Today, most people living in Russia have a slightly distorted understanding of who the invincible “Russian hero” was, and did the epic hero Ilya Muromets really live?
Facts and investigations
In the nearby caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, scientists have found evidence that the monk Reverend Ilya buried there and the epic hero Ilya Muromets are one and the same person.
But, even if Ilya Muromets existed in real life why did he suddenly leave military life and went to a monastery? What reasons made the hero never again pick up a sword?
Until that time, the evidence for the existence of Ilya Muromets was only guesswork. Chronicles and others historical documents not a single word mentions the existence of the legendary hero. Could it be that for some fault he could be deleted from the annals Kievan Rus?
It turns out that in 1718 a terrible fire destroyed all the original books of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
The only mention of Ilya Muromets was preserved in the monk's accidentally surviving notes. Kievo-Pechersky Monastery Anastasia Kalnofoysky. They date from the 17th century. And this is the first reliable mention of St. Elijah of the Caves.
The monk wrote: “The people considered this saint a hero and a great warrior, in a word, a brave man.” It was with this word ‘brave’ that the heroes were then called.
And the word ‘hero’ appeared much later. Therefore, the combination ‘brave hero’ is just a tautology, like butter oil or wind wind.
XII century. Kievan Rus is torn apart by civil strife. And from the southern borders, the state is threatened by a new terrible enemy - the Polovtsians. They were short, yellow-skinned and very cruel nomads. They did not build cities and towns, did not run a household, but only killed, robbed and drove captives into slavery.
Bloodless Rus' was easy prey for them. The hordes of the Polovtsy capture cities and lands and quickly approach Kyiv. At this threatening moment Kyiv prince invites heroes to the city - chosen warriors with exceptional physical strength.
Who were the real heroes?
People attribute to heroes beyond human capabilities. According to folk performances they were very strong men who rode huge horses and held heavy weapons in their hands, which an ordinary mortal could not lift.
After the attack of the Polovtsy, dozens of such heroes began to gather in Kyiv. Among them was a modestly dressed peasant of a very powerful physique named Ilya Muromets.
He was born in a village near the Russian city of Murom. It is the surname Muromets that indicates the origin of the hero.
But there is some inconsistency in historical facts.
The Russian city of Murom is located one thousand five hundred kilometers from Kyiv. Now this city is territorially located in the Vladimir region.
A natural question arises: how long in the 12th century could a person overcome this distance on a horse? It is not known exactly. But absolutely all epics claim that Ilya Muromets arrived in Kyiv at the call of the prince in five hours.
Few people know that in the Chernihiv region, not far from Kyiv, there is a village called Murovsk. And both small towns- Russian Murom and Ukrainian Murovsk now consider themselves the birthplace of the epic hero Ilya Muromets.
There is nothing strange in this. Six Greek cities claim the right to be called the birthplace of the mythical hero Hercules.
Chernihiv region, about 70 kilometers from Kyiv, the village of Murovsk. In the XII century there was a city here and it was called Muroviysk. There are dense forests and swamps around, and it is only one day to Kyiv on a horse. Many historians believe that the bogatyr Ilya was actually born here, in Muroviysk. But in modern Murovsk (now the town is called so), no one guesses that nine centuries ago the future epic hero was born here.
It was not customary to celebrate birthdays at that time and this event was not given much attention.
After all, it is likely that at some stage, when retelling the epics, there was a failure: someone misheard something and passed on a new, somewhat modified version. As a result, Ilya from Murovsk turned into Ilya Muromets.
Ilya Muromets and the terrible curse
Did Ilya really sit on the stove for 30 years and 3 years? For what offense the boy received a terrible generational curse- paralysis of the legs?
Middle of the XII century, Muroviysk. The recalcitrant pagans who lived in this city resisted accepting Christianity for many centuries.
When Perun had long been renounced in Kyiv, in Muroviysk they continued to worship the ancient pagan gods. Until a heavy curse fell on one of the local clans.
Once the father of Elijah, who was a sworn pagan, in one of the battles cut into pieces Orthodox icon. For this his family was cursed: "From now on, all boys in the family will be born disabled." The curse began to come true 10 years later, when the boy Ilya was born to the blasphemer and his legs failed immediately after birth.
