Chernobog (also spelled
Crnobog,
Czernobóg,
Cernobog or
Zernebog from the Russian
????????, each name meaning "black god") is a mysterious
Slavic deity about whom much has been speculated but little can be said definitively. The only sources, which are Christian ones, interpret him as a dark and cursed god, but it is questionable how important he really was to ancient Slavs. The name is attested only among
West Slavic tribes of the 12th century, hence it is speculated that he was not a very important or very old deity.
The only[citation needed] historic source on Slavic mythology mentioning this god is the 12th-century Chronica Slavorum, a work written by German priest Helmold which describes customs and beliefs of several Wendish and Polabian tribes who were still pagans. Helmold wrote that
"The Slavs, they say, have one peculiar custom during feasts, they pass a goblet amongst them in circle, for purpose not to praise, but rather to curse in the names of gods, good and evil, for every good thing praising a good god, and for every bad thing cursing an evil god. This god of woe in their language is called Diabolous or Zherneboh, meaning black god."
On the basis of this inscription, many modern mythographers assumed that, if the evil god was Chernobog, the Black God, then the good god should be Belobog or the White God. However, the name of Belobog is not mentioned by Helmold anywhere in his Chronica, nor is it ever mentioned in any of the historic sources that describe the gods of any Slavic tribe or nation. Additionally, the inscription quoted above is more likely Helmold's own interpretation than an accurate description of Slavic pre-monotheistic beliefs Helmold, being German, did not know the language of Slavs, and being a Christian priest, did not have much, if any, contact with the Slavs themselves.[citation needed]
