ABSTRACT
Khoten Bludovich does not belong among the central heroes in the Russian epic tradition and appears only in the song bearing his name. The bylina “Khoten Bludovich,” which essentially concerns bride taking, has been recorded thirty-five times. At a feast in Prince Vladimir’s palace, Bludov’s widow proposes to marry her son Khoten to Chaina, the daughter of the widow Chasov, who rejects the proposal in an insulting and abusive manner. (In Kievan Rus, a woman was often called by her husband’s name.) After returning home, Bludov’s widow tells her son Khoten about how she has been publicly offended. Seeking revenge for an affront to his family honor, he goes to the home of Chasov’s widow and wreaks such havoc that she in turn is insulted and appeals to Prince Vladimir for satisfaction. After receiving his permission, she hires an army of mercenaries, puts her nine sons at their head, and sends them against Khoten, who fights the army alone and kills or captures all the sons. Chasov’s widow is forced to submit and begs Khoten to take Chaina as his wife. At first, he threatens to take her as a washerwoman or to marry her to one of his servants, but then, often at the insistence of Prince Vladimir, he agrees to marry Chaina.
