Notes

• Alyósha Popóvich. One of the great knights at the court of Prince Vladímir. He was an effeminate kind of person and perhaps one who rather incited others to effort by his jibes than by his prowess. He is always given the uncomplimentary sobriquet of the “Mocker of Women.” His principal heroic episode is told in the prose ballad in this book entitled “Alyósha Popóvich.”
• Angéy , Tsar. Filuyán is a fabulous city found in the cantations and mystical rites of the Russian peasants. It is, however, probably derived from the Greek Θύλη .
• Bába Yagá. In Professor Sypherd’s studies on Chaucer’s House of Fame , Chaucer Society, 1904, a most valuable note will be found on revolving houses. It will be seen that the legend is cognate with magic wheels that revolve at great speed, or turn on wheels emitting flame and poison. The nearest analogy quoted is the whirling rampart in the Mael Duinn , but the Russian legend is evidently related and not derived.