Whatever his family did. But all the conspiracies did not help. The boy grew up strong, cheerful, but absolutely helpless. For days on end, Ilya sat on a bench and looked out the window at the children who were playing in the street. At these moments, the boy clenched his fists like a child and promised himself that one day he would become healthy and would no longer be a burden to anyone.
So 30 years have passed. I was already sitting on a bench near the window strong man. Even now he could not stand up and could not feel his legs. But none of his relatives knew that every day Ilya, stubbornly clenching his teeth, trains his hands: he lifts weights and unbends horseshoes. He can do everything, the body obeys his every order, but the legs now seem to belong to another person.
When Ilya was thirty-three years old, he was ready to accept his fate and at home on the stove to atone for the blasphemy of his kind. What and what he felt in his hands heroic strength? After all, an adult man remained a helpless child.
But everything changed one day, when wandering elders appeared near his house. They entered the house and asked for water. Ilya explained that he could not do this, because he could never get up. But the guests did not seem to hear him and repeated their request. This time the request sounded like an order. The 33-year-old man almost burst into tears from resentment. But suddenly he felt an unknown force in his legs.
From now on, he could walk. Who these elders were, Ilya never found out. How did they know about it and why did they help? Modern doctors cannot give an explanation for this case. The only thing they are convinced of is that this man really only started walking in adulthood.
Healing Phenomenon
No one really knows what happened, but many are inclined to believe that psychology can play a decisive role here.
Modern medicine has not yet reached the level of knowledge to explain this phenomenon of healing.
The elders left, but before leaving, they gave Ilya an order to atone for grandfather's sin and protect their land from hordes of enemies that would be thrust into Rus' in a cloud. The healed Ilya agreed, and then he made a vow to the elders to devote his life to God.
Standing on his feet, he takes on the heaviest physical work: uprooted a whole field of mighty oaks in a day, easily carries decks on his shoulders that two horses cannot move. Old parents rejoice at the recovery of their son, but they are even more surprised by his inhuman strength. They did not suspect that Ilya had been training his arms for years. Happy parents hoped that now their son would be their helper and support.
The inscription on the plate: “According to legend, Ilya Muromets uprooted such oaks, but threw them into the Oka and changed the course of the river. This oak is about 300 years old, it grew back in the time of Ivan the Terrible, and then lay in the ocean for another 300 years. Its diameter is about 1.5 m, girth is about 4.6 m. In 2002, the oak was raised by Murom rivermen from the bottom of the Oka at the Spassky rift, 150 km away. from the mouth" But Ilya did not want to stay at home. The years spent in paralysis changed his body. His hands became unusually strong, in such hands the sword itself asks.
He remembers his vow to the elders: to protect his homeland from enemies and devote his life to serving God.
And when he heard about the terrible invasion of the Polovtsy and the call of the prince to defend the homeland, he goes to Kyiv to obtain military glory and defend the land.
The shortest way from Muroviysk to Kyiv goes through dangerous forest. There, near the mighty oak, lived a huge monster, which killed every companion with its whistle. This monster was called the Nightingale the Robber.
Epics were told: Ilya Muromets drove into the forest and loudly called the monster to a military battle. The nightingale whistled so that the horse crouched under the hero. But Ilya was not afraid. The fight between them was short. Ilya easily defeated the Nightingale the Robber, tied him up and took him to Kyiv as a gift to the prince.
But what could this meeting look like in reality?
Is it a nightingale, is it a robber?
Scientists believe that the Nightingale the Robber could indeed live in the Chernihiv forests. And it was not a mythical monster, but quite a real man. There is even a memory of him in the annals.
The robber's name was not Nightingale, but Mogita. He robbed in the forests near Kyiv. Maybe he won real Ilya Muromets. Like the epic Nightingale, Mogita was caught and brought to court in Kyiv.
There, according to the epic, Ilya met with Prince Vladimir - the Red Sun. But the simply dressed peasant did not please the arrogant prince. Instead of the promised reward for the Nightingale the Robber, Vladimir threw his worn fur coat at Ilya's feet, threw it like some beggar.
