Vərəθraγna
/vəɾəθɾaɣna/noun
An ancient Iranian deity of victory, courage, and martial power, especially in Zoroastrian tradition.
Did you know?Vərəθraγna was associated with ten manifestations, including a raging boar, a golden-horned bull, a powerful horse, and a warrior carrying a sword.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Iranian
PII
*vr̥tragʰna
“Destroyer or smiter of resistance; a title of martial victory”
Vedic period
Sanskrit
Vṛtrahan
“Slayer of Vṛtra, the serpent-like being who obstructed the cosmic waters; an epithet of Indra”
Avestan period
Avestan
Vərəθraγna
“A divinity embodying victory and the power to overcome opposition”
Achaemenid period
Old Persian
*Vṛtragna
“The Iranian victory deity, reconstructed from related Iranian forms”
Sasanian period
Middle Persian
Wahrām
“The transformed name of the victory god, associated with military triumph”
Modern English
English
Verethragna
“A scholarly English rendering of the ancient Avestan deity's name”