influences. They were, however, not the sole
occupants of northeastern Europe. Other races had followed in Attila's
wake, and among them the Finns were the most numerous and most
warlike. They settled in the basin of the Dwina and the Kama and named
their new home Biarmaland, while the Russians called it Great Permia.
They also occupied what is now known as Finland, but which was then
known as Land of the Suomi. The Finns, more than any other tribe, bore
evidence of their Asiatic origin.

Thus the present European Russia was divided among a host of tribes,
belonging either to the Slav or Finn families, and each kept to a
great extent the superstitions and traditions of his race. Even in our
time the traces of these superstitions are plainly discernible in many
parts of Russia. When Christianity was introduced among these people,
the missionaries found many of the barbaric rites so strongly
implanted among the people that, instead of making vain efforts to
uproot them, they preferred to admit them under a Christian name.

The religion of the Slavs bore a great resemblance to that of the
Norsemen and of the Germanic races; that is, they worshiped nature (p. 027)
and its phenomena. Dagh Bog was the sungod; Perun, the Thor of
northern mythology, was the god of thunder; Stri Bog, the god of the
winds; Voloss, the protector of flocks. They had neither temples nor
regular priests, but worshiped the oak as the symbol of Perun, and
before it the leaders offered sacrifices. These ancient deities are
preserved under the names of St. John, who displaced Perun; Voloss who
became St. Vlaise, etc. When a chief died, the wife often refused to
survive her husband. The men-servants were summoned and asked which of
them would be buried with his master. When one of them came forward,
he was immediately strangled. Then the same question was put to the
women servants, and if one of them consented, she was feasted until
the day when the funeral pyre awaited the corpse. She was then killed
and her body burned with that of her master. There were, however, some
tribes that buried their dead.

The father was absolute master of his family, but his authority did
not descend to the eldest son, but to the oldest of the family, his
brothers, if any were living, according to their age. The Slavs kept
several wives, and were given to consume large quantities of a strong
drink called kvass. They were a people devoted to agriculture; the
land under cul