https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_MurometsIlya Muromets is a major figure in byliny, a type of Russian epic folklore collected in the 18th and 19th centuries.[4]
The son of a peasant, Ilya was born in the village of Karacharovo, near Murom.[1][5] He suffered a serious illness in his youth and was unable to walk until the age of 33.[3] He could only lie on a Russian stove, until he was miraculously healed by two pilgrims.[3] He was then given super-human strength by a dying knight, Svyatogor, and set out to liberate the city of Kiev from Idolishche to serve Vladimir I of Kiev. Along the way, he single-handedly defended the city of Chernigov from nomadic invasion (possibly by the Polovtsi) and was offered knighthood by the local ruler, but Ilya declined to stay. In the forests of Bryansk, he then killed the forest-dwelling monster known as Nightingale the Robber (Solovei-Razboinik), who murdered travelers with his powerful whistle.[3]
In Kiev, Ilya was made the chief bogatyr by Vladimir and he defended the country from numerous attacks by the steppe people, including Kalin-tsar [ru] of the Tatars. Generous and simple-minded but also temperamental, Ilya once went on a rampage and destroyed all the church steeples in Kiev after Vladimir failed to invite him to a celebration. He was soon appeased when Vladimir sent for him.
