After last week’s discussion of the demonic Rusalka/Rusałka, this Slavic Saturday we’re returning to gods with Strzybóg – the Slavic god of wind (also known as Stribog/Стрибог).
(June 2021 Updated) Note: If you enjoy Slavic mythology, check out A Dagger in the Winds, the first book in my Slavic fantasy series called The Frostmarked Chronicles. You can also join my monthly newsletter for updates and free novellas (such as the prequel, The Rider in the Night) set in the world of the series.
Grandfather of the Eight Winds
Storms and the winds that carry them were crucially important to agricultural cultures, and the early Slavs were no different. Perun – god of thunder, justice, and war – was both worshiped and feared for his ability to grant strength as well as destroy crops. It was Strzybóg, though, whose gales brought the thunder.
This connection makes Strzybóg somewhat of a right-hand man to Perun. His winds themselves could bring friendly gales or destruction, so even when thunder itself doesn’t come, Strzybóg’s impact is more commonly felt.
Despite his large cult across the Slavic regions, the direct control of those winds is actually in the hands of Strzybóg’s grandchildren. His children themselves are not mentioned throughout Slavic mythology, nor are the grandchildren named (at least not outside of very speculative sources). Each grandchild, though, is the god of one of the eight directional winds. I won’t go into them too much because of the very little known about their worship (or lack of), but the western wind was typically considered gentle and life-bringing while the northern was aggressive and unpredictable.
Winds of Spring and Winter
Strzybóg’s relationship with the gods of the seasons is an interesting one. Some tales talk of him carrying either Vesna, Żywia, or Dziewanna/Devana (depending on the region) along with Jaryło/Yarilo/Gerovit to slay Marzanna/Morana, goddess of winter. This occurs on the spring equinox, and if this was his main role, Strzybóg would seem to be entirely positive. But it’s not.
The reverse occurs in the autumn, when Marzanna returns to exact her revenge on her former lover (Jaryło). Strzybóg carries the winter goddess during this time, completing the cycle of the seasons. This, again, shows his importance as god of the winds, but it also shows his complexity of bringing both good tidings and bad.
Appearance
Like many of the other Slavic gods, Strzybóg appears as an elderly man. He wears long robes, typically white, and holds a great horn to call his grandchildren. He is also pictured among the clouds, sometimes blowing the winds from his mouth.
In The Frostmarked Chronicles
As the name of the first book, A Dagger in the Winds, implies, the winds play an important role in my books. Strzybóg himself is less present than his grandchildren, but he looms in the distance as an important figure. Particularly when Wacław and others begin to interfere with the winds those grandchildren control, they will have to step in. Eventually, even Strzybóg won’t be able to ignore the events of the story, and he will be appearing later in the series.
That’s all for this week’s Slavic Saturday. Be sure to keep a lookout for more posts next week, and if you haven’t seen the full series of posts, be sure to check them out.
*As always just a quick disclaimer. Slavic mythology is broad and not written in many if any primary sources, so there’s a variety of interpretations. The interpretations I’m using here are from the sources I’ve found to be reliable.