Solovei-Razboinik- Slavic CreatureCreature · Monster"Nightingale the Robber"

The Terror of the Crossroads

For thirty years, the direct road from Chernigov to Kiev was closed. Solovei-Razboinik, the Nightingale Robber, had nested in an enormous oak at a crossroads in the Bryansk forests, and no traveler passed his domain alive. The byliny name his patronymic as Odikhmantievich and place his family in the oak with him, a whole brood of robber-daughters married to robber-sons-in-law.

The Whistle

His weapon was his voice. When Solovei-Razboinik whistled at full force, grass lay flat on the ground, flowers lost their petals, trees bent to the earth, and men and horses fell dead. Some versions of the bylina describe him as a giant man perched in the branches. Others give him wings and talons. In either form, the whistle turned a single creature in a tree into something that could flatten a forest.

Ilya Muromets

The slaying of Solovei-Razboinik is one of the first exploits of Ilya Muromets. On his initial journey to Kiev, Ilya took the direct road through the Bryansk forests despite warnings that it had been impassable for thirty years. Solovei unleashed his whistle. Ilya's horse stumbled. Ilya did not. He shot an arrow that struck Solovei through the right eye and knocked him from the oak.

Ilya did not kill him there. He bound the Nightingale and carried him to Kiev to present before Prince Vladimir as proof of what he had done. At court, Vladimir demanded a demonstration. Solovei whistled at full strength, shattering the palace roof and sending nobles sprawling. Ilya seized him, dragged him to the open field outside the city walls, and cut off his head. The road to Kiev was open again.