Slavic Mythology · deity

Veles

also: Veles · Volos · Velas

deitythe underworldcattlemagicthe snake (the serpent)wealththe realm of the dead (Nav)attested

The god of the underworld, cattle, magic, and the serpent; son of Svarog; the great antagonist of Perun. His domain is the realm of the dead (Nav/Cherd).

The Seven Gods of Slavic Theo-Cosmology · Maxim Sukharev (Максим Сухарев) · modern · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The account

Who they are

Veles (Volos, Velas) is the god of the underworld, cattle, magic, and the serpent [S1][S2][S4][S5]. He is the son of Svarog (the sky-father/craftsman god) [S6]. Veles's domain is the realm of the dead (Nav/Cherd) — the underworld — and the earth [S6]. He is the god of cattle (the 'cattle-god'), of wealth, of magic, and of the serpent (his animal) [S4][S5][S6]. The snake is a sacred symbol of Veles: the 'Veles-day' (May 22, later the feast of St. Nicholas) was associated with the awakening of the snakes (the 'Veles' snakes') and was a day of special taboos [S5]. Veles is the great antagonist of Perun in the reconstructed 'Perun-Veles' conflict: the sky-thunder-god vs. the underworld-serpent-god [S6]. This is a genuine reconstructed duality, not a single attested myth — we present it as a scholarly reconstruction [S6].

Worth knowing

God of the underworld, cattle, magic, and the serpent [S4][S5][S6].
Son of Svarog [S6].
The 'Veles-day' (May 22) was associated with the awakening of the snakes [S5].
The great antagonist of Perun (reconstructed duality) [S6].

Uncertainties & variants

The 'Perun-Veles' conflict is a scholarly reconstruction (Ivanov & Toporov), not a single attested myth [S6].
Veles's 'underworld' role is reconstructed from folk belief and comparative evidence; the earliest sources do not describe his realm in detail [S6].

Relationships (5)

Connections

Family & kinship

PARENT_OFSvarog (Svarozhich) — Svarog is the father of Veles (reconstructed genealogy).[S6]

SIBLING_OFPerun — (Variant) In some reconstructions Perun and Veles are siblings; in others Veles is Svarog's son.[S6]

Conflict & enmity

ENEMY_OFPerun — Perun and Veles are the great antagonists (the sky-thunder-god vs. the underworld-serpent-god).[S6]

FOUGHTPerun — Perun and Veles are in conflict (the sky-thunder vs. the underworld-serpent).[S6]

Alliances & rule

ASSOCIATED_WITHCherd (Chert) — Veles (the underworld-god) is associated with Cherd (the lord of the underworld).[S6]

Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

View

hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side

Overlays

FocusVelesSlavic

zoom 1.93× · medium

parentage
marriage ♥

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

Myths featuring Veles

2 stories

The Slavic Cosmology (the three-layered world)

The Slavic cosmos is three-layered: the Sky (Nebo) above, the Earth (Zemlya) in the middle, and the Underworld (Nav/Cherd) below. A world-axis (the world-tree, the 'axis mundi') connects the three layers. The Sky is the realm of Nebo and Perun; the Earth is the realm of the human world and the earth-gods; the Underworld is the realm of the dead (Nav/Cherd) and Veles [S4][S5][S6].

READ THE STORY →

The Perun-Veles Conflict (reconstructed)

In the reconstructed 'Perun-Veles' conflict, the sky-thunder-god Perun and the underworld-serpent-god Veles are in opposition. This is a scholarly reconstruction (Ivanov & Toporov) of an Indo-European 'sky-father vs. underworld-serpent' duality, not a single attested Slavic myth [S6]. The 'conflict' is expressed in folk belief as the opposition of the thunder (Perun) and the serpent (Veles) [S5][S6].

READ THE STORY →

Artworks

Depictions

← Slavic Mythology All galleries