Folk Tales from the Russian — Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal — Folk Tales from the Russian — Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal (1903) — nine Russian fairy tales including the Frog Princess, Baba Yaga, Prince Ivan, and the Tsarevna Frog, collected and retold from the Afanasyev tradition.
Heroic Ballads of Servia — D.H. Low — Heroic Ballads of Servia — D.H. Low's translation of the Serbian epic cycle: the Kosovo ballads, the Marko Kralyevich cycle, and the tradition of Servia under Turkish rule (1922).
On the Slavs and Their Gods — Helmold of Bosau — Helmold of Bosau, Chronica Slavorum, Book I, end of chapter 52 (Pertz numbering) — the canonical medieval Latin description of Slavic religion: the cup ceremony of the two gods, the naming of Zcerneboch the Black God, the supremacy of Zvantevith of Rügen, the annual sacrifice of a Christian by lot, the temple precinct, and the Slavic violence toward Christians. Translated from the Latin.
Roumanian Fairy Tales and Legends — Mrs. E.B. Mawr — Roumanian Fairy Tales and Legends — Mrs. E.B. Mawr's 1881 English translation of Romanian popular narratives: fairy tales, historical legends, and folk stories from the Danubian principalities, preserving the oral tradition of the Romanian people.
Sixty Folk-tales from Slavonic Sources — A.H. Wratislaw — Sixty Folk-tales from Slavonic Sources — A.H. Wratislaw's 1890 collection: sixty folk-tales drawn from Bohemian, Slovak, Polish, Lusatian, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Croatian sources — the first major English anthology of Slavic folklore.
Songs of the Russian People — W.E.S. Ralston — Songs of the Russian People by W.E.S. Ralston (1872) — a comprehensive study of Russian folk religion through its songs and customs, covering wedding songs, funeral laments, the byliny epic cycle, calendar songs, and the mythological beliefs underlying popular tradition.
Stories of Russian Folk-Life — Donald A. MacKenzie — Stories of Russian Folk-Life — Donald A. MacKenzie's 1916 collection of Russian folk tales and stories: 7 narratives drawing on Russian oral tradition, peasant life, the supernatural, and folk wisdom set against the backdrop of pre-revolutionary Russia.
The Destruction of the Temple at Arkona — Saxo Grammaticus — Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, Book XIV — the destruction of the temple of Svantevit at Arkona on Rügen, 1168 CE. The toppling of the four-headed idol by Esbernus and Suno on the orders of King Valdemar I, the dragging of it through the city by foreigners and captives because no native dared touch it, the cooks reducing the god to firewood for the enemy's evening meal, the temple burned and a Christian basilica raised from its timber. The end of the last great Slavic pagan sanctuary in the Baltic. Translated from the Latin.
The Federation of the Liutici — Thietmar of Merseburg — Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon, Book VI, chapter 25 — the political and religious theology of the Liutici federation, c. 1018 CE. Every region has its own temple, but Rethra holds the principal monarchy; warriors salute it before battle and honor it on return; sacrifice victims are determined by lot and by the sacred horse; the Liutici have NO single lord, but rule themselves by unanimous council, beating dissenters with rods and burning out external opponents; peace is made by cutting the topknot, exchanging grass, and clasping right hands. Thietmar's editorial admonition closes the passage. Translated from the Latin.
The Four-Headed Idol of Svantevit at Arkona — Saxo Grammaticus — Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, Book XIV — the canonical medieval Latin description of the temple of Svantevit at Arkona on Rügen island, c. 1208 CE. The wooden temple in the central plain, the double enclosure with crimson roof and hanging tapestries, the colossal four-headed idol with shaven beards and shorn hair, the horn of mead in its right hand and the bow in its left, the great silver-hilted sword nearby, and the annual harvest-divination ritual of the long-bearded priest who could not exhale inside the shrine. Translated from the Latin.
The Key of Gold — Czech Folk Tales — Josef Baudis — The Key of Gold: Czech Folk Tales — Josef Baudis's 1922 collection of 23 Czech and Slovak folk tales: Víťazko the strongman, the Waternick, the Witch and the Horseshoes, the Haunted Mill, and other stories from the deep oral tradition of Bohemia and Moravia.
The Sacred Grove of Prove and the God of Gods — Helmold of Bosau — Helmold of Bosau, Chronica Slavorum, Book I, chapter 83 (the religious-content portion). The Saxon priest Helmold, traveling with Bishop Gerold of Oldenburg in 1156 CE, describes the sacred grove of Prove at Aldenburg and the multiform idolatry of the Slavs — and then, as eyewitness participant, the destruction of the grove by the missionary party. Translated from the Latin.
The Tale of the Armament of Igor — Leonard A. Magnus — The Tale of the Armament of Igor — the twelfth-century Russian epic poem of Prince Igor's campaign against the Polovtsi, translated by Leonard A. Magnus (1915): the oldest surviving monument of Russian secular literature.
The Temple at Riedegost and the Sacred Horse — Thietmar of Merseburg — Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon, Book VI, chapters 23–24 — the EARLIEST detailed medieval Latin description of Rethra/Riedegost, the great Slavic sanctuary of the Liutici (c. 1018 CE, ~57 years before Adam of Bremen). The three-cornered city, the wooden temple supported by horns of beasts, the walls carved with images of gods, the helmeted and armored idols inside whose chief is Zuarasici (Svarozhich), the divination by lot and by the sacred horse stepping over crossed spears, and the giant white-tusked boar that emerges from the sea before war. Translated from the Latin.
The Temple of Redigast at Rethra — Adam of Bremen — Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, Book II — the description of Rethra, the city of the Retharii (a Lutici tribe), with its great temple of demons led by Redigast: the gold idol, the purple bed, the nine gates, the lake encircling the city, and the bridge that crossed only for those bringing sacrifices or seeking oracles. Translated from the Latin.