The Adventure of Pinocchio or Golden. Alexei Tolstoy - the golden key, or the adventures of Pinocchio

Our ancestors of the 16th - early 19th centuries. had no doubt that Ilya Muromets- a real person, a warrior who served the Kyiv prince.

But if Ilya Muromets is a historical figure, then why is he not mentioned in any annals? There may be several reasons for this.

First of all, not many written sources of those years have come down to us. And this is not surprising. Tatars constantly raided Russian land and burned cities. Once, during a fire, books from the library of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra burned down.

Secondly, Ilya was from a simple peasant family. At that time, the permanent army of the prince - his squad, was recruited from noble people. The outrageous precedent of the dizzying rise of a simple peasant could not leave indifferent the noble boyars and the princes of the golden age of Kievan Rus who relied on him.

Therefore, the name of the national hero was erased from the pages of history. But it was impossible to erase him from the good memory of a grateful people.

After his death, Ilya was buried in the limit of the main temple of Kievan Rus - Sophia of Kyiv. There was a grand ducal tomb, in which not all princes were buried. And Ilya Muromets was awarded such an honor by his worldly deeds. The boyars could not even dream of such indulgence.

Perhaps it was for this reason that later the tomb of Ilya Muromets was destroyed during the raid, and the tomb of his comrade - Dobrynya Nikitich, the son of the Drevlyan prince Mala, miraculously survived.

The ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II mentions this in his diaries. Erich Lasota, which from May 7 to May 9, 1594 was a passage in Kyiv.

At that time, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra took care of the relics of the hero. There, in the Near Caves, his body rests to this day.

No. 2 Ilya Muromets is a hero not only of the Russian epic

Although the Russian chronicles do not mention the name of the most famous hero of Russian epics, he is the main character in one of the German epic poems of the 13th century, based on earlier legends.

It speaks of him as a mighty knight, and they call him Ilya Russian.

#3 Giant

No. 4 Descendants of Gushchina

Now the village of Karacharovo has become part of the modern city of Murom. On the site of the house of Ilya Muromets, there is a new house with a sign, they say, the people's favorite and hero of epics, Ilya Muromets, lived on this place. The residents of this house claim that they are descendants of the hero. From generation to generation they collect all the information about their famous ancestor. After recreating the portrait of Ilya Muromets, they showed a photograph of their great-grandfather. The resemblance is indeed observed.

They say that the phenomenal strength of the hero was inherited by his distant descendants - the family of the Karacharov villagers Gushchins, who, like their great ancestor, could well move a load in the last century that was beyond the power of a horse.

#5 "Sydnam sat on the stove for thirty years and three years..."

From the legends, we know that Ilya could not walk until the age of 33.

Such a story was spread among the people. As if the grandfather of the future Russian hero Ilya Muromets was real pagan and refused to accept Christianity. Once he took an ax and cut an Orthodox icon. Since then a curse fell on his family. All boys were to be born crippled.

And after 10 years, a grandson was born who had paralysis of the legs. But he did not despair, but developed the rest of the body. For 33 years he could not even take a step on the ground. Once they entered the house kaliks passable» - traditional healers. They healed the hero with the help of charmed water. This is evidenced by the legends of antiquity deep.

But the most interesting thing is that after studying the relics of Ilya Muromets, anatomists found in the lumbar rachiocampsis to the right and pronounced additional processes on the vertebrae. This means that this person really could not walk for a long time due to pinched nerves in the spinal cord.

#6 Age

Scientists are still arguing about the date of birth and date of death of the hero, but it was possible to determine from the remains that the hero lived for 45-50 years. For that time he was old man.

#7 First body exploration

For the first time, the body of Ilya Muromets was examined by Soviet scientists in 1963. At that atheistic time, scientists wrote in their conclusion that the body belongs to a person Mongoloid race, and the wounds imitated Lavra monks.

Meanwhile, the Mongoloid facial features of the Russian knight are also noted by modern scientists.

No. 8 Straight path

Remember the beginning of the epic tales about Ilya Muromets? " Whether from that city from Murom, from that village from Karacharov ...» It would seem that everything is clear. Here is the city of Murom. The village of Karacharovo is now part of this city, although it has retained its name. But there were doubts about the place of birth of the Russian knight in the last century, and there are now.

The name of the epic hero was also known on Chernihiv region. There are the years Karachev and Moroviysk, whose names are consonant with the village of Karacharov and the city of Murom.

But if you look at an ordinary geographical map, Moroviysk and Karachev are separated by hundreds of kilometers. And talking about the "Morovian village of Karachev" is somehow strange. But if you mark Murom, Karachev, Chernigov, Moroviysk and Kyiv on the map, then you can draw one line. Here is the famous "straight path".

It is on it that Ilya travels to Kyiv, passing " through those forests, Brynsky, through the Smorodinnaya River”, through the village of Nine Oaks, not far from Karachev. All settlements have retained their former names and still exist. Even the Smorodinnaya River flows there to this day.

In addition, the most famous feat of a hero is a fight with a bandit. Nightingale the robber. As you know, the robber controlled the direct road to the capital of Russia, Kyiv, and did not let him pass quietly. neither mounted nor on foot". Around 1168, Ilya arrived in Kyiv. At that time, he sat on the throne Prince Mstislav, who ordered to organize the protection of trade caravans going to the capital, which were constantly plundered by the Polovtsians. Probably, the prince of Kyiv entrusted this to his hero Ilya Muromets, who was in the prince's squad.

