Triglav and Otto and Hermann

Yesterday's post on the Zbruch Idol mentioned that one interpretation of it is that it represents Triglav, the three-headed god of the pre-Christian Slavs. His tri-partite appearance is thought to refer to Earth, Sky/Heaven, and Underworld. Ironically, the most we know about this pagan presence is from Christian biographies of the man sent to eliminate it.

Otto of Bamberg was sent by Pope Calixtus II to preach in Pomerania, on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea (now between Poland and Germany). He reached the area in August 1124. Opposition drove him out of his first attempts, but he made contact with Duke Bolesław III of Lesser Poland, who was a Roman Catholic. Bolesław gave him assurances of safety and support.

In the town of Szczecin there were two temples to Triglav. One housed a black horse with a gilded and silver-plated saddle. The horse was used for prophecy. Spears were placed on the ground and the horse encouraged to walk through them. If the horse did not step on any spears, good fortune would follow in whatever the undertaking was for the immediate future.

Otto had the temples destroyed, himself destroying a wooden statue of Triglav. From another temples, however, the pagan priests took the statue of Triglav away to keep it safe. They gave it to a widow on a small farm to keep it safe, and she wrapped it in a blanket and hid it in a tree with only a small hole in the trunk through which offerings could be given.

Otto's assistant, Hermann (who later succeeded Otto as bishop of Bamberg), hearing that there was a Triglav idol available for worship, decided to find and eliminate it. He disguised himself as a mundane Slav and went searching. Finding the farm and the widow, he claimed he had been saved from the jaws of the sea and wished to give thanks to Triglav. The widow told him:

If you have been sent by him, I have here the altar which contains our god, enclosed in the hole made in an oak. You may not see him nor touch him, but rather, prostrating yourself before the trunk, take note from a prudent distance of the small hole where you must place the sacrifice you wish to make. And after offering it, once the orifice is reverently closed, go and, if you value your life, do not reveal this conversation to anybody. [Ebo, Life of Saint Otto, Bishop of Bamberg]

Hermann goes to the tree and casts a silver coin through the hole, but retrieves it and spits in the hole. He realizes that there is no easy way to get the statue out, so he looks around and sees the saddle associated with Triglav hanging on a wall. He takes the saddle as proof that he found Triglav.

Later, the decision is made by tribal chiefs to abandon the old gods and embrace Christianity. Triglav is not attested in any records outside of the stories of Otto. There are a few instances of the name in the area, however. The illustration is of Triglav in a palace in Trzygłów, a version of the name Triglav. There is a Triglav mountain in Slovenia. The legends have led to three-headed statues placed here and there.

Otto was lucky that Duke Bolesław III was around. In fact, Duke Bolesław III was lucky that Duke Bolesław III was around. He came close to not being born. I'll tell you more about him next time.

The Zbruch Idol

A drought in August 1848 in a village in the Austrian Empire (now part of Ukraine) exposed the bottom of the Zbruch River. The villagers spotted a square limestone pillar almost nine feet tall with carvings on all four sides. By 1850 it made its way to the Kraków Scientific Society and then the Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364 by Casimir the Great). Since 1968 it has been in the Kraków Archaeological Museum.

The Zbruch Idol, as it is now called, is a remnant of the pre-Christian Slavic world (like the story of Piast). It is thought to represent Svetovit, god of abundance and war, who had four heads. Each side of the pillar has a head carved at the top. Svetovit is often shown with a horn of plenty, a saddle and bit, and is associated with a white stallion and eagles.

Three of the four sides have at their base a man kneeling who is supporting the upper parts; the fourth side is blank. Above the base is another figure on each side, one of whom seems to be a child. The four faces at the top each are paired with something different: a ring, a horn (drinking or cornucopia?), a sword and horse, and a solar symbol.

Debates abound. One scholar sees it as four separate deities, two male and two female, and that the whole is a phallic symbol representing Rod, god of families. He links the symbols with each deity. One scholar claims the tri-level carvings represent the three levels of the world: Sky, Earth, Underworld) and the three-headed Slavic deity Triglav.

One person even claims the whole thing is a fake, created by the Polish poet Tymon Zaborowski, whose estate was near the finding spot and whose brother was the owner of the village where it was found. Tymon died in 1828, 20 years before the finding. It is difficult to conjure a reason for the deception.

Assuming it is authentic, it is an interesting piece that represents pre-Christian Slavic mythology.

You can see an outline of the figures here, and you can purchase a 7.5" replica here.

About the deity Triglav: he was represented with three heads (Slavic mythology seemed to like multi-headed figures), which would make you think Christian missionaries explaining the Holy Trinity would have an easier time of it. But that was not the case, as we'll see tomorrow