Igor Marzalyuk
MINSK, 17 March (BelTA) - Ilya Muromets was born in Bykhov Uezd, Igor Marzalyuk, Chairman of the Standing Commission on Education, Culture and Science of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, said in the recent episode of BelTA project True History. Lectures by Igor Marzalyuk.
Speaking about the great Belarusian archaeologist, ethnographer, and folklorist Evdokim Romanov, who lived and worked in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Igor Marzalyuk noted that Evdokim Romanov preserved several versions of a legend about Ilyushka that existed in Bykhov Uezd.
“This legend reflects the most important plot lines and epic tales about Ilya Muromets. What’s most interesting is that this legend claims that Ilyushka - this epic hero - was not born somewhere in the village of Karacharovo or anywhere else. This Ilya Muromets was born in Bykhov Uezd; it even specifies the village. Moreover, he was a great hero and performed many heroic deeds. And for all his merits, for his devoted service to the Christian faith, God called him to himself. He ascends to heaven in body and becomes a prophet. Thus, according to the beliefs of the Bykhov peasantry in the late 19th century, Elijah the Prophet is none other than Ilya from the Bykhov land,” Igor Marzalyuk explained.
According to him, this folk recoding, connecting Elijah the Prophet and Ilya Muromets, was characteristic of legends common in Mogilev Province, particularly in the Bykhov land. “One might smile, but it is very interesting when certain narratives of sacred history are nationalized, and when certain holy prophets are tied to the Belarusian land,” the chairman of the Standing Commission added.
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