After last week’s post about the holiday Śmigus-dyngus, this week, Slavic Saturday returns to gods within Slavic mythology with one whose role (or even worship) is debated often. Trzygłów, or Triglav, is claimed to be a three-headed god (or combination of gods. We’ll talk about those stories and compare them with other parts of Slavic myth to see if Trzygłów lines up or not. (His name is Cyrillic is Триглав, and other names are Trygław and Trihlav).
(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.
Three Gods in One
There is a bizarre aspect to Trzygłów in the massive variation between thoughts and appearances of him. Regionalization is common in Slavic mythology, but some of these differences are large enough to make you wonder whether the different tribes were referencing the same deity. Just as importantly: were they even referencing a single deity at all?
Evidence of a three-headed god is most commonly referenced in Szczecin, a city in northwest Poland. Here, Otto of Bamberg referenced that the Pomeranian pagans in the area had a large statue to Trzygłów, and that a mountain nearby was named in his honor. Wolin and Brandenburg were also cities mentioned in which sacrifices were made to Trzygłów as a triad of gods.
In this, Trzygłów truly wasn’t a god in himself according to the little writing we have about him. Instead, he represented typically the three most important gods in a region. Research by Mihai Dragnea notes the three as Perun (god of thunder and war), Dadźbóg/Dažbog (god of the sun), and Strzybóg/Stribog (god of the winds) in Kiev and as Perun, Swaróg/Svarog (god of celestial fire and creation), and Weles/Veles in Novograd. Among Czech tribes, Trzygłów was shown as a goat with three heads as well.
At Szczecin, Trzygłów’s statue was described by Otto as having golden lips and eyes with his eyes and mouth covered so that he did not see or speak of people’s sins. Otto claimed the three heads symbolized the gods ruling the three realms: the Sky, the Earth, and the Inferno (perhaps referencing the concept of Prawia/Prav, Jawia/Yav, and Nawia/Nav). It is hard to know if this is Otto’s interpretation of the Slavic pagans from a Christian perspective (particularly since the afterlife for Slavic pagans was typically thought to be a paradise, none of it being an inferno) or something else, but it does show that Trzygłów represented the gods that ruled those realms. He also describes Trzygłów as riding a black horse, and horse rituals played a role in divining whether the wars ahead would be won or lost.
Comparisons with Other Parts of Slavic Myth
I’ve delayed talking about Trzygłów on this Slavic Saturday series because there are so many pieces missing with him. Typically, I try to form an opinion on what I think the early Slavs believed about a god. Trzygłów, though, is one that I have not come to a conclusion on.
The difficulties here stem largely from the Pomeranian Slavs having often differing mythological beliefs from even most of the west Slavs. There is another regional four-headed god from the Slavs in Rügen called Świętowit/Svetovid/Svantevit, so the multi-headed aspect is not Trzygłów alone. That being said, throughout most Slavic mythology, there is no single god who could divine war as well as rule all three realms of the sky, earth, and underworld.
So, what seems most likely is that Trzygłów could have represented a single god among the Pomeranian Slavs with their more unique set of gods while being a combination of gods elsewhere. Articles such as the one referenced above speak of potential influences on the Pomeranians from the Celts and possibly the Norse/Germans as well, perhaps making Trzygłów a combination of Slavic gods with those ideas. Further east, Trzygłów may have been a simpler way to state the highest triad of gods in a region. Or maybe Trzygłów was always a combination of gods that just depended upon region.
Regardless, it is fascinating to read Otto’s stories about Trzygłów and the rituals that took place around him. Unfortunately, little remains but those stories as Otto had the temples at Szczecin destroyed, but idols were sent to Rome as proof of the Pomeranian Slavs’ conversion.
Feel free to comment below with your opinions on Trzygłów. I would love to hear what others think.
In The Frostmarked Chronicles
Because of the mystery around Trzygłów, he definitely won’t make it into the series as a single god. At least in early books, the concept of him as a combination of gods is absent as well, but I have played with the idea of including some thoughts of him later on. There are so many creatures and gods in Slavic myth. Sometimes, it can be hard to decide which to bring into the story.
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.
He was also very important in the South! His name is carried by the highest Mountain of Slovenia. On a clear day visible even from the coast. There are also some traces of him in Koroška/carinthia since that was the heart or Karantanija.