Pages: 237-238

Vainakh (Checheno-Ingush) folklore hero Pirion is characterised by features that allow to treat him as a thunder god (he climbs the sky, pours reign from there etc.). On this basis and by homophony of the names the author has connected him with the Slavic pagan god Perun. The penetration of the image to the Caucasus he dated to Russia’s pre-pagan time when the Arab caliph Mervan II made raid into Khazar state, captured 20 thousand Slavic families and transported them to the Caucasus. Recently P. Lajoye suggested another hypothesis. He connected Pirion with the epic Iranian padishah Piran who by means of magia had sent rain and thunder to his enemies, and this Iranian image derived from the Indo-European god Perun — Perkunas — Pardjanya etc. This hypothesis has right to existence but it does not change the main conclusion: the image is not local and not connected with the Biblical image of pharaoh (as it was proposed earlier), but it originates from Indo-European thunder god.

Keywords: Perun, Vainakhs (Checheno-Ingush), Caucasus, mythology, folklore, Mervan II, Iran, Rus'

Information about author:

Leo Klejn (Saint Petersburg, Russia). Doctor of Historical Siences
E-mail: [email protected]