Bogatyrs — Archetypes of Modern Russian Aggression
by L. Toscano (February 23, 2022, version 1.2.5)
Bogatyrs are mythic medieval warriors, who populate both Russian folktales and the Russian collective conscious.
Except for armor and a horse, Russian bogatyrs have little in common with European knights. European knights are not the product of magical births; their fighting skills come by training and ancestry, and their futures as knights depend on their adherence to rigorous protocols for advancement.
In comparison, Russian bogatyrs are akin to meta-humans, having either magical births or encounters with magic which transfer powers to them. Bogatyrs have unnatural strength, accelerated growth rates, and inhuman skills or powers without training.
European knights are gentlemen soldiers who follow a code of conduct, and most often work for a liege lord. Honor, bravery, skill and a deep regard for the law are their characteristics. A knight’s power is circumscribed by public responsibility. For a European knight: “right is might!”
In contrast, Russian bogatyrs have no code of conduct; they are a law unto themselves. Bogatyrs are self-centered, self-confident strongmen — and whatever they desire is inspired. Their victories are due less to bravery and more to magical strength and skills, and to rustic cunning. A bogatyr’s power is bounded only by his submission to a more powerful bogatyr or to a sovereign ruler. With little regard for law, bogatyrs defend Russia against invasion and occupation, while enforcing a fearful hegemony over their fellow Russians. For a Russian bogatyr: “might is right!”
Most Russians know and love these medieval myths, and more so, many Russians magnify the atavistic bogatyrian belief: “might is right.” They like that idea; and, given their brutal autocratic history, it makes sense to them. The rule of law might be a fuzzy notion to many Russians, but the iron hand of Vladimir Putin and his predecessors is very real.
It seems that Russian leaders are channeling the spirits of mythical bogatyrs. They imagine themselves to be modern bogatyrs, complete with unrivaled power and destiny. They hypocritically play the part of ancient bogatyrs, pretending to defend Russia against invasion and occupation, while in fact, expanding Russian territory and consolidating fearful control over their own people. In the minds of Russia’s leaders: “might is right!”
In 2011, Vladimir Putin, who is a great fan of the Russian martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko, scurried unbidden into the judo ring immediately after a match against an American, Jeff Monson. Emelianenko had won that match, and Putin was eager to meet his brawny hero, celebrate an American defeat, and get some publicity for it. Undoubtedly, Putin was confused by the raucous boos and jeers directed at him from the arena’s 22,000 spectators; but Putin pressed on, loudly extolling Emelianenko as “a real Russian bogatyr!”¹ Vladimir’s stunt was intended to invoke his fellow Russians’ love of the traditional folktale characters, and to redirect that love to himself. The message of his stunt is clear: for Russian leaders, “might is right” and both “might” and Russian leaders should be honored.
Sadly, the devastation and grief that this bogatyrian fantasy could cause to Russians, Ukrainians and the rest of the world is both unimaginable and unnecessary.
The principal tools for realizing this destruction and despair are the propaganda and falsehoods that Russian leaders aggressively disseminate. Russia’s leaders are behaving like children, acting out archetypes and myths that are unreal, but behaving as if those fantasies are fact. They are hypocrites. If the truth does not help their cause, then they create a false “reality” — a theater of falsehoods within which they portray the heroic, but dreadful bogatyrs. The New Testament (Luke 7:32) says it well: “They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” Russia’s leaders are actors, playing characters from old myths so that their Russian audience might perceive those performances to be familiar and feasible. If the Russian people accept it, then their leaders will say. “We have conjured the magic myths and bogatyr archetypes, and you have played along; we have created the false narrative of invaders at our borders, and you have endorsed it. We are happy, and you will not be punished.”
When it comes to Ukraine and the West, all of Russia is under a Rasputin-like spell of misinformation and propaganda. Luckily, most nations have rejected the false narrative that Russia is a victim of Western aggression. Those nations have dismissed the idea that Russia is an ethical warrior, a knight — instead, they acknowledge Russia as a bully, a bogatyr. Many nations have dismissed Russia’s wild irrational lies about Ukraine. It seems that the brutish, bucolic bogatyr myths do not resonate well within Western cultures, where the stories of European knights are linked to the rule of law, and not to the whims of strongmen. In the West, it is understood that the knightly code of “right is might” was inlaid into the West’s ethos aeons ago, and likewise embedded into the Western rule of law. Strength, moral strength, comes to Westerners for doing what is right; and, not all the power and sinew on earth, whether natural or magical, can bend wrong into right, or right into wrong. Within Western countries, the code of “right is might” applies to anyone who has power over another. In principle, law and authority should be derived from what is “right,” and not from “might.”
