Information about the deities of the ancient peoples that inhabited our planet is scarce. They have to be restored according to the surviving myths, legends, fragmentary paraphrases and information from excavations of cultural places. From these bits of information, it became known that ancient people sought to “humanize” some life situations and components of the world around them. So the concept of human aggression was identified - war. And then came the Gods of War. Such gods are most popular and revered by militant tribes. As a mythological plot, war is often associated with the creation of Cosmos and the protection of existence. Myths about the war are widespread between various groups of gods, where clashes between them moved to the earth and became already earthly wars between people. In giving, gods often interfere in people's lives: patronizing or punishing. Gods of War were in every ancient pagan culture.
The ancient Roman historian Guy Cornelius Tacitus in his treatise "On the Origin of the Germans and the Location of Germany" (98 AD) describes the amazing militancy of the representatives of this people, their attraction to constant battles and bloodshed. Like other Roman authors, Tacitus believes that many Germanic gods are an identification of the Roman. So the furious god of war Mars is equivalent to the German god Tiwaz, who is also called Tür. It is difficult to say when the Germans began to revere Tivaz and other deities of war. It is also unknown when it was he who was replaced by Vodan as the supreme god of war, whom the Roman writers compared with Mercury. Together with Tiviaz and Vodan, the Germans worshiped the third god of war - Donar (Torah or Tunar). In the late pagan period, most Germans considered him the most powerful and noble god.
Although, as historians note, "the Slavs were never a warlike people, adventurers, like the Germans ...", they also had their gods of war. Today, Slavic gods such as Perun and Semargl are most famous. Despite their deep antiquity, and therefore common knowledge, they were little revered because of their warlike appearance. Perun seemed like an armed ax warrior, racing on a golden chariot, which is harnessed by white and black stallions. Semargla was seen as a wolf with wings and falcon legs, and sometimes with the head of a falcon. Slav warriors often identified themselves with wolves.
The Slavic gods of war, among other things, like all pagan gods "demanded" sacrifice, this rite took on a large-scale character. As it became known from the evidence of ethnographic and archaeological excavations, they brought sacrifices to the gods as wolves and dogs, while the human sacrifice was considered the highest ritual offering. Those became prisoners.
With the introduction of Christianity, the Slavic gods officially ceased to exist. Their characters began to be regarded as negative, except for those identified with Christian saints. In order to strengthen the spiritual unity of the people and soften the transition from paganism to Christianity, Prince Vladimir did not carry out cruel persecution of admirers of the old faith. Over time, this led to the fact that the Slavic gods began to personify in Christian characters. So Perun was compared with St. Elijah.
More than a thousand years have passed since the adoption of Christianity, but the Russian pagan gods are still not forgotten. In folk art, in murals, wood carvings, embroidery patterns , their schematic images and symbols have been preserved. Moreover, today many people believe that Russian paganism is able to be reborn as something primordial, not borrowed from other peoples and not subject to globalization.