The nightingale was a robber who hunted for raids and thefts on the road, and the nickname, as one might assume, stuck to him for his ability to whistle loudly. Ilya Muromets defeated the robber in a duel and freed the “straight road”. This event, no doubt, was not only of great economic importance for the principality, but also made the life of ordinary people calmer.

The liberation of the straight road from the robbers did not go unnoticed and was equated by the people with a real feat.

#9 Mystery of death

The fact of the presence of the revered relics of the famous hero was also reflected in the epic texts themselves. So interesting is the end of the epic " Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar» performed by the narrator Shchegolenkova: "from these Tatars and from filthy ones, his horse was petrified and heroic, and relics and saints became, and from the old Cossack Ilya Muromets." Everyone remembers from childhood that passerby Kaliki prophesied to the famous hero that “ death in battle is not written for him". Therefore, in epics and fairy tales, the death of a hero is told differently: either he turns to stone alone, or with other heroes; then the living lies in the coffin and remains there forever; then, together with Dobrynya, he sails away somewhere on the Falcon Ship, and since then there has been no news about him.

At this point in time official sources they say that the hero Ilya Muromets was born between 1150 and 1165. And he died, as scientists suggest, during the capture of Kyiv by the army of Prince Rurik Rostislavich in 1204, when the famous Pechersk Lavra was destroyed and plundered by the Cumans, allied with Rurik. Death came from a blow to the chest with a sharp weapon (sword or spear).

#10 Saint

There is a legend about why Ilya decided to become a monk. In another very fierce battle, the hero was badly wounded and almost killed, but miraculously survived. In that battle he vowed never to lift a sword again, settle in a monastery and devote himself to the service of God. Ilya Muromets approached the walls of the Lavra and threw off all his armor. However, he could not throw the sword to the ground.

So he became a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. He spent the rest of his life in a cell in constant prayer.

The Russian hero left behind not only imperishable memory. The body of Ilya, like the remains of other monks who are buried in the caves of the Pechersk Lavra, is incorruptible. But, unlike the remains of the Egyptian pharaohs, it turned into a mummy not due to treatment with mummifying compounds, but for a reason unknown to modern science.

The Orthodox believe that if the human body does not decompose, but gradually turns into power then this is a gift from above, therefore a person can be considered a saint.

There is a belief that the relics of the Holy Russian hero Ilya Muromets able to heal those who suffer from terrible diseases of the spine and those whose legs are completely paralyzed. The Russian knight continues to serve people even after death...

Ilya Muromets

Mythology:	Slavic
Origin:	Peasant origin, the village of Karacharovo near Murom
Mentions:	"Gaining strength by Ilya Muromets"; "Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor"; "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber"; "Ilya Muromets and Idolishche"; ""; "Ilya Muromets and Zhidovin", etc.
	Ivan Timofeevich
	Efrosinya Yakovlevna
	Zlatygorka (Baba Goryninka)
	Son - Sokolnik (or daughter of a meadow in another version)
Related characters:	Nephew Yermak, Svyatogor, Dobrynya Nikitich

historical prototype

Ilya Pechersky

Ileiko Muromets

Sensational Research

Murom or Morovsk

The exploits of Russian Hercules

Literature

art

Computer games

Ilya Muromets(full epic name - Ilya Muromets son of Ivan) is one of the main characters of the ancient Russian epic epic, a hero who embodies the common folk ideal of a hero-warrior.

Ilya Muromets appears in the Kiev cycle of epics: “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”, “Ilya Muromets and Poganoe Idolishche”, “Ilya Muromets Quarrel with Prince Vladimir”, “Ilya Muromets Fight with Zhidovin”. In the epic "Svyatogor and Ilya Muromets" tells how Ilya Muromets studied with Svyatogor; and dying, he breathed into him with the spirit of a hero, which increased strength in Ilya, and gave his sword-treasurer. Prose stories about Ilya Muromets, written down in the form of Russian folk tales and passed on to some non-Slavic peoples (Finns), also do not know about the Kyiv epic relations of Ilya Muromets, do not mention Prince Vladimir, replacing him with an unnamed king; they contain almost exclusively the adventure of Ilya Muromets with the Nightingale the Robber, sometimes with the Idolish, called Glutton, and sometimes attribute to Ilya Muromets the release of the princess from the snake, which the epics do not know about Ilya Muromets.

According to the assumption of some historians of the Russian Empire, his small homeland could not be the village of Karacharovo near Murom, but the village of Karachev, near the city of Moroviysk in Chernihiv region (the modern village of Morovsk, Kozeletsky district, Chernihiv region of Ukraine), which leads from Chernigov to Kyiv. This conclusion is based on the possibility of merging the image of Ilya of Muromets with the Monk Ilya of the Caves in the folk epic. This version gained particular popularity in the works of modern Ukrainian historians.

Epic stories, the main character of which is Ilya Muromets

According to S. A. Azbelev, who has 53 plots of heroic epics, Ilya Muromets is the main character of 15 of them (No. 1-15 according to the index compiled by Azbelev).

