Ruslan and Ludmila

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Ruslan and Ludmila (

wizard
and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her.

Ruslan confronts the head, by Nikolai Ge

Origin

Frontispiece of the 1st edition of 1820

Pushkin began writing the poem in 1817, while attending the

Freedom
" (вольность). A slightly revised edition was published in 1828.

Synopsis

Dedication

Pushkin dedicates the poem to unnamed young beauties, the “queens of my soul” (души моей царицы dushi mojej tsaritsy), and states that his reward is the hope that some lovesick girl will read the poem in secret.

Song 1

In a brief

Koschei (царь Кащей[2]) and fairy tales that Pushkin himself wrote, including the 33 warriors from The Tale of Tsar Saltan
. The narrator tells us he has been to this magical place and the cat has told the narrator these stories, including the following story. The story opens with a feast given by Ratmir (Ратмир).

On their wedding night, as Ruslan prepares to

consummate
the marriage, a strange presence fills the bedroom, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Ruslan finds that his bride has mysteriously vanished.

On hearing of Ludmila's disappearance, the angered Vladimir annuls the marriage and promises his daughter's hand to whoever is able to return her safely. Ruslan and his three rivals set off on horseback.

Ruslan encounters an old man in a cavern who tells him that Ludmila had been abducted by the sorcerer Chernomor (Черномор), but hurries to add it is extremely unlikely he damaged her honor – for all of his magical abilities, Chernomor is powerless before the ravages of old age. The old man himself is a

spell to win Naina's love, only to find that she herself was actually an old crone
. After he rejected her, she became bent on revenge. Now that the Finn has helped Ruslan, Naina will hate him as well.

Song 2

1905 set design for the opera by Ivan Bilibin

(This and each of the remaining songs begin with an "

mythology
and sometimes contain contemporary references.)

Rogday decides to abandon the

Kiev (Киев
) to await his trophy.

Ruslan is challenged by another rider and the story turns briefly to Ludmila's fate.

She finds herself in a lavish chamber where three maidens are ready to fulfill her every desire. Opening the chamber door, she discovers a marvelous garden to rival Solomon's. However, she feels empty without Ruslan.

She is startled by a

manservants
. She lashes out and he tumbles to the ground, tripping over his long beard. It is the wizard Chernomor, who leaves his hat as he flees.

Meanwhile, Ruslan defeats the challenger, Rogday, and leaves him to drown in the

Dnieper (Днепр
).

Song 3

Chernomor is visited by a flying dragon who turns out to be Naina, pledging her alliance in defeating the Finn. Encouraged, he decides to go to Ludmila and make advances toward her, but she is nowhere to be found. She had tried on the wizard's hat and found that she could vanish and reappear at will by varying its position on her head.

As Ruslan rides on, he finds himself in the midst of a deserted battlefield, strewn with bones, dead horses, and war

armor, and a battle horn. He could not, however, find a suitable sword
.

Continuing, he finds his path blocked by a huge hill emitting strange sounds. Closer inspection reveals it to be a giant slumbering human head. Ruslan awakens the head, which becomes angered and begins to taunt him. It sticks out its tongue. Ruslan seizes the opportunity and thrusts his lance into the tongue. Then, he gives it a slap powerful enough to knock it off its place. Where it once stood, Ruslan finds a shining sword suitable for a bogatyr. As Ruslan prepares to attack with the sword, the head pleads for mercy.

The head tells his story. He was once a mighty warrior, the brother of Chernomor, who envied him. Chernomor's

magic
power lay in his beard, and he told his brother that they must secure the sword, which had the power to kill both of them – Chernomor, by cutting his beard, the brother, by severing his head. They set off in quest of the sword, but then disputed to whom it should belong once they found it. Chernomor proposed that they both put their heads to the ground and the sword would go to the one who first heard a sound. Instead, he used the sword to sever his brother's head, which magically remained alive.

The head tells Ruslan that he bears no grudge and would be grateful if Ruslan uses the sword to defeat Chernomor.

Song 4

1905 costume design by Bilibin

Ratmir is interrupted in his journey by a young maiden who beckons him into a castle, where he finds himself enveloped in luxury. He soon forgets Ludmila. Ludmila eludes Chernomor's henchmen by remaining invisible, but then is tricked by the wizard into revealing herself when he takes the form of Ruslan and calls to her in his voice. He is thwarted by the sound of a horn and hurries off, leaving his hat behind.

