*BACKGROUND
ON FOLK-HERO ILYA MUROMETS
by Valery Kizilov
A folk-hero of Russian bylinas, the greatest
bogatyr. He is the son of a farmer, and was born in
village Karacharovo, near Murom. As a child Ilya Muromets
was gravely ill and could not even move before 33 years.
Later he was cured by an old singer, and a Svyatogor-bogatyr,
dying, gave him his strength. Muromets went to the capital
to be a warrior of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. He defeated
Solovey-Razboynik, a monster who lived in forests and which
could kill people by screaming. Therefore Ilya became the
Vladimir`s chief bogatyr. When Russia was attacked by Kalin,
the tsar of steppe nomads, Ilya Muromets defeated him.
Later, he kept the border against invaders, liberated Kiev
from Idolishche, and performed many other feats.
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