Svyatogor () is a

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

ical ''

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 ...

'' (

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

) in ancient

bylina A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb '' ...

s of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

. His name derives from the words for "sacred mountain". Svyatogor's tale, ''Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor'', forms a part of the

Ilya Muromets Ilya Muromets (russian: Илья Муромец), or Ilya of Murom, sometimes Ilya Murometz, is one of the ''bogatyrs'' (epic knights) in Bylinas of Kievan Rus. He is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Pop ...

cycle. According to the epic, the mother-Earth cannot support the weight of Svyatogor, but he can not overcome the "pull of the earth" contained in the bag: when he tries to lift the bag, his feet sink into the ground. Svyatogor's father is "dark", he is blind - a sign of coming from another world. After becoming a ''bogatyr'' of

knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

Vladimir the Bright Sun (Владимир Красное Солнышко, ''Vladimir Krasnoye Solnyshko''),

Ilya Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah. ...

(another bogatyr) rides off to challenge Svyatogor, despite being forewarned not to do so by pilgrims who had miraculously healed him. On the road, Ilya Muromets sees a giant asleep on a giant horse. Ilya strikes him three times with his mace, with the only result that the giant, still asleep, grabs Ilya and puts him into his pocket. Eventually, the giant awakes, Ilya introduces himself and learns that the giant is Svyatogor; they become friends and journey together. They arrive at a giant stone coffin and both have a premonition that it is for Svyatogor. Ilya manages to lie down in the coffin first, but it appears too large for him, but it fits Svyatogor perfectly. When Svyatogor closes the lid, it seals the coffin. Before the coffin seals completely, Svyatogor passes part of his strength to Ilya through his breath. Belarusian

Rodnovers The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery * bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie * bs, Rodnovjerje * mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie * cz, Rodnověří * hr, Rodnovjerje * pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...

worship Svyatogor as a god.Shnirelman, Victor:
“Christians! Go home”: A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia
''. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002. p. 202

In popular culture

* Vasily Slesarev's aircraft, the

Slesarev Svyatogor The Svyatogor (russian: Святого́р) was a large experimental Russian aircraft, constructed by Vasily Slesarev in 1916. The aircraft was named after the mythological hero Svyatogor. Development The work on the Svyatogor began in 1913. ...

, was named after the mythical bogatyr. *''Svyatogor'' was the first name of the icebreaker ''Krasin''. *Svyatogor appears in the 1956 live action Soviet film ''

''. *Svyatogor appears in the animated film ''

Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmey Alyosha is an affectionate diminutive (hypocorism) of the name Alexey and may refer to: People * Alyosha (singer) (born 1986), Ukrainian pop singer * Alyosha Abrahamyan (1945–2018), Armenian football player *Alyosha Andonov (born 1961), Bulgari ...

'' (2004) of ''Three Bogatyrs'' trilogy, voiced by

Ivan Krasko Ivan Krasko (real name Ján Botto, pseudonyms ''Bohdana J. Potokinová'', ''Ivan Krasko'', ''Janko Cigáň'', 12 July 1876 in Lukovištia (''Lukovistye'') – 3 March 1958 in Bratislava) was a Slovak poet, translator and representative of mode ...

. * A Czech

stop motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

version of this was made and became part of WGBH Boston's anthology series, '' Long Ago and Far Away''. *In the

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

game ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...

'', several mechanical warriors (Mechs) called Svyatogor appear in the background of the Volskaya Industries map, used by the Russian Army for defense.

References

External links

''Svatohor'' on YouTube
Part 1
''Svatohor'' on YouTube
Part 2
''Svatohor'' on YouTube
Part 3 Slavic mythology {{Russia-stub