Gaining strength by Ilya Muromets (Healing of Ilya Muromets)
Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor
Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber
Ilya Muromets and Idolishche
Ilya Muromets in a quarrel with Prince Volodymyr
Ilya Muromets and the goli of the tavern (rarely exists as a separate plot, usually attached to plots about a quarrel with Vladimir)

I'm going to serve for the Christian faith,

And for the Russian land

Yes, and for the capital city of Kyiv,

For widows, for orphans, for poor people

And for you, young princess, widow Apraksia,

And for the dog, Prince Vladimir

Yes, I would not go out of the cellar.

Ilya Muromets on the Sokol-ship
Ilya Muromets and the robbers
Three trips of Ilya Muromets
Ilya Muromets and Batu Tsar
Ilya Muromets and Zhidovin
Ilya Muromets and Tugarin (about the wife of Ilya Muromets)
Ilya Muromets and Sokolnik
Ilya Muromets, Yermak and Kalin Tsar
Kama massacre
Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar
Dobrynya Nikitich duel with Ilya Muromets
Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich

For each plot, the number of individual variants recorded from different storytellers is in the tens and may exceed a hundred (Nos. 3, 9, 10), mostly there were from 12 to 45 or more.

Epic biography of Ilya Muromets

A large number of plots dedicated to Ilya Muromets makes it possible to present the biography of this hero in a more or less complete form (as it seemed to the storytellers).

According to the epic Healing of Ilya Muromets, this hero until the age of 33 (the age at which Christ died and rose again) “did not control” his hands and feet, and then received miraculous healing from the elders (or kalik passers-by). Who they are is omitted in all Soviet publications; in the pre-revolutionary edition of the epic, it is believed that "Kaliki" is Christ with two apostles. Kaliki, having come to Ilya's house, when there was no one else but him, they ask him to get up and bring them water. Ilya answered this: “But I don’t have any arms or legs, I’ve been sitting on my seat for thirty years.” They repeatedly ask Ilya to get up and bring them water. After that, Ilya gets up, goes to the water carrier and brings water. The elders tell Elijah to drink water. Ilya drank and recovered, after the second drink he feels exorbitant strength in himself, and they give him a drink a third time to reduce it. After, the elders tell Ilya that he should go to the service of Prince Vladimir. At the same time, they mention that on the way to Kyiv there is an unbearable stone with an inscription, which Ilya must also visit. After, Ilya says goodbye to his parents, brothers and relatives and goes "to the capital city of Kyiv" and first comes "to that immovable stone." On the stone was written an appeal to Elijah to move the stone from its immovable place. There he will find a heroic horse, weapons and armor. Ilya moved the stone and found everything that was written there. He said to the horse: “Oh, you are a heroic horse! Serve me with faith and truth." After that, Ilya gallops to Prince Vladimir.

Folklore outside the Russian North

Only a few epic stories with the name of Ilya Muromets are known outside the provinces of Olonets, Arkhangelsk and Siberia (Collection of Kirsha Danilov and S. Gulyaev). Outside of these areas, only a few plots have been recorded so far:

Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber;
Ilya Muromets and the robbers;
Ilya Muromets on the Sokol-ship
Ilya Muromets and son.

In the middle and southern parts of Russia, only epics are known without attaching Ilya Muromets to Kyiv and Prince. Vladimir, and the most popular plots in which robbers (Ilya Muromets and robbers) or Cossacks (Ilya Muromets on the Falcon-ship) play the role, which indicates the popularity of Ilya Muromets among the freedom-loving population who hunted on the Volga, Yaik and was part of the Cossacks .

Often there is a mixture of Ilya Muromets with Elijah the prophet. This confusion also occurred in the alleged epic homeland of Ilya Muromets, in the view of the peasants of the village of Karacharovo (near Murom), and in the stories of these peasants, Ilya Muromets's relationship to Kyiv and Prince Vladimir is not mentioned at all. The study of the epic biography of Ilya Muromets leads to the conviction that many fabulous and legendary wandering stories have been layered on the name of this popular hero.

The hero Ilya is the hero not only of Russian epics, but also of German epic poems of the 13th century. In them, he is represented by the mighty knight of the princely family, Ilya, the Russian.

historical prototype

Ilya Pechersky

Some researchers consider the prototype of the epic character to be a historical character, a strongman nicknamed "Chobitok", originally from Murom, who took monastic vows in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the name of Elijah, and canonized in 1643 to the saints of the Orthodox Church as "Reverend Elijah of Muromets".

According to this theory, Ilya Muromets lived in the 12th century and died in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra around 1188. Memory according to the church calendar - December 19 (January 1).

The theory of the identity of the epic hero with the monk - Chobitko, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is quite plausible.

Russian chronicles do not mention his name. After a miraculous healing, he converts to Orthodoxy and chooses a new name for himself, Ilya.

The relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The tombstone of Ilya Muromets is located near the grave of Stolypin. Part of the relics of Elijah - the middle finger of the left hand, is located in one of the temples of the city of Murom, Vladimir region.

Ileiko Muromets

In the 17th century, Ileiko Muromets (Ilya Ivanovich Korovin) was known - the impostor False Peter of the Time of Troubles, who was executed in 1607. According to scientists, in particular the Russian historian Ilovaisky, the expression "old Cossack" is explained by the fact that at the end of the reign of Boris Godunov, Ileyka Muromets was in the Cossack detachment, as part of the army of the voivode Prince Ivan Khvorostinin. B. M. Sokolov wrote that the essential fact of the peasant processing of epics was the transformation of Ilya Muravlenin from Muroviysk and the city of Karachev in the Chernihiv region into the peasant son of Ilya Muromets and the village of Karacharovo near Murom.

