NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 71 
The latter reminds us of the god of spring, who in the signs of the ram and 
bull pours plenty over the land. Stebog is reported to have been the god 
of love (pl. 12, jig. 12); the back of his head was represented as the head 
ofacat. Sreba (pl. 13, fig. 10) was the goddess of love. Wemisa was 
feared and worshipped as the divinity who cut the thread of life. Some- 
times we find this idol in the shape of a man (fig. 13) with four beams 
around the head and one wing, on the front part of the body a dove with 
outstretched wings; at other times it is represented in the shape of a naked 
woman, with an eagle by her side looking up to her. Nemisa was con- 
sidered as belonging to the black gods, inasmuch as death was regarded as 
a calamity ; but on account of the beneficial office which he performed by 
introducing the soul through death to a new life, he was also honored as a 
white or a good god. TZriglav (pl. 12, fig. 8) was a very important deity 
among the Vendes, and his statue at Stettin which represented him 
with three heads, was explained by the priests to be symbolical of his 
dominion over heaven, earth, and the lower regions. Sometimes he is found 
with a veil covering his head, emblematic of his willingness to hide his face 
from the’sins of men, and to: pardon them. Some supposed that it was an 
emblematical figure of the Trinity veiled from the sight of mortal eyes. The 
moon too was represented by a deity called Zzselbog (pl. 11, fig. 12), but it 
was a very uncouth form, though not more so than that of /pabog (jig. 13), 
the god of the chase, whose head was decorated with two beams and a pair 
of horns, and upon his back were engraved the symbols of hunting. 
The chief among the black or evil gods was Pya, generally called 
Zernebog. He was the god of bloody deeds, and as such was represented 
as a fierce lion, erect, with his head somewhat elevated, though sometimes 
the head alone served to denote the god. The black gods, who did not share 
any of the qualities of the white ones, were usually represented as animals. 
Next in rank to Pya was /lyntz, the god of death, among the Zirnitra. 
He was generally represented in the shape of a skeleton with a lion upon 
its shoulder, a burning torch in its hand, and its feet placed upon a large 
pebble. Sometimes, however, an old man (pl. 12, jig. 15) with all the 
attributes of the skeleton, only a flint instead of a pebble is beneath his foot 
as an emblem of the resurrection. In this form he was therefore numbered 
among the gods of light. 
Hela, the goddess of the lower world in the Germanic Mythology, was 
also included among the Zirnitra, and was represented by a lion’s head 
with an outstretched tongue. d/yda, another of the dark gods, appeared in 
the shape of a crouching dog. Besides these they had numerous forest and 
house gods to whom only a local worship was paid. A number of statues of 
idols have been found, of which neither the name nor the office is known. 
We have represented two of these belonging to the Slavonic Mythology on 
pl. 11, figs. 14 and 15; on pl. 13, fig. 14a is a Sarmatian, and jig. 146 a 
Silesian idol, though it is possible that the latter may, like pil. 11, fig. 10, 
be intended to represent Zhor in the shape of Zyr. P/. 13, figs. 15 and 16, 
represent idols of which neither the nature nor the place of worship is 
known. 
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