Dazbog (Serbian: Dabog / Polish:

Dazbog (Serbian: Dabog / Polish: Dazbog, also Dazhbog) is one of the main Slavonic gods in Slavic Paganism. Dazbog, the "god of gifts" (as one account translates it) was a sun deity and the center of a fertility cult. He was also called the "Giver of Riches." He was a rock star: provider, protector and fertility god.

It's uncertain what Daz means, but bog means "god." Some scholars translate it as "day god," and others as "war god" (though the latter isn't a popular theory).

In Slavic mythology, Dazbog is the sungod is reborn every morning. During the day, Dazbog rides in his diamond wagon (aka the sun) through the sky. At the day's end, he has become an old man, and he dies when it gets dark. The next day, the cycle begins and he is reborn again.

Dazbog's father was another main Slavic god, the sky god Svarog. Dazbog's brother is the fire god Svarazic. In most accounts, Dazbog's wife is the goddess of the moon, Myesyats. Their notorious marital dissent, the Slavs believed, were the causes of earth quakes.

The couple's children are the stars. Each autumn, the couple divorces, but every spring, they remarry.

Dazbog's festival is at the summer solstice, when his 'heavenly wedding' to the moon- or dawn- goddess is celebrated.

Some myths have Dazbog married to the morning star goddess Zvezda Dennitsa. In yet another Russian myth, he is married three times: first to Zlatogorka ("Golden Hill"), daughter of the Underworld god Vij; then to the winter and/or death goddess Marena, and thirdly, to Zhiva ("life").

The contemporary translation of the celebration is now Christianized as St. Ivan's day.

In Slavic tradition, people swore oaths to him, as the sun was omniscient. As such, Dazbog was the god of law and moral order. His interest was in ensuring justice serves the good and that evil be punished.

Although he's most commonly associated with the Slavs, there are very strong Russian roots in the origins of Dazbog. There was a statue of Dazbog in Kiev, on a hill in the courtyard of a castle. It shared the space with idols Perun, Chors, Stribog and other pagan deities.

In old chronicles Dazbog is termed "Czar Sun" and "Son of Svarog." He was the latter, one of three sons of Svarog.

What has been recorded about Dazbog doesn't give a clear image of his character and role in the Slavic pagan universe. Still, it is generally believed he was originally the Slavic "clear sky god," but he may have overlapped or was synonymous with the sun-god in many regions.

Most people familiar with mythology know of the Greek god Helios, and early Russian texts, notably a sixth-century Byzantine chronicler, usually translate Helios to Dazbog. It makes sense, as both were worshiped as a solar deity. In the old Russian epic Slovo o pluku Igoreve Vladimir, the Russians refer to themselves Dazbog's grandchildren. Ancient Slavs defined their origins as from divine beings.

Dazbog is at the center of the Serbian fairy-tale of Dabog (Dajbog): "Dabog, the Czar, was on earth, and the Lord God was in Heaven," Notable here is that Dabog is depicted in contrast with God. Dazbog is considered an evil being. This Serbian fairy-tale was penned during Christianity's early days, and there was a decidedly concentrated movement to present the old pagan deities as evil and devilish.

In one Russian myth, his attributes were the sword and the cudgel, found with the 'clear-sky' war-god and 'storm-god,' respectively. His identity with the latter is also found in Polish mythology as the son of Svarog, the Slavic 'heavenly sky father', and either the dawn-goddess Zorya Dennitsa or the summer- and love-goddess Lada.

The Russians seem to have him as the son of the thunder-god Perun and the mermaid ('sea nymph') Ros. Other attributes include a fiery shield and a diamond chariot - both of which identify him with as a sun-god. Dazbog is served by four beautiful maidens: Zorya Utrennyaya, the Aurora of the Dawn, opens the palace gates in the morning. Zorya Vechernyaya, the Aurora of the Evening, closes them in the evening. Vechernyaya Zvezda, the Evening Star, and Zvezda Dennitsa, the Morning Star, tend Dazbog's horses.

Dazbos shares many similarities with the Welsh god Llew Llaw Gyffes; they are both sun and summer fertility gods. Russian death-god Kashchej wanted to destroy Dazbog, with the help of Dazbog's wife, Marena, who drugged him and then let her lover Kashchej throw him into the abyss, and then later, nailed him to a mountain in the Caucasus. Llew's welsh wife, Blodeuwedd did something very similar, as she and her boyfriend Gronwy (a death-god) tricked Llew and hurt him. Both Llew and Dazbog survive and exact their revenge later.

As the Slavic sun-god, he lived in a magnificent golden palace to the east, the land of eternal summer. From his gold and purple throne he has no fear of neither shadows, nor cold or discomfort. Indeed, he was called the god of summer and of happiness. Each morning he rides out as a young man in his golden, diamond-studded chariot, pulled westward by a team of twelve white, golden-mane fire-breathing horses. He rode through his twelve kingdoms (zodiac signs?) before ending his day as an old man in the sunset.