A teacher in the small town of Horodenka (Western Ukraine) apparently recorded the following song and published it in the “Gazeta Lwowska”:
Oj, Łado, Łado, oj dana dana,
idem do pana, do pana Wodana,
szczoby nas oczystyw i nas błohosławyw
“Oy, Łado, Łado, oy dana dana*
I am going to the lord, lord Wodan,
so that he should cleanse us and bless us”
*note: The dana, dana refrain is a common one in Suavic songs and usually designed to force a rhyme. However, in this context, it could also mean “I am given away, given away.” That being said, it is interesting that the word dana is used in the context of Wodan and makes me think of the hypothesized Goddess Danu/Dana of the Tuath(a) Dé Danann or of the Vedic Goddess Danu.
The song was part of marriage ceremonies in Galicia, Wolhynia and in the Bug area. Kolberg’s volume on Red Ruthenia mentions this. Before the actual wedding ceremony, the couple’s relatives would walk them to a barn or a shed. The groomsmen would carry the groom’s wedding clothes and the bridesmaids, the brides’ gown. One of the relatives carried two watering cans filled with clean water. During this procession they would sing the above song. Upon arrival the party stays outside and closes the doors save for the couple and their relatives. They go in and take off their clothes. Thereafter, the women pour the water onto the bride and the men on the groom. They then put the wedding attire on the groom and bride, dance around them and continue to sing:
Oj, Łado, Łado, oj dana dana,
harnyj nasz panycz, harna i panna
“Oy, Łado, Łado, oy dana dana
handsome is our young man, handsome too the young lady”
then they exit the barn or shed and head for the house for the wedding singing:
Widyłyśmo, baczyłyśmo
Sam Żiwe, błahosławy nam
“We saw, we observed
Żiwe himself blessed us”
If the above is a genuine recording and not a fraud perpetrated by a romantic soul, then we may explain with whom at least some eastern Suavs connected the mysterious horse-riding Jasion or Jesion. More on this later. Whether Żiwe may be cognate with Ziu is another matter.
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