Everyone has heard of such an epic hero Ilya Muromets. But not everyone knows about his difficult fate, his exploits.
Who are Russian heroes
The very word "hero" was first mentioned in the annals of Russia already in the 7th century and replaced the previously used word "horobr", which means "daring fellow". This word has its roots in the ancient Turkic language, and comes from the root "batyr" (brave, strong).
At that time, Russian brave warriors were constantly fighting with nomads on the eastern border of Kievan Rus, it was their people who began to call heroes.
The main differences between heroes and ordinary warriors are: incommensurable love for the Motherland, fidelity to duty, exorbitant strength and readiness to rush into battle every second in the name of the fatherland, weak, offended people and their honor.
In the picture below, the magnificent Russian artist Vasnetsov depicts three of the most famous heroes in the history of Russia. From left to right: Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich.
Who is Ilya Muromets
But the most famous and most revered hero in Russia was Ilya Muromets. He is remembered not by his words, but by his brave deeds. The exploits of Ilya Muromets are described in enoughfabulous form. However, it is worth noting that each of his magical opponents (the Nightingale the Robber, Poganoe Idolishche) personified a specific nomadic people (Pechenegs, Polovtsy), with whom Kievan Rus was at war at the time of writing the epics. In those days, these epics were absolutely understandable for the people of that time "war chronicles".
The description of Ilya Muromets in epics pays more attention to his character, hardened in many difficult battles and formed thanks to a difficult fate, however, little is said about his appearance.
The relics of the great Russian hero, who is also a saint, rest in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Judging by the research, Ilya was approximately 180 cm tall. For those times, he was just a huge man, besides, he had a powerful physique.
The photo below shows a shrine with the relics of St. Ilya of Muromets (Pechersky).
The difficult life of Ilya Muromets
Ilya was born in the village of Karacharovo near the city of Murom, in the Vladimir region, which is why he is called Muromets. His father and mother were simple peasants, they worked tirelessly in the field. However, their son was born with physical disabilities and could not move his arms and legs at all, but could only sit on the stove.
Until the age of 33, the hero was weak, however, his character became incredibly strong, firm and calm from this. Often, a miracle plays an important role in the life of the main characters of the world epic. All the most significant moments in fate are wonderful, whether it is a magical birth,healing, the acquisition of immortality or power. Ilya Muromets is no exception. The epic about miraculous healing confirms this, now let's talk about it.
By the way, it was at the age of 33 that Jesus Christ was crucified and then resurrected.
The photo below: the hero Ilya Muromets on his horse, whose name was Burushka-Kosmatushka, performed by the artist Vasnetsov.
Miraculous healing
The healing of Ilya Muromets is truly fabulous. Once, when the parents were working in the field, the Kaliki elders came to Ilya's house. The publications of the Soviet era do not say exactly who they were. However, in the copies of the epic that were published before the revolution, it is said that Jesus Christ and his two apostles were Kaliki.
So, the Kaliki came to Ilya's house. They immediately ask him to bring them water. To this, Muromets replies that he is weak, cannot move his legs and arms. After all, the main occupation of Ilya Muromets over the past 30 years is to lie in bed.
The picture, drawn by Andrey Klimenko, depicts Ilya Muromets in weakness.
Then the elders, despite his words, again ask to bring water for them. Ilya is not one of the weak-minded people, for many years of illness his character became truly amazing, he sincerely desired to bring water to the Kalikas, put his feet on the floor and immediately felt that they were holding him!
Incredible strength came to the poor and weak cripple, Ilya Muromets became he althy! The epic continues, the hero gets up, goes to the container with water, fills the fulla glass and brings it to the elders. However, they ask him to drink the water himself. The water turns out to be holy, healing, and Ilya is completely cured. When he drinks the same water for the second time, Muromets feels an absolutely unimaginable power, and he even has to drink one more time to reduce such a huge power.
Since the healing of Ilya Muromets is a truly miraculous event, the hero must thank the elders for the gift. Kaliki send him to the service of Prince Vladimir and predict that Ilya will be the greatest hero and will not die in battle from an enemy bullet or spear. And the main occupation of Ilya Muromets from now on is military affairs and the defense of the motherland. They say that he will have to fight with many heroes, but he should not fight with Svyatogor, since Svyatogor is too strong.
How Ilya Muromets got armor and a horse
Then the elders tell Ilya that on the way to Kyiv he will meet a heavy stone with an inscription. Muromets listens attentively. And then he gets ready, says goodbye to his happy parents and moves forward on foot to the "city of Kyiv". Along the way, he really stumbles upon a huge stone that says:
Elei, Elijah, steal the stone from the immovable place, There is a heroic horse for you, With all the armor and heroic ones.
