Dobrynya Nikitich

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Dobrynya Nikitich

Dobrynya Nikitich is a bogatyr

Bogatyr

The 'bogatyr' or 'vityaz' was a medieval heroic warrior of Kievan Rus', akin to Western European knight errant.An early usage of the word bogatyr was recorded in Sernitskiy's book "Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova," printed in 1585 in an unknown location, in which he says, "Rossi? de...
medieval Knight

Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
of Kiev Rus. He is one of the three figures represented together in Viktor Vasnetsov

Viktor Vasnetsov

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythology and history subjects. He is considered a key figure of the Russian Revival movement in Russian art....
's famous painting Bogatyr
Bogatyr

The 'bogatyr' or 'vityaz' was a medieval heroic warrior of Kievan Rus', akin to Western European knight errant.An early usage of the word bogatyr was recorded in Sernitskiy's book "Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova," printed in 1585 in an unknown location, in which he says, "Rossi? de...
s, alongside Alyosha Popovich

Alyosha Popovich

Alyosha Popovich , alongside Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets, is a bogatyr . He is the youngest of the 3 main bogatyrs of Kiev Rus.The three of them are represented together at Vasnetsov's famous painting Bogatyrs....
and Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets is a Kievan Rus' Slavic mythology hero. He is celebrated in numerous bylina . Along with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich he is regarded as the greatest of all the legendary bogatyrs ....
.

Dobrynya is depicted in Byliny

Byliny

Byliny may refer to:*Byliny, plural of bylina, a traditional East-Slavic narrative poem*Byliny, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship ...
(oral tradition) as a dragonslayer

Princess and dragon

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Dobrynya Nikitich is a bogatyr

Bogatyr

Knight

Viktor Vasnetsov

Alyosha Popovich

Ilya Muromets

Byliny

Byliny may refer to:*Byliny, plural of bylina, a traditional East-Slavic narrative poem*Byliny, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship ...
(oral tradition) as a dragonslayer

Princess and dragon

Princess and dragon is a generic premise common to many legends and fairy tales. It is not a fairy tale itself, but along with Prince Charming, is a repeated clich?....
(killing the dragon Gorynich) who wins by bravery. He seems to be a representative of the noble class of warriors. Dobrynya is a musician, chess player, archer, and wrestler. He is known for his special knowledge and courtesy.

Historians believe that this personage evolved from the real Slavic

Slavic peoples

The Slavic Peoples are a linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans....
warlord Dobrynya

Dobrynya

Dobrynya was Vladimir the Great's maternal uncle and tutor who was later transformed into the invincible bogatyr Dobrynya Nikitich in the Bylina....
, who led the armies of Svyatoslav the Great and tutored his son Vladimir the Fair Sun.

Dobrynya and the Dragon

The bylina begins with Dobrynya's mother telling the hero not to go to the Saracen

Saracen

Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first, then later for all who professed the religion of Islam....
Mountains, not to trample baby dragons, not to rescue Russian captives, and not to bathe in the Puchai River. Dobrynya disobeys his mother and does all of these things.

When he is bathing in the Puchai River, the dragon appears. Dobrynya has nothing to defend himself, and thinks he is going to die. Dobrynya then discovers "a hat of the Greek land" and uses it to defeat the dragon.

The dragon pleas for Dobrynya not to kill him and the two make a nonaggression pact. Once the pact is made, the dragon flies away and captures the niece of Prince Volodymir

Vladimir I of Kiev

Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymyr Old East Slavic: ?????????? ???????????? was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 987, and proceeded to baptism of Kiev....
, Zabava Potyatichna.

When Dobrynya arrives at Kiev

Kiev

Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
, Prince Vladimir tells Dobrynya to rescue his niece. Dobrynya makes it to the Saracen Mountains with the help of a magic whip given to him by his mother, and begins to fight the dragon.

Dobrynya fought the dragon for three days. On the third day of the bloody battle, Dobrynya feels like giving up and riding away, but a voice from heaven tells him to stay and fight for three more hours. After the three hours Dobrynya kills the dragon.

When he killed the dragon, the blood did not soak into the ground, and Dobrynya and his horse were stuck in the blood for three days. A voice from heaven told the hero to stick his spear into the ground and say an incantation. The blood was then swallowed by the earth and Dobrynya rescued Zabava.

Since Dobrynya is a peasant, he cannot marry Zabava and gives her to Alyosha Popovich. Dobrynya encounters a polyanitsa, Nastasia, and marries her instead.

Dobrynya Nikitich

Dobrynya and the Dragon

See also