One of the popular trinity of Russian heroes was Dobrynya Nikitich. This character of the Russian folk epic was portrayed as a hero who serves under Prince Vladimir. Dobrynya's wife was the beautiful Nastasya, who was the daughter of Mikula Selyaninovich.
Prototype of Dobrynya Nikitich
We can trace an interesting moment. The fact is that it is the prince who usually gives Dobrynya various kinds of assignments: either to help out his niece, then to collect tribute and bring her to the court, he himself is also called to carry out assignments that other heroes refused. Thus, the closeness to the princely relatives of Dobrynya becomes obvious, who is sometimes called the prince himself, the nephew of Vladimir the Red Sun himself. The prototype of the hero in historical terms can be safely called the governor Dobrynya, who was the uncle and governor of Prince Vladimir, the brother of Malusha's mother. Dobrynya performs personal assignments, using not only strength, courage, but also diplomatic abilities, which speaks of his education and intelligence. What was Dobrynya Nikitich, we learn from epics, they often talk about his versatility, he is dexterous, swims well,shoots, and also owns musical instruments. Often he plays the harp, sings, plays tavlei.
Characteristics of Dobrynia
The description of Dobrynya Nikitich in epics is definite and clear. He has a courageous character and is endowed with strength unprecedented to ordinary people (only Ilya Muromets is stronger). A distinctive feature of Dobrynya from other heroes is his "knowledge", that is, diplomacy and tact.
Having analyzed what feats Dobrynya Nikitich performed in epics, some conclusions were made. Let's try to consider this character in more detail.
Death of Dobrynya Nikitich
In the stories, the hero Dobrynya Nikitich is closely connected with Ryazan. There is an island on the Oka river in the Shilovsky district, which is associated with the hero, and the Dobrynin barrow near the village. Shilovo. According to legends, on his island Dobrynya Nikitich carried service patrols, robbed merchants passing by, and transferred with axes with the hero Volodya, who was on duty on the island of Navels (we are talking more about Ilya Muromets). After a sad battle with the Tatars, Dobrynya was buried on his barrow. These events are mentioned in the annalistic story about the battle on the Kalka. Among the other dead there is the name of Dobrynia Ryazanich Zlatpoyas. Combat comrades-in-arms brought the body of the hero to their homeland and buried it in the town of Dubki, near the Para River. Shilovsky peasants, in turn, in the 20s of the last century unearthed a mound. As the peasants said, a belt with overlays, chain mail and a helmet were found in the barrow. Things were kept by local residents. According to legend, knowing what feats did Dobrynya Nikitich, the mother of the deceased with a conspiracylowered his sword into the river near the Shilovskaya church. It is time to remember all the merits of this hero.
What feats did Dobrynya Nikitich accomplish?
Approximately counting the number of epics, we will reach an approximate figure of 53, of these heroic stories Dobrynya became the main character in some of them. These are the feats that Dobrynya Nikitich accomplished.
Duel of Dobrynya with Ilya Muromets
The story of how the Russian hero Dobrynya Nikitich fought the strongest hero and found a friend in him. So, Dobrynya grew up, and the fame of his strength reached Ukraine, even to Ilya Muromets himself. Ilya decided to check whether the young man was really as strong as they say about him, and went to distant Ryazan. Dobrynya did not grow up in we alth, he lived in a simple hut. Upon arrival, Ilya did not find Dobrynya at home, and his mother tried to dissuade the hero from the fight, begging her not to harm her son. Ilya had already decided to go back, but he heard Dobrynya's praises on the street and offered to fight. In the first duel, a draw, in the second duel, the sabers fell into disrepair, but the forces were equal. The third fight decided everything. The heroes went knee-deep into the ground, Ilya's leg trembled, then his hand, and then Dobrynya ended up on his chest. Dobrynya Nikitich, thus, met Ilya Muromets, did not harm him and became a friend. Ilya offered a new comrade a service with Prince Vladimir.
The story of Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent
In most versions of this epic, Dobrynya not only fights with the Serpent, but also frees the prince's niece from captivityVladimir Zabava Putyatichna.