Sensational Research

AT 1988 year, the Interdepartmental Commission conducted a study of the relics Reverend Ilya of Muromets. The results were amazing. He was a strong man who died at the age 45-55 years old, tall 177 see the fact that in XII century, when Ilya lived, such a person was considered quite tall, because the average height of a man was 165 Moreover, on the bones of Ilya, scientists found traces of many battles - multiple fractures of the clavicles, broken ribs, traces of a spear, saber, sword. This confirmed the legend that Ilya was a mighty warrior, a participant in fierce battles.

But most of all, scientists were struck by something else: they argue that, in full agreement with folk legends, Ilya really could not walk for a long time! According to the researchers, the reason for this was a serious illness - bone tuberculosis or poliomyelitis. This caused the paralysis of the legs.

Ilya Muromets was born approximately between 1150 and 1165 gg. And he died at the age of about 40–55 years, as expected, when taking Kyiv prince Rurik Rostislavich in 1204 BC, when the Pechersk Lavra was defeated by the Cumans, allied with Rurik. The cause of death was, apparently, a blow of a sharp weapon (spear or sword) to the chest.

Curse and Miraculous Healing

The story was passed from mouth to mouth among the people. As if the grandfather of Ilya Muromets was a pagan and, not recognizing Christianity, once cut the icon. Since then, a curse has fallen on his family - all boys will be born crippled.

Born 10 years later Ilya, and it seemed that the curse was fulfilled: the boy could not walk since childhood. All attempts to cure him were unsuccessful. But Ilya did not give up, he stubbornly trained his arms, developed his muscles, becoming stronger, but, alas, he still could not walk. Years passed, and, probably, more than once it seemed to him that he needed to come to terms with fate: he would forever remain a cripple.

But when Ilya turned 33 year, something inexplicable happened. The day came that abruptly and forever changed his life. The prophetic elders entered the house - passerby Kaliki (poor wanderers), and asked the boy to give water. He explained that he could not walk. But the guests persistently repeated the request, which sounded like an order. And Ilya, suddenly feeling an unprecedented strength, for the first time stood on his feet ...

What is it? Miraculous healing? Maybe. But how did the strange guests manage to heal the seemingly hopelessly ill? There are various assumptions about this. For example, that the wanderers were magi and magicians and knew the secrets of ancient conspiracies.

And other scientists suggest that this was the case self-healing, which science is not yet able to explain ...

Be that as it may, Ilya got to his feet after 33 years of immobility. And the scientists who conducted the study of the relics confirm that the bone tissue of this person was miraculously restored. Moreover, according to their conclusion, after thirty years he led an active lifestyle, which is fully consistent with the epics.

Murom or Morovsk

Regarding the place of birth of Ilya, there are also different versions. The most common - that he comes from the village Karacharovo, near the city Murom. This village, located on the banks of the Oka, still exists today.

But some researchers claim that Ilya was born not far from Kyiv- in Morovsk(Moroviysk) under Chernigov, which in ancient times was called Murom. Since the legends say that Ilya reached Kyiv very quickly, in one day (which is hardly possible in the case of the city of Murom, which is located about 1500 km from Kyiv), this version is very plausible. Yes, but according to the epics, Ilya happened from the village of Karacharovo It turns out that there was an ancient city not far from Chernihiv Karachev. Moreover, a river flows near Karachev Currant, and on its shore there is an ancient village Nine-dubie. Local old-timers point to the place where the nest was allegedly located nightingale the robber. And now on the bank of the Currant there is a huge stump, which, according to legend, was preserved from nine oaks.

The exploits of Russian Hercules

After miraculous healing Ilya Muromets, as befits heroes and heroes, performs numerous feats. His most famous feat is the victory over nightingale the robber.

Researchers believe that nightingale the robber- not a fabulous monster, but also a real historical figure, a robber who hunted in the forests on the way to Kyiv. And this robber was nicknamed the Nightingale for the fact that he announced his attack with a whistle (or, perhaps, gave a signal to his gang to attack with a whistle). Ilya Muromets performed many other feats, participated in battles, defending the Russian land from enemies. Contemporaries noted his incredible, inhuman strength, so in the memory of people he remained, probably, the greatest Russian hero. Suffice it to recall the painting "Three Heroes", in which Ilya Muromets is depicted in the center - as the strongest and most powerful.

In epics and legends, three heroes - Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich - often perform feats together. But in fact, they never met. They were separated by centuries - Dobrynya Nikitich lived in the 10th century, Alyosha Popovich - in the 13th century, and Ilya - in the 12th century. But when legends are passed down from one generation to another for centuries, they acquire new details, famous characters begin to perform new feats, and time frames gradually blur and shift. Contrary to the legends Ilya Muromets never served Prince Vladimir the Great. They simply could not meet, because they lived in different centuries. Ilya served Prince Svyatoslav, protecting Russia from the Polovtsians.

But if this is true, and Ilya Muromets- a historical figure, why is there not a word about him in the annals? Firstly, not so many written sources have survived from those times, which is quite natural, if we remember what a turbulent history Russia has experienced. Hordes of conquerors burned and completely destroyed cities more than once. In one of the fires, the books of the Pechersk Lavra once burned down.

