ABSTRACT
Mikhailo Potyk appears as the main hero only in the epic bearing his name. Interpretations of this song have varied widely, perhaps because it contains numerous archaic beliefs and blends features originating among the eastern Slavs before, during, and after Kievan Rus (Froianov and Iudin 1993; Novichkova 1982). Furthermore, this bylina has been considered to be either a conglomeration of random elements that do not form a unified story, or a flexible cycle that consists of motifs from diverse sources and genres (Iarkho 1910). However it may be regarded, this work often becomes one of the longest Russian epics, sometimes amounting to over a thousand lines. About sixty variants have been recorded.
