SVAROG 
Real
Name:
Svarog (also spelt 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, alias Praamzius); Gaea
(mother, alias Erce Sweigsdunka); Potrimpo (possible brother); Kupala (sister);
Lada (sister/wife, alias Mokosh); Perun,
Svantovit, Stribog, Kalvis, Svarozvich (sons); Ursula, Milda (daughters); Diva,
Zhiva, Laima, Marzana (daughters by an unknown goddess); Saule
(daughter-in-law), Triglav
(possible grandson, alias Tiermes), Krumine, Rasyte (possible nieces); 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 said to be the son of Praamzius, the god of time, and Sweigsdunka,
the star-goddess, who may actually have been Rod, the ancestor of the Russian
gods, and the primeval earth-goddess, Gaea, in her role as the Russian
earth-mother, Erce. The Dievans are 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 culture.
As
a young god, Svarog was the eternal enemy of his brother, Zaltys, the
serpent-god, who created chaos and disorder on Earth, but who may have actually been
an avatar of the Elder God known as Set. Svarog defeated him and exiled
him into the underworld. Svarog eventually became ruler of the Slavic gods with
his center of worship located at Novgorod in the modern Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics. 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. He expelled all
the foreign gods from the pantheon such as Zeus,
known as Di'i, worshipped in the former Roman province of Dacia, invaded by the
Ancient Slavic tribes of Earth. According to later stories, all of Svarog’s
sons married daughters of Di'i.
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 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
imprisoned within 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 they 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 to Earth, 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
that were felt as Asgard started to fall, and Svarog with the other godheads
strived to preserve Asgard as other forces fought to remove Thanos from power.
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 possesses greater power than any other Russian God. He
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, and serves as the home of the Slavic gods.
Experiencing periodic seasonal intervals, it 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 wilderness reserved for the shades of the dead.
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 incident could be part of the overlap in the mythology of the two gods.
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.
Clarifications:
Svarog is not to be confused with:
Svarovich,
god of fire,
Svantovit,
god of war and prosperity,
