This pattern
was certainly present in Ruslan and
Lyudmila, a poem written in 1820 by Alexander
Sergeyevich Pushkin
(1799-1837). After winning a major battle for his people,
Ruslan marries Lyudmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, and on their
wedding night Lyudmila is abducted by an evil wizard. Ruslan attempts to explain to Prince
Vladimir what had happened and the prince immediately dissolved the marriage because
Ruslan was unable to protect his wife.
Ruslan then begins his journey to return Lyudmila
to their home and encounters numerous obstacles along the way, but is successful
in every test that he faces. He receives
assistance from an old man with magical powers who offers Ruslan guidance in
his quest to find Lyudmila. Years
earlier this old man had tried to win the love of a beautiful young woman named
Naina. He cast a spell in order to win
Naina’s love, but quickly found out that Naina was not a beautiful young woman,
but an old witch in disguise. After being
rejected by this man, Naina vowed revenge against him. Naina was now working with the evil wizard, Chernomor, in
an effort to destroy Ruslan.
One
aspect of the hero’s journey involves leaving the ordinary world and entering a
special world. In the case of this poem,
that special world was the forest. The
forest is a place where one comes face-to-face with the forces of nature and
must begin to turn inward as a way of making use of the hero’s internal
fortitude which will sustain him on this journey and allow him to be successful. This journey is as much about self-discovery
as it is about accomplishing some external goal.
Ruslan is a great warrior who shows no fear
when confronting external enemies who threaten to attack Kiev, but now he must
face his own internal fears and “demands” as he attempts to find his wife and
bring her home safely. It is much easier to confront an enemy which you can
see, but confronting internal enemies is part of the hero’s journey and part of
everyone’s life experience at one time or another.
Not only is Ruslan searching for Lyudmila,
but three other knights are also searching for her in the hope that they will become
her husband once she is brought home. One by one Ruslan’s rivals disappear and he is
the only person capable of being Lyudmila’s husband.
After facing many adventures, Ruslan finally finds
Lyudmila. However, he is left for dead
by one of the other knights, Farlaf, who rides off to Kiev to return Lyudmila
to her father. There is one major
problem. Lyudmila has been placed under
a spell and is asleep. Prince Vladimir tries
everything to wake Lyudmila from this spell, but to no avail.
Initially
Farlaf told Prince Vladimir that he had fought for three days to save Lyudmila,
but his finally admits that he killed Ruslan in order return Lyudmila to Kiev
and he is banished from the kingdom forever.
Prince
Vladimir has little time to think about his daughter’s condition because Kiev
is under attack from their enemies. The old
man finds Ruslan dead and restores him to life using magic waters. He then gives Ruslan a ring and tells him
that the ring has the power to wake up Lyudmila, but first Ruslan must defeat
the enemies of Kiev.
Always the great warrior, Ruslan returns to
Kiev, singlehandedly defeats his enemies, and quickly goes to Lyudmila. In the presence of Prince Vladimir and all
those in the court, Ruslan uses the power of the ring to awaken Lyudmila and
Prince Vladimir makes an official announcement that Ruslan and Lyudmila are
once again married.
Each of us will have to undergo a hero’s
journey at some point. We may not
encounter wizards or knights, but we will have to come face to face with what
we truly believe and who we truly are. Daily
life often forces us to wear many masks throughout the day; however, there
comes a time when all the masks must be put aside and we must confront
ourselves.
Stories
such as Ruslan and Lyudmila may be only
stories, but they tell us something about the journey of self-discovery and
follow a pattern which is prevalent in countless stories throughout the world. The
fact that these stories follow such a similar pattern and are known throughout
the world should be an indication that there is some degree of truth in these stories
and that they can assist us in our own journey as well.
End Notes
1) Hero’s Journey http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm
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