Ilya Muromets
For the Russian bomber "Ilya Muromets", see Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. Ilya Muromets (Elijah of
Murom,
Russian: Илья Муромец) is a
Russian mythical hero. He is celebrated in numerous
byliny (folk
epic poems). Along with
Dobrynya Nikitich and
Alyosha Popovich he is regarded as the greatest of all the legendary
bogatyrs (i.e.,
medieval Russian
knights-errant). (The three of them are represented together at Vasnetsov's famous painting
Bogatyrs.)
According to legends, Ilya, the son of a farmer, was born in the village of Karacharovo, near
Murom. He suffered serious illness in his youth and was unable to walk until the age of 33, when he was miraculously healed by two pilgrims. He was then given super-human strength by a dying knight,
Svyatogor, and set out to liberate the city of
Kiev from
Idolishche to serve Prince
Vladimir the Beautiful Sun (
Vladimir Krasnoye Solnyshko). Along the way he single-handedly defended the city of
Chernigov from invasion by the
Tatars and was offered knighthood by the local ruler, but Ilya declined to stay. In the forests of
Bryansk he then killed the forest-dwelling monster
Solovey-Razboynik, (literally
Nightingale the Robber), who could murder travellers with his powerful whistle.
In Kiev, Ilya was made chief
bogatyr by Prince Vladimir and he defended
Rus from numerous attacks by the steppe people, including
Kalin, the (mythical)
tsar of
Golden Horde. Generous and simple-minded but also temperamental, Ilya once went on a rampage and destroyed all the church steeples in Kiev after Prince Vladimir had failed to invite him to a celebration. He was soon appeased when Vladimir sent for him.
He became the only epic hero
canonized by the
Russian Orthodox Church.
Ilya Muromets's name became a synonym of an outstanding physical and spiritual power and integrity, dedicated to the protection of the Homeland and People and over time has become a hero of numerous movies, pictures, monuments, cartoons and anecdotes.
*
Viktor Vasnetsov's
1898 painting
Bogatyrs (center figure).
* Ilya Muromets is depicted on the 1913 Russian stamp.
* Viktor Vasnetsov's
1914 painting
Ilya Muromets.
*
Aleksandr Ptushko's
1956 film
Ilya Muromets.
*
Encyclopedia Mythica*
Russian Fairy Tales*
The evolution of Christianity*
Pictures of Muromets (in Russian)
