Chur (pseudo-deity)

Chur (Russian: Чур) is a Slavic pseudo-deity speculated in 19th century to exist in Slavic mythology.

Leonard Arthur Magnus wrote that this god was reconstructed into the Slavic pantheon as a God of Boundaries, although some researchers, such as Ivan Sakharov, deny the existence of any positive knowledge about Chur.^[1] In particular, Vasily Klyuchevsky assumed the existence of such a household deity, judging from the traces remained in the language, and compared Chur with ancient Roman deity Terminus.^[2]

The Brockhaus and Efron Lesser Encyclopedic Dictionary gave the following definition: "Chur, in Slavic mythology, a deity of boundary marks, who patronized acquisition and profit. Symbol: чурки (churki) and чурбаны (churbany),^[a] that is, boundary marks."^[3]

In Russian language "chur" is preserved in a number of expressions. Magnus wrote that an expression "chur menya ot nego" (let's have no more of him" was used to stop an unpleasant conversation.^[1] In modern Russian the exclamation "Chur menya!" is used as a spell against something unpleasant; the verb "churatsya" means "to shun", "Чур, моё!" is akin to "Finders keepers!", etc.

Max Vasmer in his Etymological Dictionary reports doubts expressed by other Slavists (Stanisław Rożniecki [sv] and Aleksander Brückner) and marks as doubtful various etymological origins and associations.^[4]