SVAROG
Real
Name:
Svarog (also spelled Svaros)
Occupation:
Chieftain of the Russian Gods, god of the sun, fire, rain and sky
Legal
Status:
Citizen of Celestial Svarga, Well-Known in Ancient Russia
Identity:
The general populace of Earth is unaware of Svarog except as a mythological
being.
Other
Aliases:
Svarozic (variant name), Dievs (Russian name), Praboh (Slovakian name), Laukosargas, Lawkapatim
(Lithuanian names); Lytuvonis, Lietus mate (Latvian names), The Bright One
Place
of Birth:
possibly Novgorod (now part of the modern Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
Marital
Status:
Married
Known
Relatives:
Rod
(father); Gaea
(mother, alias Erce Sweigsdunka); Zaltys (brother), Potrimpo, Pikuolis (possible
brothers);
Lada (sister/wife, alias Mokosh); Perun,
Meness,
Svantovit, Stribog,
Kalvis,
Svarozvich (sons);
Saule,
Ursula,
Milda,
Kupala (daughters); Diva,
Zhiva, Laima, Marzana (daughters by an unknown goddess); Triglav
(possible grandson, alias Tiermes); Bangputys
(possible nephew)
Group
Affiliation:
The Gods of Russia,
The
Council of Godheads
Base
of Operations:
Celestial Svarga
First
Appearance:
(behind the scenes) Thor I #300, (actual) Infinity Gauntlet #2
History:
Svarog is a member of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Dievans,
who were worshipped as gods by the ancient Baltic tribes of ancient Russia and
by the Slavic races of Eastern Europe. Very little is known about the Slavic
gods. Svarog is the son of Rod, the most ancient of the Slavic Gods, and Gaea in
her role as the Latvian mother-goddess, Erce. The Dievans
became a very loose pantheon of gods, their
worshippers often accepting rites and rituals from the gods of Scandinavia,
Greece and India and often adding those gods to their cultures.
As a young god, Svarog was the god of fire credited with creating the sun and earning the epithet as a blacksmith-god. He was the eternal enemy of his brother, Zaltys, the serpent-god, who created chaos and disorder on Earth, but Svarog defeated him and exiled him into the underworld. As a result, Svarog became ruler of the Slavic gods with his center of worship located at Novgorod (now in the modern U.S.S.R.). He divided heaven and earth into two halves by creating Yav, the upper world which later became known as Celestial Svarga, and Nav, the world unseen, which became known as Vela, the land of the dead. Vela eventually became ruled by Veles, the woodland-god who may have been or replaced Pikuolis, god of the dead. Svarog tried to resolve instability among the Dievans, but his efforts were often hampered by much more opportunistic gods such as Protrimpo, who became god of the sea, and Perun, the thunder-god, who protected Earth from threats to it. Svarog also expelled all the foreign gods from the pantheon and took over the worship rites of the god, Dievs, who might have been Zeus, the chieftain of the Gods of Olympus, or Dyaus, the Vedic god of sky. According to later stories, all of Svarog’s sons married daughters of Di'i, but whether Dievs (Di'i) was actually a foreign god or a Baltic god is unrevealed.
At
one point, Svarog eventually became so powerful that he decided to depart Earth
for one last time. Seeking to live on through his sons, he sought to share his
power among them, and extended portions of his power among his sons, but Perun
and his brother, Svantovit, the god of prosperity, usurped their brother's
shares. Svarog either was unable to get involved or had refused to get involved
in the shifts of power and struggle. He became a shadow of himself among his
former worshippers with just a small cult to recall him. No longer concerned
with mortals, he eventually simmered miserably over the state of his throne. Perun
eventually became ruler of the Russian gods on Earth, but his leadership was not
to last. In 980 AD, King Vladimir the Great of Russia started converting from
the pagan beliefs of his ancestors toward Christianity. Several of Perun’s oak
statues and talismans were being discarded as he fell in power in the presence
of Christianity. In the shift of power, Perun’s essence and life-force was
placed within into a mystical amulet that was cast to Earth until he could gain
humility for his past misdeeds or at least regain some part of the nobility he
once had. Whether Svarog had any part of this is unrevealed.
Svarog was eventually approached by Odin, ruler of the Asgardian gods, to meet with the heads of the other pantheons of gods once worshipped on Earth to discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials. The Celestials were a cosmic extraterrestrial race who had influenced the evolution of mortal man on Earth, and Svarog had to pledge along with the other godheads not to interfere with the plans the Celestials had for humanity after the Celestials threatened to seal off the interdimensional passageways connected the godly realms with Earth. Odin had also exacted an oath from Svarog to help defend Earth should the Celestials ever proved to be a threat, and after the Asgardians lost their lives in battle with the Celestials, Svarog granted a portion of the required life energies to Thor in order to restore the slain Asgardians to life.