And secondly, there are references in foreign sources. For example, in the Germanic epic poems recorded in XIII century, but based on earlier legends, the great hero is mentioned Ilya Russian.Legend says that in one fierce battle Ilya almost died, but miraculously survived and vowed to retire to a monastery, devote himself to God and never again take up a sword. Ilya came to the walls of the Lavra, took off all his military armor, but could not throw the sword and took it with him. He became a monk Pechersk Lavra and spent all his days in his cell in prayer.

But one day the enemies approached the walls of the monastery, and Ilya saw with his own eyes the death of the abbot of the Lavra, who was struck down by a mortal blow. And then Ilya, despite the vow, again took up the sword. But he felt that his legs again refused to serve him. He still managed to shield himself from the fatal blow with a spear, but his strength was already leaving him ...

Was it really so? It is unlikely that we will ever know. But one thing is certain: scientists have established that Ilya really died as a result of a blow to the chest with a spear and that he apparently tried to stop the spear on the fly, and this slightly weakened the blow. But the resulting wound did not heal and eventually became the cause of the death of Muromets.

Ilya Muromets in Russian culture

Monuments

In 1999, a monument to Ilya Muromets by sculptor V. M. Klykov was erected in the city park of Murom
In 2012, a monument to St. Ilya Muromets by the sculptor Zinich was erected in the Admiralsky Square of Vladivostok. The monument is a gift from the group of companies "Stimex" and the public of Krasnoyarsk to the city of Vladivostok.

Objects named after Ilya Muromets

Geographic features

Located on the Bear Peninsula, one of the highest waterfalls in Russia bears the name of Ilya Muromets.
Muromets Island is located in the Kyiv region on the Dnieper - a landscape park and a favorite vacation spot for citizens.

Organizations

Film studio for children and youth films "Ilya Muromets"
Open-end investment fund Troika Dialog - Ilya Muromets

Technics

Ilya Muromets - frigate of the Russian Imperial Navy.
In 1913, the bomber aircraft, created by aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, received the name of the hero.
"Ilya Muromets" - one of Gulkevich's armored tractors.
Ilya Muromets - armored car
Ilya Muromets - Russian and Soviet icebreaker built in 1915
The name "Ilya Muromets" was worn by a red armored train in the Civil War
Ilya Muromets- light armored train of the Don Army of the White movement in the Civil War.
"Ilya Muromets" - one of the tanks of the COP
Ilya Muromets - Soviet armored train during the Great Patriotic War. His armored locomotive is currently installed as a monument in the city of Murom.
In 1958, the Ilya Muromets cruise ship was put into operation.
Ilya Muromets - Soviet port icebreaker built in 1965, the lead ship of project 97K
"Ilya Muromets" - Soviet strategic bomber Tu-160 with tail number 06

Literature

Fiction

"History about Ilya Muromets" - handwritten folk book of the 18th century
Ilya Muromets - unfinished poem ("heroic tale") by N. M. Karamzin
"Ilya Muromets" - ballad by A. K. Tolstoy
Jan Rainis wrote the tragedy "Ilya Muromets" (1922)
Ilya Muromets is a character in Vasily Shukshin's story "Until the third cocks".
Ilya Muromets is the protagonist of the novel of the same name by Ivan Koshkin.
Ilya is the central character in Oleg Divov's novel "The Brave", which, according to the author, aims to "immerse yourself in the atmosphere of that time." The struggle of the hero with the Nightingale the Robber is interpreted in the novel with the involvement of the hypothesis of the Neanderthals who survived until that time, and the nickname "Muromets" is interpreted as a distorted "Urmanin", that is, a Viking, Varangian. In addition to the novel, the book contains an extensive supplement of a popular science nature, giving a rather detailed historical background and an overview of various hypotheses about the prototype and origin of the epic hero.
Ilya son Ivanov is one of the main characters of the historical novel Nine Spas by Anatoly Brusnikin. In the work, images of other fairy-tale characters are guessed: Dmitry Nikitin, Alexei Popov, Vasilisa.

Modern folklore

In modern Russian folklore, Ilya Muromets is the hero of a small cycle of jokes (usually together with Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich).

art

Painting

Ilya Muromets is a character in Viktor Vasnetsov's painting "Bogatyrs", inspired by the epic "Ilya Muromets and the Robbers", he also painted the painting "The Knight at the Crossroads".
“Ilya Muromets at a feast at Prince Vladimir” - painting by V. P. Vereshchagin
Ilya Muromets - painting by Nicholas Roerich
"Ilya Muromets liberates the prisoners", "Ilya Muromets and the tavern gol", "Ilya Muromets in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir", "Gift of Svyatogor" - paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev

Illustrations

Ivan Bilibin created illustrations for epics about Ilya Muromets: Ilya Muromets, Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor, Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber, Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor's wife.

engravings

There are popular prints about Ilya Muromets: “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”, “Strong and brave hero Ilya Muromets”.

Plastic

"Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" - porcelain composition by sculptor S. M. Orlov

Music

operas

Katerino Cavos wrote the opera Ilya the Bogatyr to a libretto by Ivan Krylov.
In the opera-farce of the composer Alexander Borodin "Bogatyrs" there is the role of Ilya Muromets.
Composer Leonid Malashkin wrote the opera "Ilya Muromets, or Russian Bogatyrs"
Ilya Muromets is a character in Mikhail Ivanov's opera Fun Putyatishna.
Ilya Muromets - opera by Valentina Serova
Opera "Ilya Muromets" by composer Boris Feoktistov.

