>The son of a peasant, Ilya was born in the village of Karacharovo, near Murom.[1][5] He suffered a serious illness in his youth and was unable to walk until the age of33.[3] He could only lie on a Russian stove, until he was miraculously healed by two pilgrims.[3] He was then given super-human strength by a dying knight, Svyatogor, andset out to liberate the city of Kievfrom Idolishche to serve Vladimir I of Kiev. Along the way, he single-handedly defended the city of Chernigov from nomadic invasion (possibly by the Polovtsi) and was offered knighthood by the local ruler, but Ilya declined to stay. In the forests of Bryansk, he then killed the forest-dwelling monster known as Nightingale the Robber (Solovei-Razboinik), who murdered travelers with his powerful whistle.[3]