Stworzenie Świata

Cosmological myth – Mythology of the Slavs

In the beginning there was nothing but sky and sea. It is difficult to comprehend the immensity of the ancient waters. If we looked around, we would see nothing but darkness. In the midst of silence, unbroken by any sound, the sea stood still. Above the water, the sky was flooded with the pale light of a blue fire. This fire had no source or end and, like the eternal sea, lasted. A bluish glow flowed down from the boundless heights to stop on the surface of waters shrouded in dark blue.

On the smooth surface of the sea rocked the boat in which the first of the gods sat. Where had he come from? Was he born of nothingness, or did he, like the sea and the heavens, always exist? It is an unexplained mystery. What is known is that he was the mighty Perun – ruler of the sky, storms and lightning. His face was stern, and his thick beard and grey hair falling over his broad shoulders made him all the more menacing. At the bottom of the boat rested a huge hammer hewn from stone, with which Perun struck in anger, spreading deadly thunder around.

The lord of the sky ruled over this boundless land, but he was tired of lighting up the sky with lightning bolts and gazing into the distant horizon. Weary of his solitude, he leaned out of the boat and gazed into the sea abyss. On the surface he saw a bearded face looking at him curiously.

– Who are you? – he asked.

– Invite me into your boat and I will tell you,’ replied the stranger.

Perun helped him into the boat, and when he sat down next to him, he said:

– I am Veles .

Thus it was from the reflection of the first god that the god of the abyss was born. They sat in the boat, silent and looking at each other curiously. Veles was very much like Perun. His body was strong and his breast powerful, his eyes sharp but as dark and deep as the sea from which he emerged. Perun would have thought that he had created the other from his own reflection, had it not been for the newcomer’s hair and beard, which, though also resembling Perun’s, were completely black in colour.

They soon grew weary of drifting aimlessly. It was then that Veles came up with an idea:

– It would be good if the place beneath us was firm and could be treaded on.

– So be it! – agreed Perun. – Go down to the bottom and bring me a handful of land, and I will make it on the surface. Tell this land that you carry it in my name.

Veles jumped out of the boat and dived into the depths. The deeper he sank into the abyss, the bluer the water became. When he reached the bottom, impenetrable blackness surrounded him. He took a handful of sand and said:

– I take you in my name!

Perun waited impatiently, peering into the water as he longed to create dry land. Veles emerged after a while and held out his hand. Unfortunately, the water had washed away all the sand and not even one grain remained in his handful.

– Go and try again! – ordered Perun.

Veles went down to the bottom and scooped up the silted sand in his handful again, saying:

– I take thee in my name!

But this time too, when he reached the boat, his hand proved empty.

– Have you not forgotten that you must bring the land in my name? – asked Perun suspiciously.

Veles did not want to admit that he had twisted the spell of the ruler of heaven twice. He wanted the earth to belong only to him.

– I remember and will try again.

After these words, Veles once again disappeared into the blue water. This time, already knowing that he was not as powerful as Perun, he said, picking up a handful of sand:

– I take you in the name of Perun!

However, before he bounced off the bottom, he grabbed a blue stone still lying in the silt. He swam towards the surface, clutching the speck of earth in his fist, until he reached Perun’s boat. He opened his hand, on which only a few grains of sand appeared. Perun took one of them and threw it on the water. As soon as the sand touched the surface of the sea, it began to expand and swell. From this tiny seed the land grew. The gods rejoiced in their creation and descended on the hard land. This is how the earth was created, which at that time still resembled a tiny island in the ocean. There was enough space on it for both of them to lie down and rest.

The tired Perun soon fell asleep, not expecting that the cunning Veles was only waiting for this. Desiring to rule the earth undividedly, he tried to push Perun into the water. And behold, a bizarre thing happened. Every time the sleeping god was about to fall into the water, the earth expanded and gave him support. Veles did not give way and pushed Perun further and further. He pulled him in all directions, but wherever the lord of lightning found himself, land grew up, preventing him from falling into the sea. Veles, exhausted by his efforts, perceived that the land was already very vast, and all his attempts to get rid of Perun were futile. He fell into a terrible rage.

‘The land belongs to me, for it was I who brought it up from the bottom of the sea,’ he thought, gnashing his teeth.

Slavic Mythology – Jakub Bobrowski, Mateusz Wrona