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Vilas are referenced in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, wherein they represent incredibly beautiful female humanoids with the ability to drive men uncontrollably wild, mostly by performing sensual dances.

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Vilas are referenced in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, wherein they represent incredibly beautiful female humanoids with the ability to drive men uncontrollably wild, mostly by performing sensual dances.

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In Slavic mythology, they are stunning but demonized creatures, with beauty so unique that it’s beyond mortal’s imagination, who come from women who drowned before they got married. They are gorgeous and either naked or dressed in a transparent silver robe. Their hair is silky, green, and long, reminiscent of water grass, and crowned with a floral wreath made of flowers and herbs. However, these looks came with a price for men who wanted to dance with them. The legend says their charming looks lured men who either danced with them and burned out or came too close to the water and drowned. In some other stories, these incredibly beautiful creatures can shapeshift into animals, such as snakes, wolves, swans, horses, and falcons.

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In Slavic mythology, they are stunning but demonized creatures, with beauty so unique that it’s beyond mortal’s imagination, who come from women who drowned before they got married. They are gorgeous and either naked or dressed in a transparent silver robe. Their hair is silky, green, and long, reminiscent of water grass, and crowned with a floral wreath made of flowers and herbs. However, these looks came with a price for men who wanted to dance with them. The legend says their charming looks lured men who either danced with them and burned out or came too close to the water and drowned. In some other stories, these incredibly beautiful creatures can shapeshift into animals, such as snakes, wolves, swans, horses, and falcons.

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Obviously, apart from the major gods, Slavic religion had a whole array of lesser deities, local gods, house spirits and demons. The most important of those was likely Rod – a Slavic personification of fate. Rod was usually accompanied by Rozhanitsy – invisible female creatures who immediately after a child’s birth decide its destiny (similar to the Roman Parcae or Greek Moirai; i.e. Fates). The name of both Rod and Rozhanitzy goes back to Slavic root meaning ‘birth’. A similar concept is Dola, a female deity or protective spirit who takes care of the household and sometimes nurses children.

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Obviously, apart from the major gods, Slavic religion had a whole array of lesser deities, local gods, house spirits and demons. The most important of those was likely Rod – a Slavic personification of fate. Rod was usually accompanied by Rozhanitsy – invisible female creatures who immediately after a child’s birth decide its destiny (similar to the Roman Parcae or Greek Moirai; i.e. Fates). The name of both Rod and Rozhanitzy goes back to Slavic root meaning ‘birth’. A similar concept is Dola, a female deity or protective spirit who takes care of the household and sometimes nurses children.

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Other gods:                                    Stribog – god of wealth and winds.  Mokosh – one of the few female goddesses in the Slavic pantheon, but her origins likely go back to the mythology of Finno-Ugric tribes. She was linked with the cult of the Great Mother.                                            Svarog – god of the sun, celestial fire, and blacksmithing; sometimes identified with the Greek Hephaistos. The popularity of Svarog in Western Slavic lands is reflected in such geographic names as Swarzędz in Wielkopolska or Schwerin (Slav. Svazhin) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.    Dažbog – son of Svarog (and hence also known as Svarožič), like his father also a solar deity, god of the sacred fire of the hearth.  

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Other gods:                                    Stribog – god of wealth and winds.  Mokosh – one of the few female goddesses in the Slavic pantheon, but her origins likely go back to the mythology of Finno-Ugric tribes. She was linked with the cult of the Great Mother.                                            Svarog – god of the sun, celestial fire, and blacksmithing; sometimes identified with the Greek Hephaistos. The popularity of Svarog in Western Slavic lands is reflected in such geographic names as Swarzędz in Wielkopolska or Schwerin (Slav. Svazhin) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.    Dažbog – son of Svarog (and hence also known as Svarožič), like his father also a solar deity, god of the sacred fire of the hearth.  

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In 1168, Arcona, which had been the last point of resistance of the Polabian Slavs, was seized by the Danes under King Valdemar I. The event became the symbolical end of not only Slavic resistance but also the Slavic pagan religion. In a brutal display of power, the Christian invaders led by Bishop Absalon destroyed the ancient cult venues and idols, including the statue of Svantevit. 

