Anika the Warrior (russian: Аника-воин; from gr, ἀνίκητος, "unbeatable, unbeaten") is a

Bogatyr A bogatyr ( rus, богатырь, p=bəɡɐˈtɨrʲ, a=Ru-богатырь.ogg) or vityaz ( rus, витязь, p=ˈvʲitʲɪsʲ) is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear ma ...

, a

knight errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval Chivalric romance, chivalric romance literature. The adjective '':wikt:errant, errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adv ...

character of Russian fairy tales. According to a "universally known religious ballad", he was a violent and sacrilegious man who set out to destroy the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

in Jerusalem, but was stopped by the half-beast Wonder. Anika challenges Wonder to a duel, but is immediately overcome because Wonder is Death in disguise. Though he begs for more time and attempts to bribe Death, no mercy is given. Proverbially, an "Anika the Warrior" is one engaged in something as hopeless as a fight against death. He appears in the folk plays

Tsar Maximilian ''Tsar Maximilian'' (russian: Царь Максимилиан) is a well-known and complex Russian folk theatre, having enjoyed wide popularity throughout European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian ...

and King Herod, and is mentioned in

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

's ''Childhood''. Its plot is loosely based on the Byzantine epic about

Digenes Akritas ''Digenes Akritas'', ) is a variant of ''Akritas''. Sometimes it is further latinized as ''Acritis'' or ''Acritas''. ( el, Διγενῆς Ἀκρίτας, ) is the most famous of the Acritic songs and is often regarded as the only surviving epic ...

.Эолова арфа: Антология баллады, Москва, "Высшая школа", 1989, , page 625

References

* * Богатыри и витязи Русской земли: По былинам, сказаниям и песням. (1990) Moscow: "Moskovsky Rabochy" publishers Russian folklore Literary characters Russian knights Fictional knights Church of the Holy Sepulchre {{lit-char-stub