Duke Stepanovich () is a character in Russian '' byliny''. The young

bogatyr A bogatyr (, ; , ) or vityaz (, ; , ) is a stock character in medieval Bylina, East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear mainly in Kievan Rus', Rus' epic poems—Bylina, ''bylinas''. Historically, they came i ...

, who rides through a treacherous mountain pass towards the

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, the capital of

ancient Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...

, to

Prince Vladimir Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych (; Christian name: ''Basil''; 15 July 1015), given the epithet "the Great", was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 978 until his death in 1015. The Eastern Orthodox ...

. In this image, hungry birds swoop before him, intent on pecking him, while a

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

breathes fire at his horse's hooves.

Background

Different versions of this ''

bylina A (, ; ), also popularly known as a ''starina'' (), is a type of Russian oral epic poem. deal with all periods of Russian history. narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. or ...

'' specify different motherlands for Duke Stepanovich:

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Volyn Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in Ukraine it is roughly ...

Korela Korela Fortress (; ; ) is a medieval fortress in the town of Priozersk, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Origin The original fortification was built by Karelians but the castle seen today is from medieval times. It was first mentioned in a Novgorodian ...

, Galich. In this version, when he came to Kiev and met Prince Vladimir, the capital seemed poor to him and he told the prince how rich his homeland was. On the instigation of Churilo Plyonkovich, a rash young knight, Vladimir imprisoned Stepanovich and sent scouts to Duke's homeland to ascertain if Duke told the truth. The scouts returned with confirmation, and the message that if all Kiev's treasures were sold, it wouldn't be enough to buy sufficient paper to inventory Stepanovich's homeland's wealth. Churila confronts Stepanovich with a variety of tests, which ends with the Duke prevailing and Churila chastened. Duke Stepanovich
Sunbirds.com

References

{{Reflist Characters in bylinas