Yeruslan Lazarevich

Old Russian readers greatly enjoyed the tale; due to the variety of its content and by appearing frequently in lubok illustrated prints, it spread widely among the people.

One theory (Vladimir Stasov, 1868) is that the legend was an adaptation of the exploits of Rostam, hero of the Persian epic Shahnameh.

Between the two above-mentioned episodes, the first of which is the beginning of the second – the tales were ended, to immediately place the other adventures of Uruslan (with little connection in the original versions), such as the meeting with a Russian hero Ivan, the fight with him, then their fraternisation and mutual assistance in the search by Uruslan for Ivan's daughter taken by Theodulus-zmeyya Kandauly Feodulovny; the meeting of Uruslan with beautiful princesses, held by a giant-keeper, Ivashko; the battle with the sea king dragon saving Princess Anastasiya Vahramyeevna, his marriage to Princess of the Sunflower City and so on.

Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev wrote an abridged version of the tale and interpreted the character of the inimical king as a storm deity, probably derived from mythology.

[6] "Yeruslan Lazarevich" is classified under its own type in the East Slavic Folktale Classification (Russian: СУС, romanized: SUS): SUS -650B*, Russian: Еруслан Лазаревич, romanized: Yeruslan Lazarevich, closely placed with other tale types about strong heroes.