Полкан or Polkan is a Centaur
Polkan in Russian mythology - Hercules, the centaur or polupes-kinokefal. The hero of "The Tale of the Beauvais-king." (from Russian Wikipedia[1])
Polkan or Palkan (from Italian. Pulicane, «dog breed") - the character "A Tale of Beauvais prince," the centaur (a creature with the body half human, half horse), in some versions - kinokefal (pesey with his head), wield enormous power and speeds (jumps can travel long distances - the "seven miles per gallop"). The story first appears as an enemy of Bova, but after a battle with him is his loyal friend and ally. Polkan helps win Bove sent against the enemies of ratification, virtually invulnerable in battle. However Polkan knows about his imminent death from the clutches of the lion and killed while protecting his wife and children from these predators.
The Italian chivalric poem, Andrea da Barberino, "The French kings," which served (in a prose translation in Old Belarusian dialect) source of the Russian novel, Pulikane - polupes, poluchelovek, the son of a noble Christian seniors, who have come together with a dog (a common mythology and folklore motif of the marriage of humans and animals Wed Minotaur). [2]
Image Polkan firmly entrenched in Russian folklore and folk art XVII-beginning of XX century. In the epics Polkan pesiglavets referred to as, in some subjects Idolische replace rotten in others - is in the retinue of Prince Vladimir in the number of "strong warriors." In the cheap popular editions of XVIII-XIX century, it was completely identified with the centaur (as a false etymology polukon), and the most popular among the artists enjoyed the scene of his battle with Bovoy. In folk crafts such as toys Kargopol it also often depicted with the body of a horse, with a frequent image in the form of Polkan polucheloveka-polupsa with a club.
The name used Polkan composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and librettist V. Belsky: so was named governor of the opera "The Golden Cockerel" based on "Tales of the Golden Cockerel" by A. Pushkin.
