ABSTRACT
The bylina “Vasily Ignatyev” has probably been derived from the song “Ilya Muromets and Kalin Tsar” (Propp 1958b: 343–54). Both epics have the same basic scheme: the Tatars attack Kiev, all bogatyrs have left the city, and Prince Vladimir searches for and finds a defender who defeats the enemy force. However, the rescuing hero turns out to be the unknown Vasily Ignatyev, who has wasted all his belongings on drink. Instead of a majestic and idealized Holy Russian bogatyr such as Ilya Muromets, Vasily, an “unheroic” drunkard from the urban poor, becomes the savior of Kiev. However, it is possible that Vasily may have been a member of a druzhina who has squandered his equipment, arms, and horse on drink. The bylina understandably is sometimes called “Vasily the Drunkard.”
