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NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 69 
8. Tar Stavono-VEnpic MytHonoey. 
The religion of the Slavonians and Vendes was intimately connected with 
the mythology and worship of the Germanic nations. It was not, however, 
so indigenous as the latter, but owed its form and peculiarities more to 
foreign elements adopted by the nation. This will be readily accounted for 
when we examine the locality and occupation of these tribes. 
The centre of the Slavono-Vendic idolatry was on the Isle of Rugen and 
along the coast of the Baltic, from Stettin to Rostock. The inhabitants of 
this region, favored by the natural facilities of their country, at an early day 
became the traders for all the region along the Baltic. In their mercantile 
intercourse they acquired not only riches but also borrowed the doctrines 
and religious belief from many a nation which they visited. But in pro- 
portion as they became wealthy, they began to despise the simplicity of 
their neighbors, and spent immense sums in the erection and ornamenting 
of costly temples and splendid idols, with which they filled their beautiful 
towns. Vineta is said to have been the place where Vendic idolatry was 
first known to flourish. This town is supposed to have been situated near 
the shore of the Baltic, and was the chief mart for all the northern nations, 
whose peculiarities of worship were equally tolerated there. When the 
city was destroyed by war and inundation, the inhabitants fled and built 
Julin not far from it, which they soon made to rival their lost Vineta in 
splendor and wealth. Arcona, on the Isle of Rugen, was next founded by 
them, and finally Rhetra, which, like Venice, was built upon a number of 
small islands. The latter soon became the city of the gods and the pan- 
theon of all the nations near the shores of the Baltic: Scandinavians, Finns, 
and Slavonians. Hence the multitude of gods of different nations, German, 
Finnish, Prussian, and even Grecian, found in the Slavono-Vendic mytho- 
logy, and the consequent confusion and contradictions in the system. 
Some suppose that these strange gods were only admitted by the priests 
into their secret systems, while the people continued to worship exclusively 
the gods of their own country. If this is true, then should we have to dis- 
tinguish between the doctrines of the priesthood and a popular creed. But 
the whole is involved in so much obscurity that it is difficult to decide with 
any certainty. We can therefore only give what has come down to us with 
some degree of reliable authority. 
It appears that the foundation of this creed was a belief in one Supreme 
God, the Creator of all things, and the existence of a host of inferior gods who 
were merely the servants of their creator. The latter had their sphere of 
action in the visible world, where they appeared as the representatives of 
the Supreme Ruler, with power to direct the affairs of man. They them- 
selves were divided into different classes, according to their respective 
influence, power, and rank. All the gods were supposed to be either white 
or black, and were according to their color ranked in one of the two grand 
divisions. The white gods were good and kindly disposed to man, and the 
black ones bad or evil-disposed to the humanrace. The Vendes divided them. 
ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOP£DIA.—VOL. TV. 19 289 
