects of Veles himself. A great deal of Veles’s character and significance to the Slavic pantheon can be learned from linguistic studies around the root of his name, *vel-.

First, it should be remembered that the closest languages to the Slavic languages are the Baltic languages, such as Latvian or Lithuanian. In fact, both Slavic and Baltic languages make up the same branch, Balto-Slavic, of the Indo-European family. This linguistic lineage serves Slavic reconstruction significantly because of the wealth of information surrounding the Lithuanian deity Velinas, a direct cognate of Veles.

Pagans in the Baltic worshiped Velinas as a god of magic, music and death. Velinas was a particularly Odinic figure: he was one-eyed [8], a god of hanged men and called epithets related to “rage” and prophesy [9]. In folktales, Velinas was a musician and, at night, would sing and dance in palaces which appeared to be swamps during the day [10]. A further connection to swamps and bodies of water is made through the belief in “Velinas’ Water”, which would make a person clairvoyant when rubbed on the eyes [11]. This paints a portrait of a ecstatic god of the wilderness, a magical deity “…a principle divinity of the Baltic pantheon…” [12].

The connection from Veles to Odin is not entirely mediated by Velnias, however. In Germanic languages, words relating to death in battle are ultimately connected to the same proto-Indo-European root *vel- [13]. Examples include Valhöll and Valfodr, the hall of the slain and an appellation of Odin, respectively.

But to return to Baltic cognates, the root *vel- can be observed in the name for an incredibly archaic Baltic magical object, the “bone of the dead”, within ancestor worship rites. This “bone of the dead” in Latvian, vela kauls, shares a linguistic root with the name Veles. This same name of the magical “bone of the dead”, across Baltic languages, as they get closer and closer to Russian: naujos kaulis (Samogitian), navi-kaulis (Lithuanian), навья косточка (nav’ya kostochka) (Russian). While a distant cognate, this “bone of the dead” involved in ancestral rites was not foreign to the Slavs [21], nor was the “day of the dead” [20] on which it took place . Further, if we continue looking for *vel- in the names of this “day of the dead” festival, we find one in one of the Ukrainian names for the holiday: Велик День (Velik Den’) [20]. To summarize, *vel- cognates show up in (relatively) geographically distant languages (Latvian and Ukrainian) in connection to this particular magical object in these similar Baltic and Slavic ancestor worship festivals.

This connection of Veles to ancestor worship rituals and festivals, on this evidence concerning the root *vel- alone might appear untenable, but is greatly strengthened when viewed alongside his other chthonic relations with the dead.

This PIE root, *vel-, can also establish some Russian cognates and give us some more information about Veles. Ivanov and Toporov explain that the Old Church Slavonic “владꙑка” and it’s Old Russian descendant “володыка” (volodyka) both share the meaning “ruler” [15]. Further, in the Ryazan dialect of Old Russian, this word is “велес” (veles), identical to the deity’s name. They say both of these words are directly connected to the verb “волосить” (volosit’), “to rule” [15]. Modern Russian words such as “власть” (vlast’) and “воля” (volya), power and will respectively, are related to this collection of terms all stemming from *vel-.

Through these cognates and descendants of *vel-, we have identified a few properties of Veles: a god of the wilderness and marshes, death and music, ancestor veneration and rule or power. These all further supplement what we have learned from Veles’ historical appearances, as the grandfather (divine ancestor) of magicians and musicians and as a ruler or witness to oaths.

Post-Christian Folklore

It was already mentioned that Veles was often portrayed as the devil in later folklore, especially in West Slavic sources. But paradoxically, Veles also appeared often as St. Blaise (“Vlas” or “Vlasiy” in Orthodoxy). According to Ivantis, “Almost everyone agrees that Vlas assumed both the name and function of Volos (Veles) as cattle god” [16].

Folk customs across Russia in veneration of St. Vlasiy demonstrate to us the slow development of Christian belief and the survival of aspects of the Veles cult. For example, on his feast day (February 11) across Russia it was common to keep his icon in the barn and feed cattle special feed blessed by the icon. [16] On his feast, cows were blessed at church and butter was left before his icon [17]. This butter was called “Воложное” (Volozhnoye), clearly a *vel- cognate [17]. In Tambov, peasants abstained from work on his feast to protect the cattle from plague [16].

Taken alongside Veles’ connections with ancestor veneration, it is important to remember in Slavic eschatology death is often described as a pasture [18]. The cult of St. Vlasiy and cattle-blessing is not far removed conceptually from ancestor veneration, blessing those who dwell in pastures of this world or the other world.

