Simargl, The Sower of Seeds
Added 2023-02-12 06:40:22 +0000 UTCThank you to everyone who participated in the divine poll last month, giving me my orders and allowing me to produce this.
This is Simargl, an old East Slavic deity whose origins are still up for debate.
Mentioned first by name in the Primary Chronicle (the earliest surviving medieval manuscript available that detailed notable events from roughly 850 to 1110) but then mentioned again as two seperate entities as Sěm (a friendly household spirit) and Rgěl (god of the harvest), Simargl is a dog-headed eagle-winged creature who protected Slavic peoples and their crops. Simagrl warmed the world with their eagle-like golden wings, bought fire for the home, and encouraged plants to grow for a healthy harvest in the late summer.
However, once the ruling monarch of the time, Vladimir the Great, expanded his empire and converted everyone to Christianity, anything that contradicted the new faith was banished as demonic and subsequently fell out of public knowledge. That said, it can be argued that Simargl did live on, albiet as a decorative motif in 9th and 10th century manuscripts and decor resembling a winged wolf.
This was an interesting deep dive to look into as I wasn't familiar at all with Slavic mythos. I ended up taking a more Impressionistic style (because wings are hard 😅) and I don't know if I did Simargl justice here, but I tried.
At least you can't say you see anything like this too often, right?
Thanks again for allowing me the opportunity.
