Slavic Paganism in Medieval Christian Writings: Ink, Cross, and Pagan Gods

East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450‑1450; vol. 97

How did medie­val Christian wri­ters sha­pe our under­stan­ding of Slavic paga­nism? What prompted men like Thietmar of Merseburg, Saxo Grammaticus, Cosmas of Prague, or the ano­ny­mous Old Russian pre­a­cher to wri­te detai­led accounts of Slavic ritu­als, dei­ties, and near­ly for­got­ten tales? This volu­me exa­mi­nes the dis­cur­si­ve stra­te­gies these authors used to descri­be, dis­tort, and rede­fi­ne pre-Christian Slavic reli­gi­on. Through over a dozen case stu­dies, the author explo­res texts, archa­e­o­lo­gi­cal evi­den­ce, and ethno­gra­phic data that reve­al how Christianity attempted to refra­me pagan tra­di­ti­ons. With inno­va­ti­ve inter­pre­tati­ons and inter­dis­ci­pli­na­ry methods, this book offers novel per­specti­ves on the stu­dy of Slavic pre-Christian reli­gi­ons in the Middle Ages.