An interesting question arises in the context of the Goddess Dziewanna or Devana. This is a question of proof. Unlike Jassa, Lada, Nia or Leli, this Goddess appears first in Dlugosz (as the Polish version of Diana) and has not been attested earlier. Thus, we must ask, is there any evidence outside of Dlugosz for Her existence? Certainly, sources subsequent to Dlugosz mention Her but they are derivatives of the earlier chronicler. So we must ask what is the proof, if any?
Well, there is circumstantial evidence. The word dziewczyna means a “girl” or a “young woman”. Dziewka carries the meaning of a “girl”, sometimes “daughter”, as well. Dziewica refers to a “virgin” or, more generally, to a “maiden”. But what about just Dziewa? That name has not been attested in Polish. Of course, the fact that it has not been attested does not prove that it did not exist but, then again, you cannot establish a negative.
Leszek Kolankiewicz in his Dziady observes that the word dziewanna does appear in the Old Polish Dictionary (Slownik Staropolski) but not as the name of a goddess but rather as the name of a plant (so also marzanna). Apparently, dziewanna refers to the Verbascum plant or mullein. This meaning of the word has been attested as of 1419 by the said dictionary.
Kolankiewicz also observes that there is a Div in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” where it seems to be a bird of some sort. Further, he notes that Diva is mentioned in the Russian Sermon of Saint Gregory. He further throws a diva from Bulgarian folklore where the name seems to refer to a nymph or a demonness. Naturally, he also mentions the Lithuanian divas, Old Prussian deyvis or deivas and the Latvian dievs. From there he takes it to the Irish dia, Old Norse tivar, the Latin deus and earlier deivos and to the overall IE terms for the Sky God. Dutifully, he notes also brings up the Indian deva.
Finally, he notes that in the Iranian language daeva began to mean a “demon” presumably as a result of the theological dominance of the followers of Zarathustra. He also brings up an observation bay Zygmunt Krzak to the effect that the various -annas seem to collate to the pre-Zarathustrian Deities (maybe As & Anna?).
So much for the comparative material.
It might be worth noting that in Polish there is no necessarily pejorative meaning associated with the word dziw. That word means really “wonder”. Now, dziwny means “strange” but this too projects a neutral rather than a negative meaning. Overall, it would be silly to suggest that Zarathustra’s reforms resulted in a pejorative meaning of related words in Latin, Norse and even Irish (!) languages. I am not aware of any such meaning in Baltic and, as for, Suavic no such meaning is present at least in Polish.
But there are hints of the meaning of such names and they have been mentioned on this website.
First of all, as again noted above, the div compounds refer to the “female” in various iterations.
Second, so to speak, that female may well be at the root of the IE word for “two”. For example, dwa in Polish. The first, if you forgive a male centric view, would have been the male God – Iasion, As, Janus, eins or even possibly Lado or Odin or jeden.
Third, there is clearly a forest connection. If you want, you can just think of the “maiden/virgin” or dziewica and think of the “virgin forest.” Indeed, there may be a connection with a certain “wildness” – thus you can see the word for “wild” – dziki or indeed for a boar – dzik.
Dziwy – meaning wonders may, however, also refer to strange creatures of the forest more generally. These would be beings other than animals. In this context, it may be worth noting that the etymology for the Russian medved – that is “bear” – being of one who knows honey – strikes me as rather fanciful. A kind of a folk etymology. As already discussed, the Polish version – niedźwiedź – seems, to me at least, to contain a more convincing etymology right in the word itself. That is nie dziwiec or nie dziw, meaning “not a div” or not a forest deity.
As previously mentioned, there is also – in some manuscripts of Tacitus’ “Annals” (I, 51) – Tafanna (or Tanfana or Tamfana) – who is an actual deity:
Perhaps related given the geography, also discussed previously, in the Gesta Abbatum Fontanellensium (Deeds of the Abbots of Fontenelle) we also have the name Devenna. Given the interesting potential connections of these lands with the – of course – wild Vilti or Veletae (see the many articles on Suavs in Holland on this site) and the alleged rulership of the same over all the Suavs, as reported by Muslims, this connection is not to be discounted in the quest for the Polish Devanna.
Speaking of placenames, Kolankiewicz cites Karol Potkański for some related names such as mount Děvín in the Moravian Pavlov Hills and Dziewin, being the Suavic name for Magdeburg. With respect to this last name, it’s more likely that the word Magdeburg is a translation of the Suavic Dziewin with a -burg suffix thrown in. Specifically, rather than *magaþ (“great” with “mighty” being a cognate), the name probably comes from Magd (meaning “young woman”), likely a translation of Dziewin. From this we can draw connection to the Maegdeland or Mazovia of Alfred’s Orosius and all the way to the Amazons. Certainly, a fitting affiliation for the Goddess of the Hunt!
Of course, we can continue this list with many other names. In the West, for example, we have such placenames as:
- Devon, England (though probably from Dumnonia – Latin version of the “deep valley” dwellers Celtic tribe name; from proto-Celtic root word *dubno-, meaning both “deep” and “world”… on the other hand, there are a few Dubnos in Suavic lands)
- Deventer in the Netherlands
In the East of Europe, the more likely candidates for a connection include:
- Devin in Bulgaria
- Dziewin in Poland (near Cracow)
There is also the personal name Devon from the French devin meaning “divine” (occasionally from Ó Damháin).
Anyway, all of this is more or less well known. Anything else that may be worthwhile adding here?
Well, in fact, the answer is yes. Michał Muszyński discovered a Polish manuscript from the Kórnik Library which contains a gloss dzÿewana as a translation of the Lapus barbarus (probably Lapis – rock) with another annotation of zÿwÿcza which is naturally today’s Polish żywica or tree resin (Harz in German). Of course, Suavs are known to have worshipped trees. Was thus Devanna, the deified life blood of the trees?
Curiously, there are some sellers online that offer figurines of Devanna which happen to be made of… resin.
Separately, as is well known, Dlugosz also mentions Żywie but as a different Deity. Was there a connection?
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