Song 5

Chernomor confronts Ruslan, who has arrived at the wizard's lair. They trade blows, and Chernomor flies off, with Ruslan holding onto his beard. For three days they fly, with Ruslan snipping away at the beard, until the bedraggled wizard pleads for mercy and agrees to take Ruslan to Ludmila. Ruslan searches the palace and wanders into the garden, all the time calling for Ludmila, who remains hidden. Finally, a chance thrust of his flailing sword knocks the hat from her head. However, his lover is in a trance and does not hear him calling. He hears the Finn's voice from a distance telling him to return Ludmila to Kiev, where she will awaken.

Ruslan sets off, carrying his bride and Chernomor. He encounters the head, who, content that he has been avenged, dies in peace.

Ruslan comes to rest at a stream and is met by a fisherman, who turns out to be the Khan Ratmir. He explains that he has met his true love and no longer yearns for Ludmila. The two part as friends.

Naina appears to Farlaf and tells him that his hour has arrived. He saddles up and rides off, finding Ruslan encamped and thrusting his sword into him as he sleeps. As Farlaf rides off with his prey, Ruslan lies unconscious and finally succumbs to his injuries.

Song 6

Chernomor awakens and is joyful to see Ruslan lying dead. Farlaf returns Ludmila to Vladimir, whose initial happiness soon turns to mourning as he finds that she cannot be awakened from her deep slumber. Farlaf is sad and remorseful. To make matters even worse, the city of Kiev is under siege.

The Finn finds Ruslan and resurrects him with magical waters. He gives Ruslan a

ring
which will break Ludmila's spell, but tells him that he must first save the city from its attackers. Ruslan returns to Kiev, Chernomor still in tow, and leads the city's warriors to victory.

Ruslan touches Ludmila's face with the ring and she awakens. Vladimir gives the couple his blessing. Ruslan forgives both Farlaf and Chernomor.

Chaliapin as Farlaf, by Alexander Golovin

Epilogue

Another editorial comment by the author, who bemoans better days gone by.

Historical basis

Some of the events and names in the poem have a historical basis. The story takes place during the time Kiev (the capital of modern Ukraine) was the capital of the East Slavic state

Vladimir the Great
ruled this state from 980 to 1015. The name Ruslan is adapted from
Yeruslan Lazarevich, who appears in earlier Russian tales and is mentioned in Pushkin's The Moor of Peter the Great. Rogday and Farlaf are mentioned in Nikolay Karamzin's History of the Russian State (История государства Российского).[3]

The Pechenegs, mentioned in Song 6, besieged the city of Kiev in 968, and again (in a date which would make sense in a possible timeline of the poem) in 997.[4] The descriptions of battle are historically accurate with regard to weapons and tactics used in the 10th century.[5]

Adaptations

The poem was the basis of an opera of the same name composed by Mikhail Glinka between 1837 and 1842.

A

The Stolen Princess: Ruslan and Ludmila by Animagrad is a 3D animated adaptation of the poem.[8]

References to the tale are made in

Monday Starts on Saturday by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky: In the first part of the book Sasha stays in an old house 'by the sea' (actually in an alleyway called Curving Seashore Street) with a green oak in the garden. The house is revealed to be chicken legged hut of Baba Yaga
(who is called Naina by the characters in the book). There is a well learned cat who paces to and fro under the tree, trying to recount stories and songs but who is unable to remember more than the first few lines of each.

The 1992 video game Tetris Classic features illustrations depicting scenes from the story.[9][10]

Notes

  1. glosses
    hereafter refer to the original Russian word(s) the translation of which precedes the gloss
  2. ^ Pushkin uses this spelling rather than the more conventional Кощей
  3. Oleg the Ruler
    879–912" (Олег – Правитель. 879–912 г.) lists Farlaf among the heroes of 10th century conflicts with the Greeks.
  4. ^ Russian Interactions with Foreign Lands Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, strangelove.net
  5. ^ http://litera.claw.ru/li_z70.htm (in Russian) "Это уже достоверное и точное описание войны X века с ее вооружением, тактикой и даже средствами сообщения. Это уже начало исторического реализма."
  6. ^ Киноконцерн "Мосфильм" (2018-01-25), Руслан и Людмила, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-01-29
  7. ^ Nikitchenko, Ivan (1938), Ruslan and Ludmila, Nikolai Chaplygin, Sergei Stolyarov, retrieved 2018-01-29
  8. ^ (2018) Director: Oleh Malamuzh - Writer: Yaroslav Voytseshek (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5378092/reference)
  9. ^ Goldin, Stephen (1992). Tetris Classic instruction manual. Spectrum HoloByte. p. 3.
  10. Game Players PC Entertainment
    . GP Publications. p. 8.

References

External links