The thunder god Perun was driving along the banks of the Don. And on its other bank, the Mermaid Maidens danced in a round dance. One mermaid - Ros, the daughter of Don and Asya Svyatogorovna, sent her wreath across the waves and sang to Perun:
- If only my dear dared. If I swam across the Don, if I could overcome the current of the fast river, then I would give love to that hero,
The blood in Perun's veins caught fire, he turned into a goldeneye bird and rushed into the waters of the Don. But Don, and this was Veles-Guidon himself, became agitated and threw him onto the steep bank:
- You, Perun the Thunderer, son of Svarog! - Don cried. - Don’t swim, Perun, on my waves! Do not anger, Perun, Father Rod, Mother Lada - the Mother of God and a formidable wife!
And Ros sang to Perun: “Apparently, I won’t meet you. Apparently, I, the thin Rowanushka, will swing alone by the river far from the tall Oak!”
And then Perun sent lightning across the river. Lightning struck the stone behind which Ros hid. And a fiery image appeared in the stone.
Ros took this stone to the heavenly blacksmith Svarog. He hewed the stone, began to hit it with a hammer, and then Tarkh Dazhbog was born from the stone. And to this day, the magicians argue whose son Dazhbog is - either Perun, who threw lightning at the stone, or Svarog, who hit the stone with a hammer.
This is how Dazhbog was born. And he was the son of Perun and Svarog, the second descent of Vyshny. That is why he was also called Vyshny Dazhbog. And he was the son of Rosya, and through her the grandson of Veles-Guidon.
Dazhbog Perunovich was a powerful knight. He became famous throughout the world for his strength and daring. Perun found out about this, saddled the Storm horse and went to see if they were telling the truth about Dazhbog.
Dazhbog and Perun came together in a clean pole and decided to try each other’s strength. When they fought, Mother Earth wavered, the oak forests bowed, great waves spread across the seas and oceans.
And then they got off their horses and began to fight hand-to-hand. Perun turned into an Eagle, and Dazhbog turned into a Lion. The Lion began to claw the Eagle. And then Perun weakened and fell to Mother Earth. And Dazhbog asked his name, and found out that he had defeated his father, Perun. Perun and Dazhbog made peace and became brothers, and then went to Svarga to the Alatyr Mountains.
Dazhbog, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle of 1114, is the son of Svarog: “His son (Svarog) is called the Sun Dazhbog... The Sun is Caesar, the son of Svarog, who is Dazhbog, and his husband is strong.” There is no reason to trust this testimony of the monk, because this phrase is a translation from the Greek original (here Hephaestus is replaced by Svarog, and Helios by Dazhbog, and as a result, in the original and in the translation, who is whose son is confused). In Rus' in the 12th century, Vyshny, the son of Svarogov-Tvastyrev (cf. Vishnu - the son of Tvashtvar), was already confused with Dazhbog - his second descent to Earth (cf. Daksha, identified with Vishnu). The fact that Dazhbog could be considered the son of Svarog is evidenced by the fact that he was born from a stone, like other Svarogs, after the stone was hewn by Svarog. However, the tradition has been preserved of honoring Tarkh Dazhbog as the son of Perun (cf. Apollo Targelius, son of Zeus, also Sasrykava, son of the Thunderer). The identification of Dazh-god and the Good also forces us to consider Dazhbog the son of Perun (in the epics Dobrynya is the son of Ilya Muromets, who replaced Perun).
The song about the birth of Dazhbog is restored according to the legend about the birth of a god from stone - the South Slavic Dobrinka, the Abkhaz Sasrykava, etc. see: “Songs of the South Slavs” (M., 1976), “Abkhazian Tales” (Sukhumi, 1985). The Russians also have a similar song: “Russian Folk Poetry” (Moscow, 1984, p. 47), “Epics and Songs of Southern Siberia” (Novosibirsk, 1952, p. 84), etc.
The horse walks along the bank
He rattles a golden bridle... A daring young man sits on a horse and notices his betrothed. I would marry her, but my hands don’t rise.” I walked along Berezhka, I walked along a steep path, I stepped on a burning stone... I looked at my dear one, I sighed a little: “Don’t look at me, friend... Songs sung on Ilya’s day (Perun’s day)
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru