Totem pole discovered in England linked to Slavic pagan god: equivalent to Thor

When a totem pole mysteriously appeared on a popular coastal path in southeast England, locals began speculating about who was responsible for the wooden monolith, ranging from art pranksters to aliens.

According to The Guardian, the 2.4 meter high pillar, set on a cliff top on the North Downs Way in Kent, between Folkestone and Dover, aroused particular interest thanks to an inscription with the name of Perkunas, the Baltic god of thunder.

In an effort to preserve the artwork in the Capel-le-Ferne Nature Reserve, the Kent Wildlife Trust is in the process of applying to Dover District Council for retrospective planning permission. But his call to find the artist behind it has so far been unsuccessful.

Dr Francis Young, an Oxford University historian and folklorist who specializes in the history of religion and belief, said the pillar, thought to be carved from solid wood, appears to indicate a Lithuanian connection to its origins.

“Perkunas is perhaps the most famous Baltic god,” the expert said. – That’s his Lithuanian name. He is the same as the Slavic god Perun. He is one of the three or four main gods in Baltic mythology, but not the most important. He is equivalent to the Norse god Thor and also wields a hammer.”

Dr. Young, author of “Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic: An Ethnographic Description of 16th-Century Baltic Paganism,” said that little is known about the appearance of the original pagan totems, as no illustrations of them have survived.

But the expert said the mysterious sculpture appears to match descriptions of totems made by 15th- and 16th-century Christian missionaries in Lithuania, the last country in Europe to stop paganism and comparative studies of Eastern European mythology.

“Sometimes [тотем] carved from a living tree or from one that has just died, ”added Francis Young.

Jerzy Sikora, a medieval archaeologist at the University of Lodz, noted on social media that the Kentish totem was similar to Wolin Svetovit, a ninth or tenth-century wood carving of Svetovit, the Slavic god of abundance and war, found in Poland in 1974.

Dr. Young agreed that this could have been the inspiration for Kent’s sculpture, given the lack of other source material.

But he said the location of the new totem was unusual, as the sculptures were traditionally placed in forest groves.

Ian Rickards, regional manager for the Kent Wildlife Trust, said he likes to suggest the totem was planted to protect the recently reintroduced red-billed chauh, birds that have been absent from the wild in Kent for over 200 years due to habitat loss and historical persecution.

“I would like to think that someone invoked this god to protect the birds nesting on the chalk cliffs in the recent wet and windy weather,” said Rickards, who has visited the pillar twice since its sudden appearance in late July. Many people passing by stopped to admire it. The entire post was covered in what looked like intricate waves depicting a totem head with a metal cap on top. This is a work of art, well designed. Its size and weight means it would take quite a bit of effort to get it up there in the dark.”

Francis Young said that Perkunas was a positive figure who was approached for protection from stormy weather. “Even in the 19th and 20th centuries, the folklore survived and people turn to it when they go out in the rain,” he says.

But Patrick Knill, 57, a support worker from Folkestone who visited the totem pole on Tuesday, said it reminded him more of a dark metal band prop than an authentic Lithuanian artifact.