Heroic Tales and Sagas

HEROIC TALES & SAGAS

Heroic Tales & Sagas

 This program is for anyone who loves a grand adventure.  It's message of good living and risk-taking, creativity and perseverance, brings a sense of get-up-and-go to audiences.

Source:   Wilson, Richard, and Frank C. Papé. The Russian Story Book: Containing Tales from the Song-Cycles of Kiev and Novgorod and Other Early Sources. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1916. Print. 

Rationale:  Like many myths, these tale has been retold for an English audience; however, they do reflect the cultural mores of the people of ancient Russia and demonstrate the connection between purpose, vitality, and passion. Age is truly just a number.

Audience:  Elementary and Up, Up, Up; perfect for associations, church groups, and seniors.

Possible Themes: Myth, Storytelling, Community, Gender

These are the great tales of a knight errant, of the great deeds of Ilya of Murom as he bounds across the open steppe upon his faithful shaggy bay steed Cloudfall, who leaps over rivers and mountaintops and leaves whirls of dust in his wake.  Taken from the Song-cycle of Ancient Kiev, this epic tale mirrors in many ways the mythologies of King Arthur and other notable heroes.

Indeed,  this knight errant--whose moniker the old cossack--rides for more than 300 years performing feats of derring do!   And though he dons white-hair that sits atop his head like a bleached raven, his heart is ever youthful as is his arm.  Find out more when you join me in The Adventure of the Three Roads and the Burning White Stone.  

On the female side, we have How Stavr the Noble Was Saved by a Woman's Wiles.  In this tale, the strongman is, well, a woman--Vasilisa, who is as bold and powerful as her male counterparts, even more so.  A fateful boast, or storytelling, figures prominently into the text as Vailisa plots to save her husband from a rambunctious and ill-fated blunder.