ABSTRACT
The bylina “Stavr Godinovich” combines two stories that exist in many traditions and appear in several genres: a wife who saves her husband from prison, and a woman who disguises herself as a man and is tested various ways to learn her sex. The Russian epic combining these subjects has been collected in fifty variants that appear in heroic or novelistic versions (Vs.F. Miller, 1897–1924, 1: 263–82; Selivanov 1986). According to the heroic version, the boyar Stavr visits Kiev and, during a boasting bout at a feast for Prince Vladimir’s court, brags about his wealth and his young wife. Stavr foolishly adds that she can outwit both Prince Vladimir and the members of his court. Prince Vladimir responds to this “challenge” by putting Stavr in prison. When Stavr’s wife, Vasilisa Nikulichna, learns about this at home, she disguises herself as a man, assumes the masculine form of her name (Vasily Nikulich), and, in some instances accompanied by a druzhina, goes to Kiev to rescue her husband. Much as the hostile Tatar emissary in the song “Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar,” Vasilisa presents herself as a threatening envoy and demands tribute for twelve years from Vladimir, who is frightened even though his daughter Apraxia perceives a woman in the envoy. Stavr’s wife passes a series of tests (bathhouse, leaving the correct imprint in a bed, shooting arrows, wrestling, or playing chess) whose purpose is to verify whether she is a man or a woman. In the end, the wily envoy agrees to accept Stavr in place of tribute, thereby freeing him from prison. Prince Vladimir is tricked by Stavr’s wife and is compelled to accept the truth of Stavr’s boast about her.