It’s widely accepted that Veles was associated with bears. The mythical or symbolic connection of Veles with bears can also be seen in the folklore surrounding St. Vlasiy’s Feast, and the Slavic beliefs about the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation. First, “the Pleiades in the Slavic tradition are related to the good Veles, whence their name Volosožari, Volosyni, Vlašići, etc” [22]. This linguistic connection is strengthened by folklore. In Tula, prayers were said to “звезда ясная” (Zvezda Yasnaya, “lingering star”) at night on St. Vlasiy’s Feast [19]. Further, “the Russian name [Volosyni] is connected also with the god Volos,” a variant Russian name of Veles, “whose cult became associated with that of a bear in Northern parts of Russia and in regions near the Volga” [22].

From Russian veneration of Saint Blaise, we can see many aspects of the cult of Veles: the blessing of cows, ancestor veneration, his domain over the dead, the bear as his sacred animal, prayers to Veles directed at Ursa Major/Volosyni. A bit more can be gleaned from comparing to South Slavic veneration of and folklore surrounding Saint Blaise.

In the folk tales of the Southern Slavs, an old man with a staff often appears named Velimir, whose name means something like ‘great in speech’ [23]. A cognate based on *vel- is obvious. But more importantly, we should recall Veles as the grandfather of Boyan, the poet in The Song of Igor’s Campaign. In Croatia specifically, St. Blaise is often called St. Vlaho (itself related to Old Slavic volhvъ, a term related to magic). St. Vlaho appears in legend as an old man wielding a staff who counsels the defenders of Dubrovnik against evil spirits [24]. Vlaho or Velimir, the one ‘great in speech’, is a counselor and a wise man, related to protection from malicious spirits and magic. This all illustrates and expands the magical role of Veles in Slavic paganism.

Comparative Mythology

Comparative mythology plays an incredibly important role in reconstructing Veles, his myth and cult.

The traditional account of Veles as the adversary of Perun is based off a reconstructed myth. This reconstruction proposed by Ivanov and Toporov reads Perun and Veles in eternal conflict over the theft of divine cattle, through analogy to the Vedic thunder god Indra and serpent Vala. While this account appears to place Perun and Veles in good company with other Indo-European mythologies (such as he Thor and Jormungandr, etc), it truly fails to explain any of the previously listed associations of Veles. It flattens Veles to a solely adversarial figure, like how he is portrayed as the devil in Christian folklore.

More recent scholarship has criticized this reconstruction, and proposed an alternative Vedic figure to which to compare. By basing our reconstruction on a comparison with Varuna, we can preserve well established attributes of Veles and confirm those which previously appeared odd or out of place. Varuna’s attributes include poetry and wisdom [23] and serpents and the underworld [25]. But Veles and Varuna also share the association with the Pleiades and bears [26] , waters and swamps [27], and oaths and peace [28]. The comparison to Varuna is also etymologically sound, because we know Baltic deity names Velinas and Velns are related to both Varuna and Veles.

However, what is truly at stake in the comparison to Vedic deities is the basis for the Perun-Veles dichotomy. If we take Veles to be a figure like Vala, the serpent and enemy of the thunder god, there is no basis for a reconstruction of Veles as anything other than a demon. Of course, we know he was a more than a demon. We know from historical sources he was worshiped and explicitly called skotiy bog (cattle god). Therefore, comparison to Varuna serves as a better model to reconstruct his cult. But without basing our understanding of Veles off the Vedic dragon Vala, there is no real evidence of a conflict between Veles and Perun (something Slavic pagans have often believed up to today).

In fact, we know from South Slavic folklore that St. Elijah (Perun) invites St. Nicholas (Veles) to join together carrying souls to the next world, a divine partnership identical to that of Indra and Varuna [29].

Solntsa Roshcha Interpretation

We see Veles as the wise old man with horns, bearing a staff, a gusli, magical tales and counsel from experience. We see Veles as the serpent who slithers between our world and that of the dead. We see Veles as the great bear in the night sky and the greatest beast of the forest. We see Veles alongside Perun and Yarilo as heroic gods which defend mankind.

As a liminal deity, Veles crosses the boundaries of life and death, man and spirit; he leaps across the rivers and travels from countryside to city. As a chthonic deity, Veles dwells in the earth, among the dead, strengthening the flora returning after winter and our ancestors as they watch over us. Veles, god of cattle, keeps watch over the fields which nurture us while alive and the endless pastures of the dead. As an ecstatic deity, Veles revels at night in the swamp and the wilderness, chanting out verses over his gusli. But as a keeper of order, Veles protects mankind by advising its defenders and holding back malicious spirits. As both orderly and chaotic, Veles is the patron of all magicians, witches, doctors and nurses, lovers of wisdom, musicians, priests, sailors, travelers and farmers.

