Not just a 'tender of beasts' : Radagast's connection to Slavic Mythology

[Galadriel55]

Ooooo, why did I not see this thread earlier? I love mythologies!

Radegast/Radigost is not as well-known as other Slavonic gods, and it's very difficult to find any good sources on Slavonic mythology in general because much of it was destroyed early on in history. But here is what I can say about Radegast on behalf of Russia:

Firstly, as was mentioned above, his name can be dissected into rad+gost' - "joy"+"guest". This would imply a welcome for travelers and etc.

However, apparently his name once was Rizvoditz, which to me kind of sounds like "splitter", "separater" (from razvod). According to the source, his name represents quarrel, strife. This source also says that his later name, Radegast, is derived from "ratniy gost'" - Warrior guest, and that overall he is both the god of war and the protector of peaceful guests.

Yet other sources say that Radegast stands for "guests of councils", "head of councils". I do not see a resemblance in any of the names that these sources give, but they just might be too Western Slavonic for me to analyze with certainty.

And yet others describe him as the god that judges deceased souls. Go figure.



So how much of this is can be related to Radagast? Not that much. And while I don't think Tolkien drew that much from Slavonic sources, Radegast is a very Western Slavonic god, and his "cult" was geographically close to modern day Germany, so it is very possible that Germanic languages preserve some reference to him.