Vladimir Ya. Petrukhin

Institute of Slavic Studies RAS, Moscow(vladimir.petrukhin@gmail.com)

Key words: Slavic paganism, decorative art, symmetry, the world tree.

The complexity of interpretation of zooantropomorphous pictorial motifs of the pre-Christian Slavic art stems from the fact that these symmetric compositions relate to the universal and abstract scheme of world axis – the “world tree”. A rare asymmetric composition is presented on the pad on the scabbard from Oldenburg/Starigrad, where the upper part embodies the anthropomorphous figure, and the “bottom” one presents the anthropomorphic figurines (with different postures) and symmetrical images of horses. Composition refers to the common reconstructed Slavic myth of heavenly Thunder-god and “God of cattle”, the patron of pastures and the underworld.