Since then, Svarog has met with the Council of Godheads several times to
consult over threats to Earth. When Thanos of the Eternals gained control over
the Infinity Gauntlet to rival the gods, Svarog and the last surviving godheads
met in Asgard to examine the threat Thanos had become. Thanos and his control of
the Infinity Gauntlet proved to have repercussions across the universe and the
godly realms. As Asgard started to fall, Svarog with the other godheads strived
to preserve Asgard as their last foothold to preserve the universe. Although
Svarog was briefly stranded in Asgard, Thanos was finally ousted from power by
his eternal enemy Adam Warlock, and the godly realms were once more restored to
their proper positions with Svarog finally returning to Celestial Svarga.
In recent years, the amulet holding Perun was discovered by Soviet minister Valeri
Sovloyev. Discovering the amulet mystically linked Sovloyev to Perun and enabled
Perun to take physical possession of him from time to time to serve as an agent
for the Soviet Government. What this means from Svarog and the Russian gods has
not yet been revealed.
Height: 6’ 5”
Weight: 645 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White, Brown in his youth
Strength Level: Svarog possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift
(press) around 85 tons under optimal conditions. In his youth, his strength was
significantly greater, possibly in the Class 100 range.
Known Superhuman Powers: Svarog possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Dievans or Russian gods. Like all Dievans, he is exceptionally long-lived, but he is not immortal like the Gods of Olympus; he has aged at an extremely slow rate since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Zeus, Odin and Ukko or for a number of Russian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Svarog also possesses superhuman strength and his Dievan metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Dievan flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Russian gods.)
Svarog also has extra-ordinary power to tap into and manipulate mystical energies; he is possibly on the same level as Odin of the Asgardian gods and Zeus of the Olympians. Possibly possessing greater power than any other Russian God, he can control the weather and summon thunderstorms, but he can also carry the power of the sun in his hammer, enabling him to generate great light and heat on the level of a small sun. The purifying effects of which are detrimental to beings of dark intent, such as demons and zombies. Svarog can also strike the Earth with bursts of light and heat. He can cast spells and create inter-dimensional access points to other dimensions and bestow parts of his power on other gods, particularly his sons who own fragments of his power. In ancient times, Svarog could bind Perun into an amulet and ascend into the heavens on a celestial horse-drawn chariot created from flame. The full extent of his powers are unrevealed.
Weapons: Svarog carries a mystical hammer, which he uses to channel his power through and direct the precision of his power.
Base of Operations: Svarog rules Celestial Svarga, an other-dimensional realm which resembles an asteroid-like mass floating in space. Svarga resembles Pre-Christian Latvia with areas of temperate climate surrounded by frozen mountains and an in-land sea adjacent to the Baltic Sea on Earth. Experiencing periodic seasonal intervals, it serves as the home of the Slavic gods, and appears to be protected by some force that prevents the eroding of its boundaries. It includes but is not limited to the city of Iriys, the city of the gods, Buyun, a land of paradise, and Vela, a gloomy underground wilderness reserved for the shades of the dead. Celestial Svarga is also home to a variety of other beings such as elves, faeries, sprites and goblins of varying roles.
Comments: This bio involves Svarog in the Marvel Universe; he has not yet been seen in DC Comics.
The conflict between Svarog and Perun mirrors the shift of power between Cronus and Zeus in Greece and Anu and Enlil in Sumeria.
The ten sons of Svarog are called the Svarozhitchi. They are also referred to as the sons of Perun, with Perun himself as the tenth son. This is typical of the excessive over-lap in the mythology of Svarog and Perun and Russian mythology in particular.
Several Godheads previously seen in the Marvel Universe and existing in myth do not appear in Infinity Gauntlet #2. Possibly, they were wiped from existence by Thanos or represented by proxy by those present: these include Anu (Mesopotamian), Yu Huang (Chinese), Izanagi (Japanese), Viracocha (Incan), Ukko (Finnish), Nyambe (African) and Tame (Polynesian).
Theoretically, Perun's overshadowing of Svarog's worship on Earth in Ancient Russia could be linked to his being bound to the amulet used by Valeri Sovloyev. As yet, Marvel has established nothing to suggest this.
Clarifications: Svarog is not to be confused with:
Last updated: 08/25/2013