Broadcasting the truth about what Russia’s leaders are doing, and why they are doing it, should be enough to prevent this particular misinformation from spreading in the West. That is because the revived and altered bogatyr myth — that Russian leaders are endowed with uncanny absolute power to protect and reign over all lands deemed to be Russian — has no foothold in the West, except in the minds of a few pro-Putin puppets and authoritarians. For Westerners, it is considered a bizarre, abhorrent antiquated idea taken from pagan folktales, which were modified in Russia’s more recent times to give them a slight Christian patina, and to wash away some of the old pagan stench.
But, for Russia and other Slavic countries, much more is needed to lift the curse of this bogatyrian propaganda. Countering misinformation in Russia and in other Slavic countries will require something more, but luckily, not something different.
All Western nations, institutions and organizations, believing in “right is might,” human rights, self-governance, and the rule of law, should join and participate in coordinated endeavors to deliver truthful information through Russia’s information wall, and to do so with ever-increasing effectiveness and frequency. The information walls of other Slavic countries are more porous; they should be goals, too. But, Russia’s state police, media service and internal propaganda ministry have become as ruthless, powerful, and tireless as a horde of bogatyrs. Russia’s information wall has become increasingly more solid and impenetrable; and, less and less outside information gets through to the Russian people. They seem not to know, and therefore, not to care. For that reason, penetrating Russia’s information wall should be the primary goal of counter misinformation efforts, since disinformation is at the heart of the Slavic problem.
It’s lucky that Western countries have enough computers, software engineers, data experts, marketing managers, and wealth to conduct the many simultaneous campaigns that will be needed to penetrate, circumvent, decay, and decrease the integrity of Russia’s information wall. The West has far more resources to undermine Russia’s information barrier than Russia has to sustain it. The goal should be to break through that wall, at will, with any and all truthful information that could help Russians counter the misinformation coming from their leaders. Additionally, this should include evidence of the advantages of the West’s “right is might” ethos, and the disadvantages of Russia’s “might is right” culture. All this should be done on a scale and in a manner that would ensure the rapid spread of truthful information throughout Russia.
A concerted endeavor to systematically hobble Russia’s information wall can only be a long-term effort. But, long-term efforts to bring down walls have worked before. Berlin is the paradigm example because its wall was built and maintained by Moscow to divide East Berlin from West Berlin. Dividing families and friends, destroying lives, blocking access to information, and reducing human rights is part and parcel of Russia’s bogatyr mentality that “might is right.” The Berlin Wall is no more, and with any luck Russia’s information wall will fall, too.
The effort to break down information walls and disseminate truth should be joined and supported not only by NATO, but also by all democratic nations, provinces and states. All freedom-loving institutions, organizations, corporations, businesses, and individual kickstarters should join the endeavor. As much time and effort should be spent on spreading truth into propaganda-ridden countries, as is spent on mining cryptocurrency.
The goal should be to get true and useful information into those countries, and into the hands of their people. So, what can you do? Get true and useful information into those countries, and into the hands of their people. Use the Internet, use social networks, use streaming services, use broadcast media, use email, use messaging, use print media, use postal services, or carry in information, if it is safe. Do what is right, and that will become might and moral strength. Do not sympathize with tyrants, falsehoods or hatred. Instead, work to recognize them and call them out.
It is both difficult and dangerous to call out Russian leaders; they are tyrants, liars and political confidence men with unyielding resentment for disloyalty. They take what they can from their patsies, while trying to convince the world that they, themselves, are the real victims. Hopefully, one day the citizens of Russia will have the information and determination they need to turn away from their bogatyrian desires for might and dominance. Perhaps, one day Russians will not be led by dictators, but instead by the rule of law.
Footnotes
¹https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/20/putin-booed-moscow-martial-arts-fans
Copyright © 2022 L. Toscano. All Rights Reserved For All Text and Images.
