Ruslan and Lyudmila by Alexander Pushkin

First published:Ruslan i Lyudmila, 1820 (English translation, 1936)

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Mock epic

Time of plot: Late tenth century

Locale: Russia

Principal characters

• Ruslan, a knight
• Lyudmila, Kievan princess, Ruslan’s bride
• Chernomor, an evil sorcerer
• The Finn, a benevolent sorcerer
• Naina, a witch
• Rogday, ,
• Farlaf, and
• Ratmir, Ruslan’s rivals
• Vladimir, prince of Kiev

The Poem:

As Vladimir and his warrior retinue feast in celebration of Lyudmila’s marriage, the amorous bridegroom Ruslan plucks at his mustache and waits impatiently for the ceremonies to end. Just as uneasy are his rivals Rogday, Farlaf, and Ratmir, who sit brooding over their love for Lyudmila and their hatred of Ruslan. Finally the newlyweds retire to the bridal chamber, and soon only the rustle of discarded clothing and lovers’ murmurs are to be heard—until suddenly, in a flash of lightning, a roll of thunder, and a puff of smoke, Lyudmila vanishes. A frustrated and puzzled Ruslan is left to explain the mysterious disappearance of his bride. Vladimir, prince of Kiev, blames Ruslan for failing to protect her and offers Lyudmila’s still-virginal hand to whichever knight succeeds in bringing her back. Ruslan, Rogday, Farlaf, and Ratmir at once mount their horses and gallop off; they soon part ways.

A dejected Ruslan finds himself at the cave of the Finn, a serene old hermit who greets him by name. The Finn explains that it is the sorcerer Chernomor who has spirited Lyudmila away for his own lustful ends, but Ruslan need not fear—his bride will remain unharmed and he will get her back in the end. The Finn also tells Ruslan his own story of love and misplaced enchantment and warns that his old love Naina, now a witch, will turn her malice on him too. Ruslan, emboldened by hope, continues his quest.

Meanwhile, Rogday has decided to first do away with Ruslan and then pursue Lyudmila. After chasing down the cowardly Farlaf by mistake, then leaving in amused disgust, Rogday encounters an old woman who directs him further; this same old woman, promising that the girl will not escape, advises Farlaf to go home and bide his time.

Lyudmila awakens to find herself in Chernomor’s castle, in a splendid chamber hung with precious brocades and redolent of incense. Wandering through the enchanted gardens outside the castle, utterly alone, she contemplates throwing herself from a bridge but thinks better of it; she also considers starving herself rather than eating the sumptuous dinner that is miraculously set before her, but in the end she eats. At nightfall, as she waits in terror to see what will befall her, the door to her bedchamber opens to reveal a procession of slaves carrying a long gray beard on pillows; at the end of the beard pompously strides Chernomor, the hunchbacked dwarf. Lyudmila leaps from the bed, snatches the dwarf’s cap from his head, shakes her fist, and screams so deafeningly that the entire parade falls into confusion and Chernomor tangles himself in his own beard. The slaves then scoop him up and carry him off to untangle him.

Far away, after a bloody battle by moonlight, Ruslan manages to unhorse Rogday and hurl him into the river, where he is immediately pulled to the bottom by a mermaid. Lyudmila, meanwhile, discovers that wearing Chernomor’s cap makes her invisible.

Ruslan, who has been disarmed in the struggle with Rogday, wanders gloomily among the ruins of an old battleground; although he finds himself a new mail shield and a new lance, he cannot find a proper sword. That same night he encounters an enormous helmeted head that he takes at first for a hill. After exchanging insults with the head, Ruslan strikes it, and it rolls away to reveal a magical sword. The enchanted head is that of Chernomor’s giant brother, who has been betrayed by the dwarf. The head reveals Chernomor’s secret—that all his magical power resides in his beard.

As Ruslan proceeds north, overcoming witches, giants, and various spirits, Ratmir is distracted from his pursuit of Lyudmila by a magical castle and twelve voluptuous maidens. Lyudmila teases her captors by leaving traces of her invisible presence, until Chernomor manages to trick her into showing herself by taking the form of Ruslan. As she falls into an enchanted swoon, Chernomor begins to paw her, but the sound of a horn interrupts him—Ruslan has arrived.

Chernomor flies to the attack, but Ruslan grabs the dwarf’s beard and holds on as they soar over mountain, forest, and sea. Ruslan finally forces Chernomor back to the castle, where he cuts off the beard, packs the dwarf behind his saddle, and quickly finds Lyudmila. The voice of the Finn advises Ruslan to take the sleeping girl back to Kiev, where she will recover. On the way back, Ruslan meets his former rival Ratmir, now a fisherman leading an idyllic life with the young wife who wooed him away from the maidens. Naina, however, now leads treacherous Farlaf to the sleeping Ruslan’s camp, where Farlaf runs the knight through with his sword and then carries Lyudmila off to Kiev to claim his prize. As Ruslan lies dying, the city waits for Lyudmila’s enchantment to lift, but it does not. Meanwhile, a crisis is at hand—Kiev is under attack by the nomad raiders the Pechenegs.

The wise Finn then goes to a magical spring from which he fetches water of death to close Ruslan’s wounds and water of life to restore him. Ruslan arrives in Kiev in time to rally the Kievans to defeat the Pechenegs, and he then revives Lyudmila. The city rejoices, Farlaf confesses and is pardoned, and the couple live happily ever.

Bibliography

Bayley, John. Pushkin: A Comparative Commentary. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Devotes a number of pages to Ruslan and Lyudmila and its impact. Discusses the poem in the context of Pushkin’s later fairy tales in verse.

Bethea, David M. Realizing Metaphors: Alexander Pushkin and the Life of the Poet. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998. Describes the relationship between Pushkin’s life and his art and discusses why, more than two hundred years after the poet’s birth, his work remains relevant. Includes index and illustrations.

Binyon, T. J. Pushkin: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 2004. Prizewinning biography chronicles Pushkin’s literary success alongside his personal failures. Describes how the writer included small pieces of his life in his novel Evgeny Onegin (1825-1832, 1833; Eugene Onegin, 1881) and other works.

Briggs, A. D. P. Alexander Pushkin: A Critical Study. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1983. Provides an excellent introduction to Pushkin’s work. Especially valuable for an explanation of the formal aspects of Pushkin’s poetry aimed at readers who do not speak Russian.

Kahn, Andrew, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Pushkin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Collection of essays by Pushkin scholars offers discussion of the writer’s life and his works in various genres. Topics addressed include politics and history in Pushkin’s work and Pushkin’s position as an author in Soviet and post-Soviet culture.

O’Bell, Leslie. “Young Pushkin: Ruslan and Liudmila in Its Lyric Context.” Russian Review 44, no. 2 (April, 1985): 139-155. Discusses the poem in light of Pushkin’s earlier lyrics and takes issue with the common critical evaluation of the poem as sparkling entertainment but less-than-profound poetry.

Pushkin, Alexander. “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” In Collected Narrative and Lyrical Poetry. Translated by Walter Arndt. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, 1984. Examines Pushkin’s sources for the poem, with special attention to the vogue for gothic tales and translated ballads. Discusses contemporary reaction to the poem.

Vickery, Walter. Alexander Pushkin Revisited. Rev. ed. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1992. The chapter “Early Verse and Ruslan and Lyudmila” analyzes the poem and gives a good overview of the state of Russian literature when Pushkin entered the scene.