The bogatyr became angry not without a joke and began to threaten the prince. The guards barely managed to grab him and throw him into the dungeon. Frightened Vladimir ordered thirty days not to give the insolent bread and water.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is surrounded by a horde of enemies. Their Khan offers to surrender the city and remove the crosses from the church. Otherwise, he will destroy the city, burn down the churches and trample the holy icons with horses. From the prince himself, he threatens to tear off his skin alive. It was then that Vladimir remembered the hero who was in prison. He asks Ilya Muromets to forget the insult and stand up for Kyiv.
So the ancient epics tell. But in fact, Ilya Muromets could not meet in time with Prince Vladimir, because. lived a hundred years after him.
Why epics hid it? And could Ilya Muromets actually help defend Kyiv?
Epics shifted people from two eras in time. There is nothing strange in this. After all folk stories from generation to generation were supplemented with new details and characters. In epics, they often mixed up and their heroic deeds did together.
Three legendary epic heroes: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich could never meet each other in real time because they are separated by three centuries.
Painting by V. M. Vasnetsov "Bogatyrs" The bogatyr Dobrynya Nikitich lived in the 10th century and was in fact the uncle of Prince Vladimir the Great. The bogatyr Alyosha Popovich fought with a monster - a snake in the XI century, and Ilya Muromets defended Rus' in the XII century. But which of the princes did Ilya serve?
When Ilya Muromets arrived in Kyiv, Prince Svyatoslav, the great-grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, was on the throne. He could not be dismissive of the hero.
The first military campaign of Ilya Muromets
Svyatoslav was a sensible and balanced politician. During his reign, he tried to unite the Russian princes against the Polovtsians. Already in their first campaign, under the leadership of Svyatoslav, the Russians defeated the hordes of the Polovtsy.
It was in this campaign, according to historians, that the hero Ilya Muromets first took part. They suggest that he was a member of the prince's squad and took part in all the battles that took place in that period of time.
Ten years have passed in military campaigns. Ilya became a famous hero, about whom legends began to be composed.
Meanwhile, he himself was in no hurry to fulfill the promise he had made to his healers. He was not ready to leave worldly life for a monastery and believed that he still had a lot ahead of him. feats of arms. But he did not have long to fight.
In 1185 Svyatoslav's son, Prince Igor, gathers his squad for a campaign against the Polovtsy. Seven thousand Russian warriors, led by Igor, are simply marching into the heart of the Polovtsian land.
Then they did not yet know that this campaign would end for them with a defeat, the most cruel in the history of Kievan Rus. It was this battle that was described by an unknown chronicler in the work "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
V. M. Vasnetsov. After the battle of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich over the Polovtsy The decisive battle of the Russians with the nomads
There were so many of them that the dust from under the hooves covered the ground. The forces were unequal and the ranks of the Russians were sinking. Prince Igor sees that the Polovtsians are pressing the Russians to the bank of the river.
Ilya is attacked by several nomads at once. A heavy blow throws him off his horse. The Polovtsian brings a crooked scimitar over the head of the hero. One more moment and that's it...
And then an epiphany seems to descend on Ilya. Only now, in the face of death, he remembered his promise to atone for the old grandfather's sin by serving God. Ilya Muromets mentally asks the elders who healed him for help in last time. If he survived this fight, he would never take up arms again.
Ilya Muromets was seriously wounded in this battle with the Polovtsians. And this was the reason for his departure from military affairs. And his life was saved by the arrow of the Rusich, who managed to pierce the Polovtsian.
Ilya no longer remembered how the faithful horse carried his rider from the battlefield. And when consciousness returned to him, the first thing Ilya saw was Orthodox crosses on the church.
Kiev Caves Monastery
A wounded man in his forties arrived here on a horse. Near the walls of the monastery, he unsaddled and released his horse, and then took off his armor. In the Lavra, the bogatyr was received by hegumen Vasily. He was not just a monk, but the main defender of the main Russian shrine. He greeted the new novice hospitably and hoped that Ilya Muromets would help the monks defend the Lavra from frequent raids. Therefore, the hegumen allows Ilya to take a sword with him to his cell.
But Muromets immediately tells the monks that he will never again take up a sword, never kill anyone, but will fulfill the vow that he once gave to the holy elders.
He took the tonsure in honor of the prophet Elijah. In the cell he led an ascetic life and did not communicate with anyone.
In a manuscript of the 17th century, memories were found of the extraordinary humility of the former hero, who vowed never to raise his hand against his neighbor. During his stay in the monastery, the gift of foresight and healing came to him. But did Elijah have a chance to die in peace and prayer? Chronicle sources say no.
In 1203 hordes of Prince Rurik Rostislavovich broke into Kyiv. In order to expel his nephew from the city, the prince brought with him the Polovtsy, greedy for robbery and robbery, and after the siege he gave them Kyiv to be torn to pieces.
And a great evil happened on the Russian land. Nothing like this has happened since the baptism of Rus'. These unfortunate events are described in "The Tale of Bygone Years".
The Polovtsy burned Podil, robbed St. Sophia of Kyiv and the Church of the Tithes, and destroyed all the monks and priests. The civilian population was mercilessly destroyed. And then they approached the gates of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Everyone who was in the monastery stood up to fight with them. The only one who did not come out with everyone was the monk Ilya. From the cell he heard the echoes of the battle. But he remembered that he had come to the monastery and made a vow never to take up arms.
Muromets leaves the cell, ready to bow his head before the Polovtsian sword. But suddenly he sees hegumen Vasily, who is holding an icon in his hands. With it, he slowly walks across the battlefield towards the enemy. And then Ilya saw how the hegumen fell, and the broken icon turned red with blood. And then hegumen Ilya breaks his promise for the last time. He raises his sword in order, as once, to cut off the heads of enemies with one blow, but suddenly he feels a strong weakness in his legs. He cannot take a single step.
In a moment, he sees a vision - an icon desecrated by his deed. Surrounded by enemies, Muromets gathered last strength, but he was no longer able to stand on his feet, but only felt how he was hit by an enemy spear.
On that day, all the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were martyred. Among them was the monk Ilya. He was buried along with the others.
And when, half a century later, the monks discovered his burial place, they were very surprised. Smoldering did not touch the body of Ilya Muromets. Fingers right hand were folded as if he were signing himself with a cross.
Tomb of St. Elijah of Muromets. In the silver ark there is a part of the left hand of the reverend. Scientists have not yet found an explanation for this phenomenon. AND exact circumstances Nobody knows Ilya Muromets. It is only known that he died death blow with a spear when he defended the holy monastery. IN last moment In his life, Ilya Muromets was both a hero-warrior and a reverend monk at the same time.
In 1643 he was canonized under the name of Saint Elijah. So the monks hid the truth about the real Ilya Muromets for many centuries. People still come to the relics of St. Elijah for healing, especially people with leg disease.
They pray not to the epic hero who became the hero of fairy tales and anecdotes, but to the one who found the strength in himself to overcome incurable disease and forever renounce worldly life.
Conclusions of forensic medicine specialists
In 1990 a group of scientists from Kyiv received an unprecedented opportunity. They were instructed to examine the holy Kiev-Pechersk relics. These bodies were kept incorruptible for almost a thousand years in the caves of the Lavra. People who come to these caves are convinced that these relics have an invaluable gift of healing. But who were they in real life and where did they get such power from?
Forensic medicine specialists visited the nearby caves of the Lavra and there carried out a full examination of fifty-four bodies. Among them, the relics of the Monk Ilya of Muromets were also examined. The results were incredibly surprising and simply amazed.
“He was a tall strong man who died at the age of 45 - 55 years. He was one meter seventy-seven centimeters high.
Here it should be understood that ten centuries ago a man of such growth was really considered and was a giant, for average height men of that time was much smaller. But researchers were struck not only by this.
They came to the reasonable conclusion that the name of the monk is not just the same as the name epic hero and that's why. On the bones of St. Elijah, scientists found the echoes of many battles in the form of various injuries. On the bones of the Monk Elijah, scientists also found traces of blows with a spear, saber, sword, and broken ribs. But these injuries were not the cause of death.
Description of Ilya Muromets according to the results of the examination:
Experts say that this man during his lifetime had highly developed muscles, an unusually thick skull and much longer than ordinary people, hands.
But what struck me the most was something else. It turned out that during his lifetime this monk suffered from a serious illness of the spine and for a very long period of time he could not move at all.
It became known that he really had big problems with the musculoskeletal system, which actually confirms the version of epic hero Ilya Muromets, who until the age of thirty-three could not move.
What could be the cause of the illness of such a physically strong man?
The director of the Museum of Medicine, V. Shipulin, claims that initially the experts had a version that the deceased had suffered bone tuberculosis. But after a detailed analysis of the relics, it turned out that this man suffered from polio almost from birth.
Poliomyelitis (from other Greek πολιός - gray and µυελός - spinal cord) - infantile spinal paralysis, an acute, highly contagious infectious disease caused by damage to the gray matter spinal cord poliovirus and is characterized mainly by the pathology of the nervous system.
This disease caused complete paralysis. These were the two main versions of the causes of immobility. That is, Ilya Muromets, described in epics and the Monk Ilya, buried in the cave of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, is one and the same person!
And 800 years ago he ended his life in this monastery.
When asked why Ilya Muromets refused to become Chernihiv governor and what helped glorious hero Holy Russian to defeat the nightingale given by the author Caucasian the best answer is
It helped to win that he did good deeds (and in epics, the one who is kinder always turns out to be smarter, stronger, more cunning, more dexterous, etc.). In addition, he loved his squad, his warriors and took care of his people. He was chosen to become a true glorious defender of the motherland. Behind him stood the power of truth, the power of the spirit, the power of love and the power of faith.
And now about the same - a little more.
According to the epics, the hero Ilya Muromets until the age of 33 (the age at which Christ began to preach and died) "did not control" his hands and feet, 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 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 he is given a third drink 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.
The confrontation of Ilya Muromets with the Nightingale the Robber, sometimes with the Idolish, called the Glutton, is also attributed to Ilya Muromets and the release of the princess from the snake ...
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). The study of the "biography" of Ilya Muromets leads to the conviction that many fabulous and legendary wandering warriors have accumulated on the name of this popular hero.
Answer from Masha Belova[newbie]
Ilya Muromets refused to become the governor of Chernihiv because he was a true patriot of his native land, he did not want to serve anyone, but wanted to serve his homeland.
Answer from luxury[newbie]
Ilya Muromets refused to become the governor of Chernihiv because he was a true patriot of his native land, he did not want to serve anyone, but wanted to serve his homeland.
Answer from Lera Mudryak[newbie]
Ilya Muromets refused to become the governor of Chernihiv because he was a true patriot of his native land, he did not want to serve anyone, but wanted to serve his homeland.
Answer from adaptability[active]
Ilya Muromets refused to become the governor of Chernihiv because he was a true patriot of his native land, he did not want to serve anyone, but wanted to serve his homeland.
Ilya Muromets Orthodox Church honors as a saint, and the people - as the main hero of the Russian land.
Why is the hero holy?
The word "hero" is associated with remarkable strength and courage. But if we think deeper, we can easily see something else there - the word "God" or "rich". The Russian people chose their words with care, so that even after many centuries they reveal important meanings to us. The word "hero" appeared in the annals in the XIII century and began to denote a person gifted with wealth, a divine abundance of strength. Before him, the Slavs used more unambiguous words: “brave” or “horobr”, that is, “daring”. They say that the strength of the heroes in its origin is not only physical. They are superior to the enemy in that they stand on the side of the truth. And God, as you know, "is not in power, but in truth." And the thirty years that the hero spent “on the stove” should be understood not as years of idleness and idleness, but as a time of learning humility and preparation for service.
Why was he sitting on the stove?
From epics it is known that Ilya Muromets spent all his childhood and adolescence on the stove. It is reported that at the age of 30 "Ilya did not have walking at his feet." Scientists who examined the relics of the saint noted in the lumbar spine a curvature of the spine to the right and clearly expressed additional processes on the vertebrae. This means that in his youth the saint could indeed suffer from paralysis. “Kaliki passers-by”, who appeared in the epic to Ilya, could, according to one version, be folk healers who set Ilya’s vertebrae and gave him a healing decoction to drink. And according to another, healing and strength is a miracle given to Elijah by God.
Nickname Chobotok
"Ilya Muromets" sounds much more serious and impressive than "Ilya Chobotok". Nevertheless, both of these nicknames belonged to the holy reverend Elijah of the Caves. Chobotok is, as you know, a boot. Ilya Muromets received this nickname after he once had to defend himself from enemies with a boot, which he put on his leg at the moment when he was attacked. Here is how the document of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery tells about this:
“There is also one giant or hero, called Chobotka, they say that once many enemies attacked him at the time when he put on his boot, and since in his haste he could not grab any other weapon, he began to defend himself with another boot, which had not yet put it on and overcame everyone, which is why he received such a nickname.
But this was not the first time that Ilya had to defend himself with such weapons. In one of the epics, a helmet helped the hero to defeat the robbers without a number:
And he started here
wave the sludge,
How to wave to the side -
so here is the street
Ay in a friend will wave -
alley."
Censorship omissions
Not everyone associates the image of the epic Ilya Muromets with Saint Elijah, whose relics rest in the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Such a division is fabulous Ilya and a real person - largely happened due to Soviet power, who made considerable efforts to make a holy fairy-tale hero-warrior. It was necessary to secularize this image, to de-Christianize it. For example, it was at this time that the episode of the epic was distorted, in which the “passing kaliki” heal Ilya. In the pre-revolutionary edition of the epic, it was stated that Christ and the two apostles were "kaliks". The Soviet edition is silent about this.
Descendants of Ilya Muromets
The village of Karacharovo is now part of the city of Murom. And in the place where the hut of Muromets stood, not far from the Trinity Church, where the hero dragged a bog oak from the Oka up the mountain, which the horse could not drag, stands the house of the Gushchin sisters. Priokskaya Street, 279. The Gushchina sisters consider themselves descendants of Ilya Muromets in the 28th generation.
The great-great-grandfather of the Gushchin sisters, Ivan Afanasyevich, inherited the heroic strength of Ilya Muromets. He could easily pull the cart on himself if the horse could not cope. And the local authorities at one time forbade him from participating in fisticuffs because of the lethal force of the blow. According to another version, this man nevertheless participated in the battles, but with one limitation: his hands were tied.
It is interesting that recently, during the cleaning of the Oka, several more ancient bog oaks with three girths each were found. But they could not pull ashore!
Murom or Morovsk?
Not so long ago, there were passionate disputes in the scientific community, and some of the opponents were convinced that the homeland of the saint was not Murom, but the city of Morovsk (Moroviysk) in Ukraine.
"IN glorious city in Murom, in a village in Karacharovo "- this is how the epics tell us about the place of birth of the hero. More than once, he himself recalls his native places, lost among dense forests and impenetrable and swampy swamps.
In the same Chernihiv region as Morovsk, there is the city of Karachev, consonant with Karacharov. And even the village of Devyatidubye and the Smorodinnaya River.
However, now the place of origin of Ilya Muromets has been established for sure. This is the Russian city of Murom, the village of Karacharovo.
In the West
Surprisingly, Saint Elijah of Muromets is also known in the West, because he is the main character not only of Russian epics, but also, for example, German epic poems of the 13th century, based, of course, on earlier legends. In these poems, he is also called Ilya, he is also a hero, yearning, moreover, for his homeland. In the German epic of the Lombard cycle, in the poem about Ortnit, the ruler of Garda, the uncle of the ruler is Ilya the Russian (Ilian von Riuzen). He participates in a campaign on Sudera and helps Ortnit get a bride. Ilya did not see his wife and children for almost a year, and the poem speaks of his desire to return to Rus'.
Another example is the Scandinavian sagas recorded in Norway around 1250: the "Vilkina-saga" or "Tidrek-saga" from the northern collection of stories about Dietrich of Bern. The ruler of Rus', Gertnit, had two sons from his legal wife, Ozantrix and Valdemar, and the third son from his concubine, Ilias. Thus, according to this information, Ilya Muromets, no more and no less, but the blood brother of Vladimir - later the Grand Duke of Kyiv.