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In 1168, Arcona, which had been the last point of resistance of the Polabian Slavs, was seized by the Danes under King Valdemar I. The event became the symbolical end of not only Slavic resistance but also the Slavic pagan religion. In a brutal display of power, the Christian invaders led by Bishop Absalon destroyed the ancient cult venues and idols, including the statue of Svantevit. 

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Also called Svetovid and Svantovit, Sventovit may be the most famous of all multi-headed Slavic gods. He was worshipped in Arcona on the island of Rügen (Rugia), where a monumental statue of him stood in the central point of the temple. According to the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, the figure had four heads and four necks, and held a drinking horn in one hand. Saxo also mentions that the style of the idol’s moustache and hairdo as mimicking the local fashion. He also recounted numerous forms of war divination performed around the temple, often involving a white horse, a holy animal of Sventovit – which may suggest that the deity had similar functions to Veles and Triglav.

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Also called Svetovid and Svantovit, Sventovit may be the most famous of all multi-headed Slavic gods. He was worshipped in Arcona on the island of Rügen (Rugia), where a monumental statue of him stood in the central point of the temple. According to the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, the figure had four heads and four necks, and held a drinking horn in one hand. Saxo also mentions that the style of the idol’s moustache and hairdo as mimicking the local fashion. He also recounted numerous forms of war divination performed around the temple, often involving a white horse, a holy animal of Sventovit – which may suggest that the deity had similar functions to Veles and Triglav.

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Another god connected to oath-making and divination, Triglav is best attested for the Pomerania region (Baltic Coast). In fact, he may be only a local form of Veles.A three-headed statue of Triglav in Szczecin was described by Christian writers as covering its mouth and eyes with a golden encasement which was interpreted as the god’s refusal to witness people’s sins. The three heads of the god stood for the three realms ruled by Triglav: the heavens, the Earth, and the underworld.

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Another god connected to oath-making and divination, Triglav is best attested for the Pomerania region (Baltic Coast). In fact, he may be only a local form of Veles.A three-headed statue of Triglav in Szczecin was described by Christian writers as covering its mouth and eyes with a golden encasement which was interpreted as the god’s refusal to witness people’s sins. The three heads of the god stood for the three realms ruled by Triglav: the heavens, the Earth, and the underworld.

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Veles (or Volos) is sometimes called the second most important god of Slavic religion. The old Ruthenian chronicle which calls him skotiy bog makes him the god of cattle. This would also position him as the god of wealth (as cattle was one of the main markers of a family’s wealth). Other hints suggest he could have been linked to such domains as magic, poetry, oaths, the underworld, and the dead.

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Veles (or Volos) is sometimes called the second most important god of Slavic religion. The old Ruthenian chronicle which calls him skotiy bog makes him the god of cattle. This would also position him as the god of wealth (as cattle was one of the main markers of a family’s wealth). Other hints suggest he could have been linked to such domains as magic, poetry, oaths, the underworld, and the dead.

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Veles is sometimes seen as the mythical antagonist of Perun, part of a structural pattern that may reflect a more ancient Indo-European myth of a primordial rivalry between the two opposing supreme deities (compare: Mitra and Varuna in Hindu mythology). Historians and ethnographers suspect that the relics of this ancient notion may have survived even centuries after Christianisation, and can be found in the Slavic Cosmogonic myth – which transposes the same theme of rivalry between God and the Devil 

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Veles is sometimes seen as the mythical antagonist of Perun, part of a structural pattern that may reflect a more ancient Indo-European myth of a primordial rivalry between the two opposing supreme deities (compare: Mitra and Varuna in Hindu mythology). Historians and ethnographers suspect that the relics of this ancient notion may have survived even centuries after Christianisation, and can be found in the Slavic Cosmogonic myth – which transposes the same theme of rivalry between God and the Devil 

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Perun is undoubtedly the highest god of the Slavic Pantheon. Worshipped across wide expanses of Slavic Europe and even beyond (as Perkunas he also appears in Baltic mythology), Perun is the reigning lord of the heavens, and the god of lightning and thunder. As a thunder-god, he has been compared to Zeus in Greek or Thor in Norse mythology.

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The name Perun itself goes back to the Proto-European root *per- or *perk-, meaning ‘to hit, or strike’ and can be translated as ‘He who strikes’. In fact, the name of this ancient god survives in the Polish language, where it came to denote ‘thunder’ (piorun).

While Perun was likely worshipped across the whole area of Slavic settlement, he is best attested for in Eastern Slavic sources.