 | The epic songs of Russia |  |
Stavr Godinovich
STAVR, whom we meet with in the Chronicle of
Novgorod in the year 1118, was not a boyar, as
stated in the songs, but a sotsky,—the ruler of a
hundred; Novgorod and its suburbs being divided into
hundreds according to their different trades. The
courteous Prince was Vladimir Monomachus, who
summoned all the nobles of Novgorod to Kief, and
made them take an oath of allegiance to him. Some
he permitted to return home; others, among them
Stavr, he sent into exile in wrath at some of their
exploits.
Ryabinin, one of the best of epic singers, explained
Vasilisa's easy victory over Vladimir's heroes, by saying
that Ilya of Murom had not arrived in Kief at that
time. Consequently, as a daughter of Mikula, a representative
of the Earth and the Elder Heroes, she was
superior to all the Younger Heroes.
Such wrestling and shooting matches were not uncommon
at feasts, as the Ipatief Chronicle of 1150
informs us, and even horse-racing, as in the song of
"Ivan the Merchant's Son."
| The epic songs of Russia | |