Symphonic works

In 1909-11, the composer Reinhold Gliere created the 3rd symphony under the title "Ilya Muromets".

Choral music

In 2011, composer Andrey Mikita wrote "A Doxology to St. Elijah of Murom" for a mixed choir, soloists and three children's voices.

Mass music

The group "Gas Sector" has a song "Ilya Muromets"
The group Gas Attack Sector has an album "Rock epic Ilya Muromets"

Theatre

The play "Ilya Muromets, the Peasant's Son" of the Puppet Theatre. S. V. Obraztsova (1951).
Ilya Muromets - one of the characters of the Russian district

Films

In 1956, based on the epics about Ilya Muromets, a feature film "Ilya Muromets" was shot in the USSR. Director Alexander Ptushko, leading actor - Boris Andreev.
The image of Ilya Muromets was used in the film "This scoundrel Sidorov" (1984).
In 1975-1978, a dilogy of cartoons "Ilya Muromets (Prologue)" and "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" was filmed.
At the end of 2007, the animated film "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" was released, in 2010 - Three Bogatyrs and the Shamakhan Queen, the main character of which is also Ilya. The first of them tells how the cunning prince of Kyiv and Ilya Muromets went to rescue Ilya's horse and the treasury stolen by the Nightingale, who fled to the Byzantine lands, to the city of Tsargrad, where Emperor Vasilevs ruled. In the second cartoon, the bogatyrs, led by Ilya, save the prince from the spell of the insidious Queen of Shamakhan.
In 2010, the film "Adventures in the Thirtieth Kingdom" was released, where Stanislav Duzhnikov played Ilya Muromets.
In 2011, the film "A Real Tale" was released, where Ilya Muromets was played by Alexei Dmitriev.

Computer games

At the end of 2008, the computer adventure game Three Heroes. The first series ”, in which Ilya is presented along with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. According to the plot of the game, the bogatyrs will have to fight with the robbers rampant in Russia and in the finale defeat their head - the Nightingale the Robber. Moreover, Ilya leads the final battle with Nightingale one on one.
In the game based on the cartoon of the same name, Ilya Muromets sets off in the footsteps of the Nightingale the Robber, in some missions the prince of Kyiv will be with him in the company. They have to talk with Alyosha Popovich, his assistant Yeremey, Kashchei the Immortal, Baba Yaga and others.
In the game Mechwarrior Online, one of the variants of the Cataphract combat robot is named Ilya Muromets.

Epics about Ilya Muromets known to most of us since childhood. But not everyone knows that the hero was by no means an epic character, but a very real person.

To look at Ilya Muromets, it is enough to go to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow or, in extreme cases, find a reproduction of Viktor Vasnetsov's painting "Bogatyrs". Ilya Muromets is depicted on it in the middle. Sits in chain mail on a black horse. He looks wary from under a leather-gloved hand, on which hangs a huge mace. A gray strand is knocked out from under the helmet. The hero is no longer young, he feels not only calm, confident strength, but also life experience.

Painting by Vasnetsov Three Bogatyrs

Behind the back is a shield, the left hand is on a long spear. On the left in the picture on a white horse is another hero - Dobrynya Nikitich, on his head is a pointed helmet, a blond beard almost to the waist. In his left hand is a huge shield, the right hero pulls out a sword. He is not only strong, but his eyes also shine with intelligence and wisdom. The youngest of the trinity of epic heroes is Alyosha Popovich. He is on the right in the picture. With one hand he holds a bow, the other behind on the harp. He is handsome, singer and musician. He has rings on his fingers. This one, if he does not take it by force, will overcome it with resourcefulness and ingenuity. The heroes stand on the border of the forest and the field, from where the enemies of the Russians - Polovtsy or Pechenegs - may appear. The sky in the picture is disturbing, gray.

In the first version, the picture was called long: “Dobrynya, Ilya and Alyosha Popovich on a heroic exit - they note in the field if there is a enemy somewhere, if they offend anyone somewhere.” Now it is often called simply "Three heroes."

History of the Three Bogatyrs

Historians say that in real life, three epic heroes could hardly meet. Dobrynya lived at the end of the 10th century and was the governor of the Kyiv prince Vladimir the Red Sun, who was an uncle. The Suzdal boyar Alexander Popovich, a century and a half younger, served at the end of his life to the Kyiv prince Mstislav the Old and died with him in the Battle of Kalka in 1223. In the epics, Ilya, like Dobrynya, also serves Vladimir, but historical facts show that he lived later, when, in the 12th century.

However, this is not so important. After all, Vasnetsov painted an artistic picture, and not a historical canvas. All three characters on it have one thing in common - they are heroes of epics. However, Ilya Muromets still stands out among them.

The life story of Ilya Muromets

In 1643, he was canonized as a saint and since then has remained the only holy epic hero. The memory of the Monk Ilya Muromets is celebrated on January 1. However, it is not mentioned in ancient Slavic manuscripts. Perhaps simply because Muromets was not of princely blood.

