Mythic Russia takes you to the world of Russian myth, history and folklore, a land just freeing itself from the Mongol Yoke and already beginning to face threats from the armoured knights of Europe, a land of deep, dark forests and onion-domed citadels, a land where Christianity is often a thin veneer over the Old Faith, a land of peasants and heroes, of dragons and bathhouse-spirits and...the flame-feathered Firebird.

After all, few peoples have suffered as much through their history as the Russians – periodic foreign invasions, famines, poor soils, hot summers and arctic winters, insane and capricious rulers, you name it – and few have retained their humour, dignity and culture so well. One manifestation has been in their traditional folklore and a mythologised version of their history. Russian folklore is a rich in variety and drama as Russian history, as strongly influenced by other cultures… and as striking a mix of the entertaining and the macabre. Tales of heroic figures and the chronicles of proud cities stand alongside (and as often mix with) a huge body of folktale and legend.