SEMARGL
East Slavic Grain God
Also known as Simargl
Family-friendly Griffin God of Barley
He is a deity who protects seeds and grain, particularly barley. Or is he? There appears to be a little confusion, perhaps due to over-zealous attempts to extract his personality from translations of his name. (It appears that ‘Semargl’ may mean ‘family’, ‘barley’, ‘harvest’ or ‘seven-headed purple aardvark’.)
We prefer our own eminently feasible theory that he was really two gods, Sem and Argl, who became inseparable drinking buddies after a night of hard gargling.
Other, more sensible, sources claim he is a dog with wings, or even a griffin. Which leads us to inquire why on earth such a griffin would spend its time protecting barley. What does barley needs protecting from? The world needs to be told.
Semargl Facts and Figures
Name: Semargl
Pronunciation: Coming soon
Alternative names: Simargl
Gender: Male
Type: God
Celebration or Feast Day: Unknown at present
Role:
In charge of: Grain
Area of expertise: Grain
Good/Evil Rating: Unknown at present
Popularity index: 4463
Cite this article
Here's the info you need to cite this page. Just copy the text in the box below.
Article last revised on July 21, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders
References: Coming soon.