There is a fur coat sable, There is some silk whip, There is some damask club"
With the help of a newfound power, he moves it from its place, and under the stone finds equipment, and then the horse runs up to him. Ilya asked him to serve the hero by faith -In response, the horse offers Ilya a kind of test, but as soon as Muromets saddles the horse, the need for the test disappears, the horse fully recognizes the Russian hero as its eternal owner.
However, there is another version. It says that the elders gave him advice on how to raise their stallion, which is ideal for a hero. To do this, it was necessary to go to the market without choosing, buy the first one that came across, take care of it for three months, and then walk through the fresh dew for three nights.
How Ilya Muromets defeated the Nightingale the Robber
After Ilya visited the church for the last time in his hometown of Murom, he sets off on his journey all the way to Kyiv. On the way, he accomplishes his first feat: he saves the captured Chernigov from the nomads. The townspeople offer him to become a governor, but he refuses, because he needs to get to Kyiv. He asks the locals for directions.
The townspeople tell him a terrible story that no one has been driving along the road for many years, that he lives next to the Currant River in a damp oak Nightingale the Robber. And he screams and whistles so that he simply kills everyone who gets in his way. But the hero Ilya Muromets is not afraid of the Nightingale and goes to that very river.
The nightingale the robber saw a brave hero, shouted: "What kind of ignoramus is driving here, past my reserved oaks?", and whistled, growled like an animal. Already Elijah's horse stumbled on the spot from the whirlwind that the Nightingale created.
But Ilya resisted, took out his heroic bow and launched a red-hot arrow at the unfit adversary, saying:
"You whistle, my red-hot arrow, Get you into the Nightingale the Robber!"
And it really hits! The Nightingale rolls from the oak, and Ilya grabs him, ties him to his saddle and takes the captive scoundrel to Kyiv, Prince Vladimir.
But Vladimir does not believe that someone finally killed the Nightingale the Robber, and when he brings the wounded villain Ilya to the prince, he asks him to whistle at half strength. And the Nightingale whistles! From his piercing screams, many people immediately died. Then Ilya decides to take him to the field and cut off the Nightingale's head so that he does not bring more trouble.
By the way, the description of Ilya Muromets, his actions during this battle and the course of the battle itself has not yet been clarified, since there are more than 100 options for describing what happened.
Below we see Chistyakov's illustration on the theme of this epic:
How Ilya met Svyatogor
Interestingly, all the exploits of Ilya Muromets and the events in his life cannot be arranged in chronological order. The bylina about how Muromets met Svyatogor starts like this: "How not far, far away in pure poly, Here the chicken rose." We cannot determine the exact date or place.
Once Ilya went to the Holy Mountains, just in the possessions of Svyatogor. And he sees a marvelous picture: the mighty hero is sleeping right on the go, sitting on a horse, and this is Svyatogor himself! Our Ilya Muromets does not lose the chance to strike a fatal blow and defeat the hero. Bylina reports, however, that Svyatogor continued to sleep peacefully on horseback. Ilya got angrystruck a second time, and then a third. And only then the mighty hero woke up. He grabbed Muromets with one of his hands, put it in his pocket and began to carry through the forest for two days.
But Svyatogor's horse tells him that it's hard for him to carry as many as two heroes, the horse stumbles. The mighty hero decides to go home with his burden. There, two heroes talk about life. The good qualities of Ilya Muromets and his honesty inspire confidence in Svyatogor. Two heroes decided to fraternize. They exchanged their crosses and are now cross brothers.
Bottom illustration by Kotukhina, Ilya Muromets on the left, Svyatogor on the right.
All day long they travel through the Holy Mountains, but one day they see a wondrous wonder: right in the middle of the field there is a huge white coffin. The knights are wondering for whom this wonderful coffin was made. And then Ilya Muromets decides to lie down in it and check if the coffin will suit him. It turns out to be too big for him. Then Svyatogor lies down in this coffin. Lid closes.
After a couple of minutes, the mighty hero asks his cross brother to open the lid, but it does not give in. Illya draws his sword and starts trying to cut open the coffin lid, but to no avail. Then Svyatogor realizes that it is his turn to die.
When Svyatogor dies, part of his strength passes to Ilya Muromets, which makes him even more he althy and powerful.
How Ilya Muromets defeated the filthy Idolishche
Somehow a huge Tatar army led by Idolishch Pogany approached Kiev! Idolishcheappeared to the Prince of Kyiv himself, but Vladimir is frightened and invites the adversary to his feast. The enemy takes advantage of the opportunity and superiority in strength, imprisoning the prince of Kyiv and having fun in the palaces of the prince.
