Verethragna
/vərəθraɣna/noun
An Avestan divinity of victory, associated with martial power and the defeat of obstacles.
Did you know?Verethragna could appear in ten different forms—including a wild boar, a bull, a horse, and a crowned warrior—revealing a uniquely shape-shifting image of divine victory.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Iranian
PII
*wr̥tráhan-
“Slayer of Vṛtra; an epithet of the victorious divine warrior”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Vṛtrahan
“Vṛtra-slayer, a celebrated epithet of the god Indra”
Ancient Iranian
Proto-Iranian
*warθragna-
“Victory and the power that overcomes opposition”
Avestan period
Avestan
vərəθraγna
“A deity embodying victory, triumph, and the destruction of resistance”
Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Wahrām
“The name of the Iranian victory deity, later associated with the planet Mars”
Modern English
English
Verethragna
“A scholarly transliteration of the Avestan god of victory”