Slavic Mythology · deity

Khors

Khors
also: Khors · Kors
deitythe sun (a solar god)attested

A solar god (a 'sun' deity) in the Kiev pantheon; less well-attested than Dazhbog.

Khors (with Perun, Mokosh, Stribog), from Schleusing, La religion ancienne et moderne des Moscovites (1685) — Khors (with Perun
Khors (with Perun · Georg Andreas Schleusing · undated · Wikimedia Commons (institution in source file) · Public domain
The account

Who they are


Khors (Kors) is a solar god in the Kiev pantheon [S1]S1 · Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let / Latopis povest' vremen'nykh let)c. 1113 CE (describes 10th c.)textOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Hypatian / Hletovskaya Chronicle (Kiev idol list)14th-15th c. (later copy)text. His exact relationship to Dazhbog (the 'day-god') is unclear: the two are both solar/light deities, and their distinction is not well-defined in the sources [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic. Khors is named in the idol list but given little detail [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic. Some scholars see Khors as a 'solar' god and Dazhbog as a 'daylight' god; others see them as overlapping [S6]S6 · Modern comparative reconstruction (e.g., Ivanov & Toporov, 'Theses on Slavic Mythology')1970s-2000sacademic.
Worth knowing
  • A solar god in the Kiev pantheon [S1]S1 · Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let / Latopis povest' vremen'nykh let)c. 1113 CE (describes 10th c.)textOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Hypatian / Hletovskaya Chronicle (Kiev idol list)14th-15th c. (later copy)text.
  • Less well-attested than Dazhbog [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic.
Uncertainties & variants
  • The distinction between Khors and Dazhbog is not clear in the sources [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic[S6]S6 · Modern comparative reconstruction (e.g., Ivanov & Toporov, 'Theses on Slavic Mythology')1970s-2000sacademic.
Relationships (2)

Connections


Family & kinship

SIBLING_OFPerun — Perun and Khors are both members of the Kiev pantheon.[S1] [S2]

Alliances & rule

ASSOCIATED_WITHDazhbog — Dazhbog and Khors are both solar/light deities; their distinction is not clear.[S4]
Local graph

Their corner of the divine world


View
hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusKhorsSlavic
SLAVIC · 13fragmentary record — no firm parentage♥Cherd (Chert)DazhbogJarilo (Kupala)KhorsLadaMokoshMorana (Marena)Nebo (the Sky-Fa…PerunStribogSvarog (Svarozhich)Zorya (the Morning …Veles
zoom 1.93× · medium
  • parentage
  • marriage ♥

far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus

Artworks

Depictions

Khors (with Perun, Mokosh, Stribog), from Schleusing, La religion ancienne et moderne des Moscovites (1685) — Khors (with Perun
Khors (with Perun · Georg Andreas Schleusing · undated · Wikimedia Commons (institution in source file) · Public domain
Khors (with Perun · undated
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