The Indo-European Sky Father

The Proto-Indo-Europeans of the Pontic Caspian Steppe and other parts of Eastern Europe in the neolithic worshipped a paternal deity who they called Dyḗus ph₂tḗr “sky father”. With comparative linguistics and comparative mythology we can learn a lot about this ancient god from whom Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter, Irish Dagda, Vedic Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́ and Norse Odin and many others also derive. In this video I explain what we know about the god’s mythic roles relating to cattle, his relationship to other gods in the Indo-European religion and his association with different animals in later pagan religions.

The Sky Father is the most well attested of all the Indo-European gods and is central to our understanding of Proto-Indo-European religion.

This channel depends on your support:

Art:
Alex Cristi
Andrew Whyte
Christian Sloan Hall
Christopher Steininger
Johan Jernhed

Music in order:
theme song: Wolcensmen - Sunne
Altyn Tuu - Altai Tuva
Xuriuos - Steppe expansion
Elegiac - Ashwind interlude
Doug Maxwell - Bansure raga
Sjhof - path to the temple
Ormgård - Sjálfsforn
Stark Von Oben - Imperator
Halindir - Hedelandet II
Kevin McLeod - Dhaka
Myling - Töcken
Borg - The May queen enters the circle

Sources:
Dumezil, G., ‘Mythe et Épopée’ 1973
Lincoln, B., ‘THE INDO-EUROPEAN MYTH OF CREATION’ 1975
Matasović, R., ‘A Reader in Comparative Indo-European Religion’ 2010
Mylonas, G. E., ‘The Eagle of Zeus’ 1946
Puhvel, J., ‘Victimal Hierarchies in Indo-European Animal Sacrifice’: The American Journal of Philology , Autumn, 1978, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 354-362

00:00 Intro
01:34 Indo-Europeans and their beliefs
03:55 Comparative mythology
05:00 Linguistics
07:55 Identifying the sky father
11:15 Indo-European cosmogenesis
14:24 Celestial vs Terrestrial and Hieros Gamos
16:24 Sovereign gods
17:15 Zeus
18:34 Horse twins
19:49 Sacrificial beasts
22:28 Bulls
23:21 Eagles
24:52 Wolves
26:25 Conclusion

[dittbub]

"primordial cow"

i've been called worse.

[crypticknight]

I've always wondered where the concept of 'mother nature' comes from. Learning that she is the counterpart of a 'skyfather' makes so much sense. Thank you!

[randomperson]

Divine Father :

Vedic: Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́,
Greek: Zeus Patēr,
Illyrian : Dei-pátrous,
Roman : Jupiter (*Djous patēr),
Scythian : Papaios for Zeus,
Palaic : Tiyaz papaz.


Divine Twins :

Vedic : Divó nápātā (the Aśvins),
Lithuanian: Dievo sūneliai (the Ašvieniai), Latvian: the Dieva dēli,
Greek: the Diós-kouroi (Castor and Pollux)
Celtic: the "Dioskouroi”

Thunder god :
Indra (Vedic), Indra (Avestan), Inara (Hittite), Thor (Germanic ), Perun(Slavic), Perkunas(Lithuanian) - this is a cognate for Vedic Parjanya.

Goddess of Dawn :
Uṣas (Vedic), Eos (Greek), Aurora (Roman), Aushrine (Baltic), Auseklis (Latvian)

God of Rain :
Varuṇa (Vedic), Odinn/Wodan (Germanic), Ouranous (Greek)

[brunofelipe]

The way he combines culture-history-linguistics and religion is incredible.

[saimanslayys]

Funny how indra and zeus from hindu/greek mythology have the same story as well. Both lived in mountains(amravati/olympus) and fought the giant serpent vritra/typhon using vajra/lightning bolt.

[jurikurthambarskjelfir]

"Spread out and conquer, my sons."
"Yes, Sky-Father."

[louispellissier]

You forgot to mention that Myceaenic greeks worshipped a sky god called Diwo, which is closer to the PIE Dyaus than the later Zeus

[architsharma]

This explains why Cow (cattle) is sacred in Hinduism, the whole civilization is circled around it.

[mihanich]

Gigachad Skyfather: "Go and conquer as far as your eyes see"
Indo-european Chads: "yes, Skyfather".

[diarmuidsheehan]

As an Irishman, I love to see our ancient history and philology mentioned in your videos. It reminds me that all our myths are linked and are retellings of the same primordial Truth, which is the same if you're in India or Ireland 🇮🇪♥️

[anonymousinternetuserfawke]

I'm glad someone with enthusiasm for history and the origins of things is making programs like this. When the person who put together the work cares, it shows, and it's nice to see someone share that with others. In a sea of lowbrow mainstream shows that cover topics that would be a real stretch to consider history-related, this really stands out.

[PopTartNeko]

Etymologists in the next 3000 years be like:
> skedd
> skeded
> ske dedi
> sky daddy

[richb]

An interesting and well put together video. Would be interested in learning more about the Indo-Europen Wolf Cult. Cheers Tom.

[dan]

Probably the most high quality history channel on youtube.

[geminiblue]

"The sky impregnates the earth with rain, so she will bear crops". Very kinky..

[The_Gallowglass]

My father used to come down from the sky with his weapon of choice: the belt. Shit hurt.

[InsaneInsomniac]

When you mentioned how the Storm God became the first dragon slayer by using a hammer, my brain immediately connected it to how Thor fights and kills Jormungandr

[nemes]

One of the most important channels. Thank you for your work, Tom.

[tiffanyhendricks]

Reminds me of Tengrism, it may be more shamanistic than polytheistic, yet still a great admiration for the sky god.

[SuperMrMuster]

In Finnish, the Christian God is frequently referred to as "Taivaan Isä" which means father of heaven or father in the heavens. As you may or may not already know, Finnish language and culture contain many ancient Germanic, Pre-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European words and elements, so this may be significant. This all said, I cannot say how old this custom of calling god the father of heaven is. It might not be connected to the Indo-European custom.

Then again, in kalevalan folk poetry, one of the most common epithets of Ukko the Overgod is "Taatto taivahinen". Taatto is a very archaic word meaning father, and seems like it might be a loan from Proto-Germanic "attô". Taivahinen means "heavenly" or "sky-residing". The form of this word is archaic.