# Nikíta the Tanner explained — Russian Folktales

> Chapter companion for Russian Folktales by A. N. Afanasyev.

## What happens

A dragon terrorizes Kyiv, demanding maidens as tribute. When the Tsarévna is taken, she learns from the dragon that only Nikíta the Tanner can defeat him. Despite initial reluctance, Nikíta is moved by the tears of five thousand children, tarries himself in hemp, fights the dragon, and ultimately drowns him in the sea after plowing a boundary trench from Kyiv to the Caspian.

## Themes in this chapter

### Good vs. Evil

Nikíta the Tanner represents the force of good who defeats the dragon, a symbol of evil oppression.

### Heroic Quest and Transformation

Nikíta undergoes a transformation from a trembling tanner to a fearless hero who saves the princess and the land.

### Trickery and Cunning

The Tsarévna uses intimacy and cunning to extract the dragon's secret weakness, and Nikíta tricks the dragon into the sea to slay him.

## Character check-ins

### The Dragon

A grisly worm demanding tribute of fair maidens; takes the Tsarévna as wife; fears Nikíta the Tanner.

### The Tsarévna

The princess taken by the dragon; uses her little dog to communicate with her parents and discovers Nikíta's strength.

### The Tsar

Father of the Tsarévna; seeks out Nikíta and begs him to fight the dragon.

### The Tsarítsa Harpist

Mother of the Tsarévna; joins the Tsar in pleading with Nikíta.

### The Dog

The Tsarévna's little dog that carries letters between her and her parents.

## Key lines

> He took thirty puds of hemp, tarred it, and swathed himself in it in order that the dragon might find him a hard morsel, and then set out.

He wrapped himself in tarred hemp so the dragon couldn't bite through.

_Nikíta's preparation for battle, using a protective coating to make himself invulnerable._

> So the tanner took the plough, which weighed three hundred puds, and harnessed to it the dragon, and drew the harrow all the way from Kíev to the Caspian Sea.

Nikíta yoked the dragon to a heavy plow and carved a furrow from Kyiv to the Caspian Sea.

_The creation of a legendary trench, an etiological explanation for a geographical feature._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/nik-ta-the-tanner
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters