Yarovit


Yarovit – god of war worshipped by Polabian Slavs associated with fertility and agriculture. In interpretatio romana compared to Roman god of war Mars. His feast probably fell on April 15 or May 10 - sowing festival. His symbol was a golden shield that was kept in his temple. Because of the identical first part of the name he can be associated with the East Slavic god Yarilo, and because of the semantic similarity with Svetovit, some scholars suggest that both gods are related.

Etymology

God's name consists of two parts: jar- and -vit. The first part jar- is interpreted as "strong, raw, crude, young" from Proto-Slavic , Russian járyj ). Secondary interpretation of that part is "spring" from Proto-Slavic . Second part -vit means "lord, master". So the name could mean "Powerful, Strong Lord" or "Young Winner".

Interpretations

Scholars believe that Yarovit was a solar god in addition to being a god of war. This is to be proven by a large, artistic, golden shield belonging to a god that can represent the sun. On the tombstone, which was created in early Christian times, located in the Church of St. Peter in Wolgast there carved a figure with a spear, which is considered the image of Yarovit.
Scholars also believe that Yarilo is related to Svetovit. It is argued that the names of both gods mean the same: the name of Svetovit most likely comes from word svęt and -vit. The second similarity is the shield dedicated to Yarovit, which served to divination the victory during the war – the same function was performed by the white horse of Svetovit. Brückner suggested that first the name Yarovit was created and later Rani replaced him with Svetovit, because the first two parts have same meaning.
Yarovit could also be associated with fertility and agriculture, and this may also tie him to Yarylo, whose name comes from a similar root. The curse spoken by Yarovit through the mouth of a pagan priest may indicate this: