"Nikita the Tanner", alsoNikita Kozhemyaka (Russian:«Никита Кожемяка»), orMykyta Kozhumyaka (Ukrainian:«Мики́та Кожум'я́ка») is an Eastern European fairy tale set inKyiv.^[1][2] The main character is anEast Slavicfolk hero (bogatyr), a character from a legend. In some sources he is calledKirill orKyrylo the Tanner (Russian:Кирилл Кожемяка,Ukrainian:Кирило Кожум'я́ка),^[3] sometimesElijah the Tailor (Russian:Илья Швец,Ukrainian:Ілля Швець). The oldest source on it could be found in theLaurentian Codex of thePrimary Chronicle.^[4]

This Eastern Europeanfairy tale set inKyiv begins when aSlavic dragon,Zmey Gorynych, attacks the lands of theKievan Rus', taking beautiful girls as prisoners. One day the dragon kidnapped the daughter of theKievanprince. To find out the dragon's weakness, theKievan prince's daughter pretended to fall in love with the dragon. Gorynych revealed to the prince's daughter there was only one person who could defeat him: a tanner fromKiev named Nikita. The princess then told this secret to her pigeon, who then flew to alert her father, the prince. The prince went to Nikita the tanner's house to ask for help. TheKievan prince found it difficult to persuade Nikita into fighting. Nikita (abogatyr) refused the wealth and power that the prince offered him. Eventually, theKievan prince gathered hundreds of children in front of Nikita's house, who begged Nikita to save them from Gorynych's attacks. Only then did Nikita agree to fight.

Nikita then went to Gorynych's lair, and, after a long fight, had the dragon heavily beaten with his heavy wooden club. Frightened, the dragon offered Nikita to become allies and rule the world together. Nikita demanded that they split the world and plow the border of their halves, then used the dragon to pull the plow instead of a plowing horse. After they plowed a furrow across the land, Nikita demanded that they plow further to divide the sea as well. The foolish Gorynych obeyed and ultimately drowned.^[5]

• InKashchey the Immortal (1945),Sergei Stolyarov was in the role of Nikita. The film is loosely inspired by the legend and combines characters from various Russian folk tales.
• Mykyta Kozhumyaka (animated short film created byKyivnaukfilm, 1965) replaces the dragon with a nomadic horde.^[6]
• Nikita Kozhemyaka (animated short, 2008) - an episode in the Mountain of Gems series of shorts, it is a relatively faithful, albeit comical, adaptation of the legend.
• Gorynych the Snake (Змій Горинич) was featured inUkraine's Ukranimafilm's 2014 animated film,Babay.^[7][8]
• The Dragon Spell /Mykyta Kozhumyaka (animated feature film, 2016) - loosely inspired by the legend, the main protagonist isMykyta's son.^[9][10]
• Mykyta Kozhumyaka,Ukrposhta postal service stamp sheet,Ukraine, 2017

• "Kozhumyaky" district inKyiv,Ukraine.^[11]

• Dobrynya Nikitich
• Simon the Tanner

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNikita Kozhemyaka.

• Warner, Elizabeth (2002).Russian myths, illustrated. Legendary past. British Museum. p. 80.ISBN 9780714127439.
• Haney, Jack V. (1999).Russian Wondertales: Tales of heroes and villains. M.E. Sharpe. p. 135.ISBN 9781563244896.
• A poem "Mykyta Kozhem'jaka" by Oleksandr Oles' (in Ukrainian)

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