The main occupation of Ilya Muromets is the protection of Vladimir and Russia, so he immediately leaves for Kyiv. Along the way, he meets an old traveler and changes his clothes for his own. Now the hero looks like a real pilgrim. He comes to the palace, becomes a participant in the feast, starts a conversation with the Idol.
Idolishche asks the disguised bogatyr: "Do Russian bogatyrs drink and eat a lot?" To which Ilya replies that Tatar warriors eat and drink more. Idolishche mocks the glorious Russian knights. Then the disguised Muromets intervenes in the conversation and says that the Tatars are like cows who ate a lot and burst from greed.
Idolishche rushes at the "old man" with a knife, but at that moment Ilya throws off the mantle of the pilgrim, grabs Idolishche with one hand right on the fly and cuts off the enemy's head. Then he goes out into the yard and cracks down on all the Tatars with the help of only a stick and rescues Prince Vladimir from imprisonment.
Ilya Muromets and Kalin-Tsar
Once Prince Vladimir was very angry and put Ilya Muromets for three years in the deepest cellar, chained him up. However, the prince's daughter secretly makes fake keys and supplies the imprisoned hero with hearty food and warm clothes.
At the same time, Kalin-tsar is going with his huge army to Kyiv. He threatens to destroy the city, burn everythingchurches and cut out all the townspeople along with the princely family. To prevent this from happening, the prince must clear all the streets of people, place barrels of hops everywhere and let the Tatar army into the city for entertainment. Prince Vladimir asks Tsar Kalina for exactly three years to fulfill the requirements.
And now the time is coming. Kalin-tsar and his huge army are right on the threshold of Kyiv! Vladimir is in deep sadness because he himself killed his defender Ilya Muromets, now there is no one to stand up for Kyiv-grad! However, the daughter, who has been supplying Ilya with provisions all these years, says that her beloved warrior Ilya Muromets is still alive. The epic does not end there.
Ilya, inspired by his release from prison, puts on armor, mounts a horse and rides alone to fight the Tatar army in an open field, he asked other Russian heroes to help him, but they all refused, saying that they did not see the prince Kiev is no good and will not help him.
And, of course, one in the field is not a warrior! Ilya killed most of the Tatar army, but he could not cope alone. And then he falls into a trap, not listening to his horse. The horse told him that there were three tunnels in the field, the horse would jump over the first two, but not over the third. Thanks to his own self-confidence, Ilya is captured by the Kalin Tsar.
Kalin-Tsar offers the hero to serve with him, but Ilya, proud and faithful to his homeland, refuses. He comes out of the tent of the king, but the Tatars try to detain him and again shackle him, then he grabs one of them by the legs and, swinging the Tatar like a club,breaks through the entire army.
When Ilya whistles, his horse Burushka-Kosmatushka comes running to him, he drives up the highest mountain and shoots in the direction of Father Samson Samoylovich. He wakes up from a slight scratch, understands that this is news from Muromets, and immediately orders all the heroes to saddle their horses and go to the rescue of the hero Ilya.
All together they disperse the army of the Tatars, take Kalin the Tsar prisoner, and force him to pay a large tribute to the Kyiv prince.
Ilya Muromets and the Capturing Bogatyr
Once the hero Ilya Muromets decided to take a walk around Russia, to check all the borders. Ilya rode, rode, rode, and then he saw a dusty cloud far, far away. Ilya Muromets jumps there to check what kind of marvelous thing is going on there! And he sees that on the Russian land the foreign hero is having fun.
Two heroes met, they started talking about which heroes are he althier and stronger. A strange hero began to praise himself, but to offend our Muromets. Then the Russian hero got angry, took out his heroic sword and rushed at his offender!
Strong was someone else's hero, three days and three nights they fought on an equal footing and tirelessly. But on the third day, the foreigner began to get tired, and then Ilya grabbed him, lifted him above the ground with his two strong hands, and then simply smashed him to the ground!
The picture below is by Shitikov.
Memory of the great hero
Like all of us, the hero Ilya Muromets is mortal. About 40 years old, he felt that he was becoming weak, went to the monastery,I prayed for days and hardly slept. And so he ended his military life, and at the age of about 45 he departed to another world, to the Kingdom of Heaven. In 1643, he was canonized as a saint, and since then, on January 1, the Russian Church has been commemorating him.
The main occupation of Ilya Muromets throughout his life is military affairs, but Ilya, the only Russian hero, was born into a peasant family. He combines the image of a simple Russian peasant, the greatest warrior and protector, a mythological hero and even a saint!