The story begins with the words of mother Dobrynya, who warns her son about the dangers of the Sorochinsky mountain, about the ferocity of the Puchay River, the first jet cuts like fire, the second like a spark, and the third fire with smoke. The point is that there are Russian people in captivity. Dobrynya disobeyed his mother and nevertheless went to save the Russian people. On the mountain, he killed the serpents, swam across the river, but a snake with twelve heads appeared from behind the mountain. And the hero realized that either death or captivity were prepared. Dobrynya Nikitich's weapon, as luck would have it, was not with him. What to do in such a situation? Dobrynya Nikitich's horse is far from him, there is no one to come to the rescue. The good fellow was already thinking about his death. He saw a three-pound Greek cap nearby, swung it at a snake, knocked him down, wanted to chop his head, but the monster begged, promised not to take more Christians prisoner, and also promised to become a sister for the hero. Dobrynya took pity on the snake and let it go. When he returned to the princely court, he learned the sad news that the snake had kidnapped Vladimir's niece-Zabava Putyatishna. Vladimir ordered Dobrynya to return his nephew to the court, and if Dobrynya cannot cope with the task, he will lose his head. The frustrated Dobrynya went home to his mother. She reassured him, saying that the morning is wiser than the evening. He took his father’s horse Dobrynya and went to Mount Sorachinskaya, his mother gave him Shamakhin’s whip on the road and said, if the horse does not trample the cubs of snakes, so that Dobrynya utters the cherished words “Burushko you, horse, jump, And shake the snake off your feet and shake it off!”. So did Dobrynya, everyonekilled the serpents, saved the Russian people from captivity. The snake monster appeared again, for the fact that the oath was not kept, the battle for life and death began. The battle went on for three days and another three hours, blood flowed for days, the earth barely absorbed this blood. After the victory, all the captives were released from the caves, including Zabava Putyatichna. Dobrynya put the young woman on a horse and took her to the court. The girl wanted to thank the young man for the salvation and offered him her love, but he refused, because she was of a noble family, and he was a simple guy. And so ended the feat of Dobrynya.
Dobrynya and Marinka
Dobrynya served with the prince for nine years, in the tenth year he decided to take a walk around the city, shoot a bow. So he saw pigeons that were having fun on the window near a beautiful house, he shot, but missed. The window broke. Marinka lived in that tower with the Serpent Gorynych. She bewitched Dobrynya and he himself came to her house. Marinka wrapped Dobrynya into an animal. Nobody heard from him for six months. Once, at the prince's evening, Marinka began to boast that she turns good fellows into animals. Dobrynushka's mother burst into tears, turned to the gossip Annushka, she herself heard the words of boasting. Annushka pounced on Marinka, scolded her, inflicted injuries, and then Marinka turned into a dove and flew away. She flew to Dobrynya, sat on her shoulder and asked for permission to take her as a wife. Dobrynya agreed on the condition that he would give her a lesson as his wife. She turned him again into a good young man and turned into a girl herself. They got married in an open field, returned to the tower to her. There is no icon in her house nor a candledivine, so let her Dobrynya teach prayers. Then the weapon of Dobrynya Nikitich was used. He cut off Marina's hand, because that Zmeya Gorynycha hugged her, then cut off her legs, because she approached him on them, then her nose and lips, because she spoke to him and kissed them. And so the end of the sorceress came.
Dobrynya and Nastasya
Dobrynya served at the outpost, the girl walked past the outpost, mocked the heroes, Dobrynya could not stand the ridicule and challenged him to battle. They fought for three days, without bloodshed, the girl overcame the hero, put him in a leather bag, but the horse of two strong people could not stand it. Then the girl began to ask the prisoner. She promised him that if he was old, she would become his daughter, and if he was his equal, then his wife. She rescued Dobrynya, he promised to take her as his wife in 3 years. And so it happened. After the wedding, a state matter forced him to leave the house.
Dobrynya and Alyosha
Dobrynya was not at home for 12 years. Alyosha Popovich began to visit Nastya, told her that he had seen Dobrynya dead, and offered the girl to marry him. The wedding was noisy. A buffoon came to the court, he was allowed to celebrate. He played the harp so beautifully that the people wept with pleasure. Then Nastasya offered a glass of wine to a buffoon, he drank it and left a nominal ring in the glass. Nastasya burst into tears and declared that her husband was not sitting next to her, but was playing the harp. So Alyosha Popovich was left without Nastenka, and Dobrynya until old age with a beautiful wife. Here are the feats that Dobrynya Nikitich accomplished, based on the Russiansepics. Perhaps now these exploits seem ridiculous, but then people believed in evil spirits, in witches and monsters, and therefore only a real hero, endowed with courage, courage, ingenuity and the magical power of mother nature, could defeat them.
The folklore is interesting because all the stories were composed by ordinary people, all emotions came from the heart, thanks to which the characters turned out to be colorful, unusual and at the same time very wise. Despite the fact that the stories are old, invented by ordinary people, they have been preserved in history for a long time and have come down to our days. Even in modern society, epic stories about heroes are still popular, they got a second wind, cartoons and fairy tales were shot on their basis.
