This is a place to celebrate these mighty mythical Russian folk heroes. As a child I grew up with tales of St George & the Dragon , King Arthur & his knights , Beowulf and a host of sundry crusaders and chivalrous heroes. In recent years I became acquainted with the Russian versions. Here is a good summary from Wikipedia., copied under these conditions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License The Bogatyr (from baghatur , an old Altaic term for warrior , a military commander , or an epic hero) or vityaz (Russian : витязь, a valiant warrior) was a medieval heroic warrior or knight-errant - a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. "Errant" meaning wandering or roving , indicates how a knight-errant would typically wander the land in search of adventures to prove himself as a knight . Many knights-errant fit the ideal of the "knight in shining armour". A knight-errant performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. Such a knight might well be outside the structure of feudalism , wandering solely to perform noble exploits (and perhaps find a lord to give his service to), but might also be in service to a king or lord , travelling either in pursuit of a specific duty that his overlord charged him with, or to put down evildoers in general. This quest sends a knight on adventures much like the ones of a kinight in search of them. Bylinas prominently feature stories about these heroes. Each bogatyr tends to be known for a certain character trait: Alyosha Popovich for his wits, Dobrynya Nikitich for his courage, and Ilya Muromets for his physical and spiritual power and integrity, and for his dedication to the protection of his homeland and people.  A modern day Bogatyr , Vasily Ginko , seven time world champion in the murderous long cycle kettlebell lifting competition event, demonstrates his weapons skill side in this routine, juggling a kettlebell whilst wearing traditional costume. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=-mNBqQjbDBQ                         Bogatyr Shrine of Remembrance |
Bogatyrs |
