Svyatogor

Svyatogor is the giant-warrior in Russian mythology and folklore. His name is a derivation from the words “sacred mountain”. He and his mighty steed are so large that, when they ride forth, the crest of his helmet sweeps away the clouds. He was the last of the giants, and there are two stories of how he ended his life.

The story of Svyatogor’s passing away appears as an episode in the larger tale of Ilya Muromets, Russia’s greatest hero-warrior. Having heard of the giant’s strength, Muromets comes to challenge him, despite being forewarned not to do so by pilgrims who had miraculously healed him. On the road, Ilya Muromets sees a giant asleep on a giant horse. Ilya decides to strike him with his mace. The first time the giant does not even flinch. Ilya then decides to strike again, and again the giant did not flinch. The third time Ilya struck, however, the giant jerked upright in his saddle. Seeing who had hit him, he deftly picked Ilya up by the hair and dropped him into his pouch.

Some time later, Sviatogor’s horse stumbled and complained that carrying two knights was too much, even for him. Svyatogor took Ilya out of his pouch, and seeing that he was a knight of Holz Russia, suggested that the two of them ride together as brothers. This they did for many days until they came to a huge stone coffin lying beside a tree.

Ilya leaped off his horse and laid down in the coffin. It was too large for him, but if fit Svyatogor perfectly. Even though Ilyia Muromets pleaded with him not to put the lid on, Svyatogor did not listen. However, when he asked Ilya to remove the lid, Ilya found it far too heavy. Three times he hit it with his mace, but each time he hit it a steel band closed around the coffin, securing the lid.

Svyatogor blew some of his strength into Ilya so that he could use the giant’s own sword;  but this just made matters worse, for now two steel bands closed around the coffin every time it was hit with the sword. Resigning himself to his fate, Sviatogor had Ilya tie his horse to a tree to die right beside its master. Ilya sadly rode away from the coffin, knowing that Sviatogor, the last of the giants, would shortly be no more.

Source: http://epika.org

The second account of Sviatogor’s demise is possibly the older of the two: Sviatogor often boasted of his great strength, going so far as to say that he could even lift Mother Earth. One day, while he was out riding, he came across a small bag which lay in his path. Unable to move it with the tip of his staff, Sviatogor dismounted, and with tremendous effort, managed to hoist the bag as high as his knees. In doing so, he sweated so heavily that his sweat became blood. Sinking deep into the earth under the weight of the bag, he could not save himself.

Interestingly, there is a further legend concerning Sviatogor and his attempt to lift Mother Earth. In this story, Svyatogor is out riding, trying to find a means by which to test his great strength. While riding, he spotted a stranger carrying a small bag slung over one shoulder; but no matter how hard he spurred his mount, he could not catch up with the stranger. Finally, Svyatogor called out to the stranger, who stopped and waited for the giant to catch up.

When the two finally met, Svyatogor asked the stranger where he was going in such a hurry and what he’s carrying. The stranger placed his bag on the ground and explained to Svyatogor that if he wanted to see what was in the bag, he should lift it up and take a look. Svyatogor accepted the challenge, climbed down from his horse and took hold of the bag.  However, no matter how hard Svyatogor strained, he couldn’t move the bag even a fraction of a foot. Svyatogor admitted defeat, and asked the stranger what was in the bag. The stranger replied that the bag contained the weight of the world.

Svyatogor was impressed and asked the stranger for his name. The stranger replied that his name was Mikuluhska Selyaninovich, but most people called him Mikula. Svyatogor had heard of Mikula, and asked him how he might learn his fate. Mikula told the giant to ride to the Northern Mountains and once he got there, he should find a smithy under the tallest tree. The blacksmith will be there and he will tell him the future.

Svyatogor thanked Mikula and rode as hard as he could towards the Northern Mountains. When he reached the mountains, he found the blacksmith forging with both hands. Svyatogor asked him what he was doing, and the blacksmith replied that he was forging the fates of all those destined to marry. Interested, Svyatogor asked whom he is destined to marry. The blacksmith told him that his bride lives in The Kingdom by the Sea, dwelling in The City of the King, where she has lain for the past thirty years on a dunghill.

Although he was disgusted by the thought, Svyatogor decided to find the woman he was supposed to marry. When he found her, the sight repulsed him. In a poor and lowly hut, the woman was lying on a dunghill, her skin as black and as thick as the bark of a fir tree. Svyatogor could not imagine marrying the maiden, so instead, he took five hundred rubbles from his purse and laid them on the table before drawing his sword and stabbing the maiden through the breast.

As Svyatogor was leaving, the maiden stirred from her deep sleep; and as she stood up, the bark that had protected her for the past thirty years fell away, revealing her true beauty, the likes of which have never been seen before or since.  Finding the money on the table, she quickly set herself up as a merchant and amassed a great fortune, sailing all over the known world and trading. Finally, her ships landed at the edge of the Holy Mountains, and Svyatogor came to see the woman everyone was talking about. As soon as he saw her, he persuaded her to marry him.

On their wedding night, Svyatogor noticed the scar on her breast and asked his new bride what had caused it.  She replied that she had slept for thirty years on a dunghill in the City of the King that lay within the Kingdom by the Sea. When she awakened from her deep sleep, she found five hundred rubbles on the table, a scar on her breast, and that she was no longer covered in fir bark. It was then that Svyatogor realized that this is the woman he was destined to marry and that there is no way of avoiding the fate decreed by God.

Later accounts seem to confuse the relationship between Svyatogor and Ilya Muromyets, tending to make the two one and the same – Svyatogor being the pre-Christian personification, and Ilya the post-Christian one. Svyatogor and Ilya share some similarity with the Serbian folk hero, Marko Kraljević, who also wields a mace and is incredibly strong.

Belarus rodnovers worship Svyatogor as a god.