Perun is the Slavic god of thunder and lightning. He is also associated with the sky, storms, rain, warfare, law, fertility, fire, and the oak, making him one of the most prominent reconstructed deities of Slavic mythology.
Historical references portray Perun as a chief god of Kievan Rus’. The Primary Chronicle records princes swearing treaties by Perun and Veles, while Prince Vladimir’s pre-Christian pantheon in Kyiv placed Perun in a leading position. His weapons were commonly imagined as an axe, hammer, arrows, or stones representing lightning bolts.
Perun is often compared with other Indo-European thunder gods, including Thor, Zeus, and the Baltic Perkūnas, although the precise relationships among these traditions remain debated. Veles, one of the wrong options, is usually presented as Perun’s underworld-linked rival, associated with cattle, wealth, magic, and deception—not as the principal thunder god.