Bogatyr

A bogatyr (Russian: богатырь; Old East Slavic богатырь) or vityaz (Russian: витязь) is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends (byliny), akin to a Western European knight-errant. In modern Russian, the word is used to describe a knight, a warrior or, figuratively, a strong person.

Etymology

Bogatyr is derived from baghatur, a historical Turco-Mongol honorific title. The etymology of this word is uncertain, although the first syllable is very likely the Iranian word *baγ "god, lord".

An early non-Russian usage of the word bogatyr was recorded in Sernitskiy's book Descriptio veteris et novae Poloniae cum divisione ejusdem veteri et nova, (A description of the Old and the New Poland with the old, and a new division of the same,) printed in 1585 at an unknown location, in which he says, "Rossi… de heroibus suis, quos Bohatiros id est semideos vocant, aliis persuadere conantur." ("Russians... try to convince others about their heroes whom they call Bogatirs, meaning demigods.")

Bogatyr (disambiguation)

A bogatyr is a folk or epic hero in Russian culture.

Bogatyr may also refer to:

Art

Entertainment

Other uses

See also