According to legend, Ilya the Bogatyr was born in the village of Karacharovo, not far from Murom. Some historians already in the 20th century put forward a version that this happened around 1143 in the family of a local resident, a peasant Ivan Timofeevich and his wife Evfrosinya Yakovlevna Gushchin. And today a lot of both Karacharovtsy and Murom residents consider themselves not only relatives of Ilya Gushchin, but also his direct descendants.

The Orthodox Church did not compile his "official biography" - a canonical life. We know more about Ilya from epics than from surviving historical documents. However, more epics are dedicated to Ilya than to any other Russian hero, and they quite accurately convey to us the details of the life of Muromets. In fact, epics tell us about Ilya from his birth to his death.

For example, Ilya leaves "Whether from that city from Murom, from that village from Karacharov". There is such a city on the map, and such a village has been preserved. The Oka flows nearby. Epics say that Ilya once changed its course by throwing several oaks into the river. Maybe. Residents of Karacharovo show visitors the ruins of the Trinity Church, which, according to legend, was founded by the legendary hero. At its base, he put several oak trees, which he brought from the river bank to a steep mountain.

By the way, ancient bog oaks in three girths at the bottom of the Oka are still found today.

The old-timers of the village will definitely point out the springs, which, according to legend, arose from the hops - the blows of the hooves of the horse of Ilya Muromets. Small children in Karacharovo are told that "thunder comes from the fact that Ilya Muromets rides six stallions." The local Gushchin dynasty considers Ilya to be their distant ancestor. They say that the house where Ilya was born stood almost in the forest itself, in the thick of trees. From here, at first, the nickname arose - Gushchin, and then the surname also went.

Now, at the birthplace of the epic hero, there is a house at number 279 on Priokskaya Street. This is what the locals think. Many descendants of Muromets were remarkable for their remarkable strength. Born at the end of the 19th century, Ivan Afanasyevich Gushchin easily pulled a cart loaded to the brim with firewood. During fisticuffs, he was only allowed to push with his shoulders. Without calculating the force of his blow, he could simply kill a person.

In one storyteller of epics missed. According to legend, the hero was predicted that "death in battle is not written for him." Therefore, in fairy tales, at the end of his life, the hero either turns to stone along with the faithful horse, or swims away somewhere and no longer gives news of himself. In fact, Ilya fell in battle against enemies. This can be said almost exactly.

The fact is that the relics of the hero are stored in one of the caves. Above the tomb hangs the image of St. Elijah of Muromets. The inscription at the head reads - "Ilya from the city of Murom." The holy remains were studied. The results are impressive. Ilya's height was determined to be 177-180 centimeters.

In the 12th century, such a person looked almost like a giant. Ilya was broad in the shoulders, he had a heroic build. In the old days, people like him were said to have a slanting sazhen in the shoulders. As is known from the epics, Ilya sat on the stove for thirty years and three years and was healed by kaliks passers-by, that is, by wandering monks.

The epics mention that Ilya sat in jail for 30 years. Indeed, the child was sick from childhood - he could not walk. He was resigned to his weakness and only prayed to God. But one day in his hut there appeared “passing kaliks” who asked him to bring them a drink. Wanting to please the elders, Ilya suddenly got to his feet...

He just trusted the Kaliks that he could do it. And it worked! At the request of the elders, Ilya himself drank the water, while receiving "great power." So the paralyzed Ilya Chobotok turned into the hero Ilya Muromets, whom our land needed so much - that was the time of endless raids on Russia.

Surprisingly, this impressive episode is supported by science.

Researchers found a curvature of the spine to the right in Ilya's lumbar region. In addition, abnormal processes were found on the vertebrae. This suggests that the hero had a displacement of the vertebrae in childhood (perhaps from birth or as a result of an injury). In other words, in his youth, Ilya suffered paralysis of the legs, from which he was later able to recover. Most likely, the Kaliki simply put the displaced vertebrae in his place.

How Saint Ilya of Muromets died

Ilya Muromets died in January 1188. And after 500 years, he was canonized as a saint: to this day, his imperishable relics can be venerated in the Anthony caves of the Lavra.

The cause of death of the hero is an extensive wound in the region of the heart. This area is covered by the right hand. It also shows signs of severe damage. It seems that Ilya in his last battle covered his chest with his hand, and with a blow of a spear she was nailed to the heart. Perhaps, in his declining years, Ilya settled in the monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. However, he did not have to end his days in silent prayers.

In 1203, the Cumans attacked Kyiv. The city was taken, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the monastery and plundered. Ilya could not stay away during these events. He joined the ranks of the city's defenders and died a heroic death.

The relics of Ilya were carefully studied by specialists already in our time, and it turned out that in fact the growth of the hero was
unusually tall for its time - 177 centimeters. Signs of diseases of the bones and joints were also found, as well as traces of wounds received in battles.

Having become famous for military deeds and incredible physical strength in the princely service, Ilya as "the first hero in Kyiv" is mentioned in 15 Russian epics and in German legends of the 13th century.

What do Ilya Muromets pray for

They pray to St. Ilya Muromets first of all for healing from bodily weakness, for recovery after suffering strokes.

