The Bogatyrs — Russian fairy tale character

The Bogatyrs are similar to the Western knights and are the main characters in Russian byliny —myth-like stories of battles and challenges. Stories about the bogatyrs can be divided into two periods: pre- and post-Christianity. Pre-Christianity bogatyrs were mythological knight-like strongmen such as Svyatogor—a giant whose weight is so great that even his mother, the Earth, cannot bear it. Mikula Selyaninovich is a super-strong peasant who cannot be beaten, and Volga Svyatoslavich is a bogatyr who can take any form and understand animals.
Post-Christianity bogatyrs include Ilya Muromets, who spent the first 33 years of his life paralyzed, Alyosha Popovich, and Dobrynya Nikitich.