Veles is our intercessor to the spirits who dwell outside of our homes and in natural spaces. As a god of boundaries, rivers, the liminal and the dead, we call to Veles to justify our prayers to the Rusalki. As a god of the wilderness, the Great Bear and preserver of order, we call to Veles to vouch for us to the Leshy, to verify our good will to the protectors of the forest.

We venerate Veles in winter, at Kolyada: invoked as the patron of the ancestral cult, god of death but also of life as we hope for the end of winter. We celebrate his feast on February 11 with offerings of butter, milk, music and basil. In spring, we worship Veles during Radunitsa, where we visit our ancestors’ graves and leave gifts and pysanky (painted Easter eggs). During the summer, we appeal to Veles during Semik, when the Rusalky cross boundaries into the world of humans and we venerate the spirits of trees. Lastly, in the autumn, we leave the ‘last sheaf’ of the harvest to Veles and call to him during Roditel’skaya Nedelya (Polish ‘Dziady’) when we call our ancestors near to prepare for winter.

Veles sometimes appears contradictory, embodying order and chaos, controlling death and fertility, guarding the spirits of humans in the ancestral cult and of those spirits dwelling in the wild. As the god of boundaries, Veles crosses them all.

A Veles Mantra

(Long syllables in caps; note: y as in “yellow”)

О Волосе поём верно! (O vo-LOS-YE po-YOM ver-no)

Дед Бояна и дед смертей, (DYED bo-YA-NA i DYED smer-TEY)

Держи нашего от огней! (DER-ZHI NA-SHYE-vo OT og-NEY)

English:

About Veles we sing truly!

Grandfather of Boyan and of Deaths,

Keep us away from the (funeral) fires!

Sources

[1] Russian Primary Chronicle. Translated by Samuel Hazzard Cross. Edited by Olgerd P. Sherbowizt-Wetzor. The Medieval Academy of America, 1953. p. 90.

[2] ibid, p. 64.

[3] Katicic, Radoslav. Bozanski Boj. Zagreb, 2008. p. 127

[4] The Song of Igor’s Campaign. Vladimir Nabokov. Ardis Publishers, 2003. 51-66.

[5] “Christian Personages.” Russian Folk Belief. Linda J. Ivantis. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. 1989. p. 30-31.

[6] “Veles.” Mythology of All Races, Volume 3: Celtic and Slavic. Jan Machal. Cooper Square Publishers, 1964. p. 300.

[7] http://www.heraldicum.ru/russia/subjects/towns/volosovo.htm

[8] “The Lithuanian God Velnias.” Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Marija Gimbutas. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1974. p. 89.

[9] “The Indo-European Structure of the Baltic Pantheon.” Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Jaan Puhvel. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1974. p. 84.

[10] “The Lithuanian God Velnias.” Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Marija Gimbutas. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1974. p. 89.

[11] ibid

[12] “The Indo-European Structure of the Baltic Pantheon.” Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Jaan Puhvel. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1974. p. 85.

[13] “A Comparative Study of the Group of Baltic Mythological Terms from the Root *Vel-“. V.V. Ivanov and V.N. Toporov. Baltistica, IX. 1973. p. 21

[14] ibid, 18

[15] ibid, p. 24

[16] “Christian Personages.” Russian Folk Belief. Linda J. Ivantis. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. 1989. p. 28

[17] “A Comparative Study of the Group of Baltic Mythological Terms from the Root *vel-“. V.V. Ivanov and V.N. Toporov. Baltistica, IX. 1973.

[18] Kajkowski, Kamil. “Slavic Journeys to the Otherworld. Remarks on the Eschatology of Early Medieval Pomeranians”. Studia Mythologica Slavica, XVIII. 2015. p. 23

[19] “A Comparative Study of the Group of Baltic Mythological Terms from the Root *vel-“. V.V. Ivanov and V.N. Toporov. Baltistica, IX. 1973. p. 26 “Засветись, звезда язная, по поднебесью на радость миру – крещеному … Ты зарлянь, звезда ясная, на двор к рабу такомы-то. Ты освети, звезда ясная, огнем негасимым белояровых овецы раба такого-то. Как по поднебесью звездам нестл числа, так бы у раба такого-то уродилось оветц болей того.”

[20] ibid, p.17-18

[21] “Slavic Paganism.” A History of Religious Ideas, Volume 3: From Muhammed to the Age of Reforms. Mircea Eliade. Translated by Alf Hiltebeitel and Diane Apostolos-Cappadona. University of Chicago Press, 1985.

[22] Ivanković, Milorad. “New Insights on Slavic God Volosъ/Velesъ from a Vedic Perspective”. Studio Mythologica Slavica. 2019. pp. 63

[23] ibid, pp. 57

[24] ibid, pp. 68

[25] ibid, pp. 64

[26] ibid, pp. 63-4

[27] ibid, pp. 57-58

[28] ibid, pp. 55-56

[29] ibid, pp. 60