Prayer to the Monk Ilya of Muromets

O holy venerable father Elijah! Holy intercessor of Russia, a mighty warrior, a spiritual and bodily warrior appearing to her, faithfully serving the good of the Russian people and the glorification of the Christian God in his life, and after the resignation of his intercession for us, ask, holy, from the All-merciful Lord to our Fatherland Tsar, peace and prosperity, well-being of the Church, deliverance to the Orthodox people from the wicked, victory to the Russian warrior in the military and to the enemies plotting evil to the Church and the Orthodox Fatherland, overcoming, intercede for all of us, and we also ask thee, holiness of God, send us reason from God, yes let us know our sins, and spiritual strength, may we repent of our sins, and bodily strength, may we be able to correct our lives and revive Holy Russia, and pass into the Kingdom of Heaven from it, and there with you and all the saints be able to unceasingly praise the glorious God in the Trinity Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen!

“From that village and Karacharova...”

This is how the famous and familiar to us since childhood, melodious epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” begins:

Whether from that city from Murom,
From that village and Karacharova
A remote portly drove out
good fellow.
He stood at matins in Murom,
And he wanted to be in time for dinner
in the capital city of Kyiv.

True, now everything has changed: now people are already going to Karacharovo and from Murom, and from Kyiv, and many other parts of the Slavic world, in order to see with their own eyes the homeland of the foremost of the Russian heroes. They go to the village, where he started, as Ilya Muromets' modern colleagues in military affairs usually formulate, "his glorious military path."

In Karacharovo, even the place where the pacifier of the ferocious Nightingale the Robber and the winner of the powerful and cruel Kalina Tsar lived was preserved. Of course, since the birth of Ilya in a small village near Murom, presumably in the 12th century, not a single wooden house on the local Priokskaya Street could survive. But, considering the memorial plaque on the wall of one of the wooden buildings, we can well imagine the hero’s father’s house standing here.

But clean and cold springs, which, in addition to Karacharov, are many in the Murom region, in this village arose precisely from the hooves of the heroic horse Ilyusha, if, of course, old legends are to be believed. Going down to the banks of the Oka, you will certainly see a ravine, at the mouth of which there is a neat wooden chapel. The first of its buildings was erected in the 17th century and consecrated in honor of Elijah the Prophet. Here, the spring of Ilya Muromets breaks out of the ground. There is also a bathhouse.

Everything that is related to the life and personality of Ilya Muromets is carefully preserved in Karacharovo. Even the local Trinity Church, according to legend, began to build this hero. Of course, the first, wooden building of the church did not survive, but now its stone hypostasis, built in the 20s of the XIX century, is being restored.

Ilya Muromets (full epic name - Ilya Muromets son Ivanovich) is one of the main characters of the Russian epic epic, a hero who embodies the folk ideal of a hero-warrior, people's protector. Appears in the Kiev cycle of epics: "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber", "Ilya Muromets and Poganoe Idolishche", "Ilya Muromets Quarrel with Prince Vladimir", "Ilya Muromets Fight with Zhidovin".

It is believed that the birthplace of Ilya Muromets is the village of Karacharovo near Murom. According to another version, this is the village of Murovsk in the modern Chernihiv region. In this case, Ilya's nickname should have looked like "Murovsky" or like "Murovets", which is also found in the sources. At the moment, both of these cities consider themselves the birthplace of Ilya Muromets. According to the version voiced in the TV project "Searchers", Ilya Muromets came from the Murom tribe.

Ah, strangers! Kaliki you are passing! I would be glad to give you a drink, but I can’t get out of bed, I’ve been in bed for thirty years and three years!

Muromets Ilya

According to a number of versions, the hero had a real prototype - a historical person who lived around 1188, although Russian chronicles do not mention his name. It is also common to identify the epic hero and Elijah of the Caves - the holy reverend of the Orthodox Church, whose relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Also known is Ileiko Muromets (Ileyka Muromets) - an impostor from the time of the Time of Troubles, who was executed in 1607; according to some researchers, his biography did not affect the formation of the folklore image [source not specified 319 days]. According to other researchers, in particular the Russian historian Ilovaisky, the expression “old Cossack” is explained by the fact that at the end of the reign of Boris Godunov, Ileyka Muromets was in the Cossack detachment, as part of the army of the governor Prince Ivan Khvorostinin.

According to the epics, the bogatyr Ilya Muromets “did not control” his arms and legs until the age of 33, and then received miraculous healing from the elders (or kalik passers-by). They, having come to Ilya's house, when there was no one else but him, ask him to get up and bring them something to drink. Ilya answered this: “But I don’t have any arms or legs, I’ve been sitting on my seat for thirty years.” They repeatedly ask Ilya to get up and bring them water. After that, Ilya gets up, goes to the water carrier and brings water. The elders tell Elijah to drink water. After the second drink, Ilya feels exorbitant strength in himself, and he is given a third drink to reduce his strength. After the elders tell Ilya that he should go to the service of Prince Vladimir.

At the same time, they mention that on the way to Kyiv there is an unbearable stone with an inscription, which Ilya must also visit. After Ilya says goodbye to his parents, brothers and relatives and goes "to the capital city of Kyiv" and first comes "to that immovable stone." On the stone was written an appeal to Elijah to move the stone from its immovable place. There he will find a heroic horse, weapons and armor. Ilya moved the stone and found everything that was written there. He said to the horse: “Oh, you are a heroic horse! Serve me with faith and truth." After that, Ilya gallops to Prince Vladimir.

The epic "Svyatogor and Ilya Muromets" tells how Ilya Muromets studied with Svyatogor; and dying, he breathed into him with the spirit of a hero, which increased strength in Ilya, and gave his sword-treasurer.