Meyer’s Fontes & Other Sources on Suavic Religion

Here are some compilations on Suavic religion that readers might find useful as reference points.

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The primary text for West (and to some extent South) Suavs is Fontes historiae religionis Slavicae by Karl Heinrich Meyer. This is part of a large Fontes series as previously mentioned here. Note that this is a list only of Latin and Greek authors (that is, texts primarily written in local Suavic languages are not included; this is not that much of a problem since most of the relevant writing in this time period among the West Suavs was done in Latin and among the South Suavs, in Greek).

Here is a list of all the sources included in this volume along with links to those I discussed here. Note that this is hardly a complete collection. Rather it is a start and these days nearly a century after its publication it should be supplemented by a number of other sources that we know now are available. Note too that this is a compendium, not a critical edition of the texts.

• Procopius Caesariensis
• Einhard
• Responsa Nicolai I. papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (?)
• Constantinus Porphyrogenitus
• Christianus
• Widukind monachus Corbeiensis (all of Widukind part 1, all of Widukind part 2)
• Leo Diaconus
• Epistula St. Brunonis ad imperatorem Henricum II
• Thietmarus Merseburgensis episcopus (On the Redarii, On Ślęża, On Ukrivolsa, On Hennil; all of Thietmar (1-4, 5, 6, 7, 8))
• Wipo (On Champions’ Combat, all of Wipo)
• Legenda bohemica “Oportet nos fratres”
• Adam Bremensis (On the Redarii, all of Adam’s Slavs)
• Epistola Adelgoti archiepiscopi Magdeburgensis
• Cosmas Pragensis (part 1, part 2, part 3)
• Homiliarium quod dicitur de Opatoviz (part 1, part 2) 
• Diploma Brandenburgense
• Ordericus Vitalis
• Herbordus / Ebbo monachus Sancti Michaelis / Monachus Prieflingensis (part 1, part 2, part 3)
• Helmold presbyter Bozoviensis (On the Wagrii, Obotrites and Redarii, On the Rugians/Ranii, full chronicle Book 1, full chronicle Book 2)
• Ex codice Pomeraniae diplomatico
• Saxo Grammaticus (version 1, version 2)
• Annales Augustani
• Annales Magdeburgenses
• Richardi Pictaviensis chronica: Continuatio
• Innocentius III. papa
• Arnoldus Lubicensis
• Demetrius Bulgariae archiepiscopus Chomatianus (?)
• Legenda bohemica “Oriente iam sole”
• Chronicon Montis Sereni
• Fragmentum genealogiae ducum Brunsvicensium et Luneburgensium
• Liber statutorum civitatis Ragusii
• Constitutio Synodalis Uniejoviensis
• Neplach abbas Opatovicenis
• Acta visitationis Pragensia
• Concilia Pragensia
• Fragmentum ex Martyrum in Ebbekestorp quiescentium Passione
• Exhortatio visitationis synodalis Vladislaviensis
• Statuta dioecesis Cracoviensis a. 1408
• Sententia contra hereticum et astrologum lapsum
• Joannes Dlugosz seu Longinus canonicus Cracoviensis (part 1, part 2)
• Sermones Polonici saec. XV
• Statuta provincialia Polonica
• Postilla Husitae Polonici
• Sermones per circulum anni Cunradi
• Statuta synodalia Andreae episcopi Posnaniensis
• Sermones Polonici a fratre Michaele de Janoviec scripti

Appendix I. continet fontes qui num revera ad Slavos pertineant incertum est

• Herodotus
• Poenitentiale Merseburgense
• Capitulatio de Partibus Saxoniae
• Theodorus Balsamon

Appendix II. continet fontem lingua Germanica scriptum

• Historia regum Danorum dicta Knytlingasaga

Appendix III. continet fontes Islamicos, quos collegit Fr. Taeschner

• Ibn Fadlan (?)
• Ibn Rusta
• Geographus anonymus Persicus
• Mas’udi
• Jaqut (?)

Index codicum et editionum

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As to East Suavs, though I do not generally discuss them here, it is worthwhile to point out that the main text is V.J. Mansikka‘s Die Religion der Ostslawen. This text is now available online in its entirety. However, it is in German.

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From a younger generation, the Czech writer, Jiří Dynda is the author of new compendia regarding both West and East Suavs:

• “Suavic Paganism in Medieval Latin Sources“ (Slovanské pohanství ve středověkých latinských pramenech); & 
• “Suavic Paganism in Medieval Russian Sermons” (Slovanské pohanství ve středověkých ruských kázáních) 

Of course, these already have to be updated again so hopefully there will be new editions of these works.

Finally,  a new compilation of both Western and Eastern sources in English is coming out in October 2020 courtesy of a Spanish team led by Juan Antonio Álvarez-Pedrosa (editor). It is entitled “Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion.”

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In Polish literature, the following are worth reviewing:

• Aleksander Brückner
  • Mitologia słowiańska (1918)
  • Mitologia polska (1924)
• Henryk Łowmiański
  • Religia Słowian i jej upadek (w. VI-XII) (1979)
• Włodzimierz Szafrański
  • Pradzieje religii w Polsce (1979)
  • Prahistoria religii na ziemiach polskich (1987)
• Aleksander Gieysztor
  • Mitologia Słowian (1982)

Szafrański, in particular, argues for the believability of Długosz’ Gods. In doing so he went both against Brückner and against the currents of the day. However, he was not the first to endorse a positive view of Polish Gods.

An interesting set of essays on the Polish Pantheon was included in the writings of Karol Potkański (Pisma pośmiertne, that is his “Essays Published Posthumously”) in which he took a moderately positive view of some aspects of the Polish Pantheon. These were published in the 1920s.

An even earlier example, Szymon Matusiak proved to be effective in the field of Suavic mythology first publishing an essay about Polish Deities in “Lud” magazine and then converting the same into a self-standing booklet (both it seems from 1908):  “Polish Olympus According to Długosz” (Olimp polski podług Długosza). In it he gives an enthusiastic endorsement of Długosz as well as a creative vision of Polish paganism.

Other authors that are of some interest though I have not spent much time on are Stanisław Urbańczyk (Religia pogańskich Słowian), Andrzej Szyjewski (Religia Słowian) & Leszek Słupecki (Slavonic pagan sanctuaries). Regarding folklor, you can look at anything by Stanisław Bylina or Krzysztof Bracha. Earlier authors include Łukasz Gołębiowski, Oskar Kolberg & Kazimierz Moszyński. There are, however, many more Polish writers on these topics. Among the Russians, you have the classic Rybakov, Ivanov & Toporov.

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