Flins (mythology)

God of death in Wendish mythology

An 18th-century depiction of Flins

Flins is an alleged Slavic deity, mentioned for the first time in the book Cronecken der Sassen in 1492 by the German writer Konrad Bothe.[1][2] People believe it was not really worshipped.

People believe the name of the Polish town, Świeradów-Zdrój also known as Flinsberg in German, came from Flins.[2]

Bothe said Flins was worshipped by people in the Harz Mountains and in Lusatia.

> The deity was called Flins because it was believed to reside on a rocky outcrop and appeared as a deceased figure wearing a long cloak, holding a staff with a burning torch, and having a lion resting on its left shoulder. The lion was believed to resurrect worshippers when they died.

— Konrad Bothe

The described statue was supposed to be destroyed by Prince Lothair.[2] Bothe's information was spread all across Europe and many people drew Flins.[1]

In a later account by Krzysztof Manlius (De idolo Lusatiorum deiecto Flyns, 1570), a statue of Flins, symbolizing life awakening in spring, once stood in the village of Oehna (Sorbian Wownjow), near Bautzen. In 1106, it was allegedly thrown into the Spree River by Germans fighting against paganism. However, the villagers secretly retrieved it and returned it to its original location. After being toppled again twenty years later, it was transported to the Hochstein hill near the village of Königshein northwest of Zgorzelec. As the Slavs were displaced by German settlers, it was relocated again to the village of Kamień near Mirsk, on a hill named Dead. Eventually, it was purportedly hidden in a cave on the slope of the High Ridge, where healing springs were gushing, believed by the local population to have therapeutic properties.[2]

## Theories about his origin

[edit]

There are a variety of theories about his origin, almost all consider him to have never been a real Slavic God.

According to Elias Schedius (1605–1641), the name of the deity was in fact a corrupted name of a supposed king of the Vandals: Vitzlauw (Wisław? )→Vlitzauw→Vlintz.[1]

Christian Knauthe [de] (1706–1784) asserted that Flins was the chief god of the Sorbs, fervently worshiped in Lusatia and Meissen. Numerous altars and groves were supposedly dedicated to him, where abundant animal sacrifices were made.[1]

Christian Wilhelm Bronisch [de] (1788–1881) believed that it was derived from the Sorbian mrlinjec, mrlinjc – "dead".[2]

Zbygniew Martynowski [pl; de] (1908–1993) derived it from the sequence lawjenc → lwiniec → lwinc → wlic → flins, and said it was related to lions.[2]

Leonhard Franz argued the description was related to St. Christopher rather than a Slavic deity.[1]

The figure of a Slavic necromancer holding a staff, but without a name, is also mentioned in the description of the shrines of the Western Slavs by Al-Masudi, a traveler from the Middle East who visited the region in the 10th century. He recorded the following cult in the temple / healing place:[3]

> Another shrine was built by one of their rulers on Czarna Góra (Black Mountain). It was surrounded by many beneficial springs whose waters differed in color and taste, and were believed to possess healing properties. The deity worshiped in this temple was represented by a large statue of an old man holding a staff that could summon skeletons from their graves.

— Al-Masudi, Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flins (mythology).

1. ^ a b c d e Jerzy Strzelczyk: Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian. Poznań: Rebis, 2007, s. 72. ISBN 978-83-7301-973-7.
2. ^ a b c d e f Krzysztof R. Mazurski: Świeradów-Zdrój i okolice. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo „Sport i Turystyka”, 1986, s. 29-30. ISBN 83-217-2561-9.
3. ^ Al-Masudi, Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems

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Notes: H historicity of the deity is dubious; F functions of the deity are unclear.
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