For English-speaking users: they are the characters from the "Ruslan and Ludmila" poem by Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), published in 1820.
Here we can see Ruslan (good knight) with a miracle sword: only by it a bread of Chernomor (an evil magician dwarf) can be cut off, so he will be stripped of his magic power.
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"...Руслан, не говоря ни слова,
С коня долой, к нему спешит,
Поймал, за бороду хватает,
Волшебник силится, кряхтит
И вдруг с Русланом улетает...
Ретивый конь вослед глядит;
Уже колдун под облаками;
На бороде герой висит;
Летят над мрачными лесами,
Летят над дикими горами,
Летят над бездною морской..."
А.С. Пушкин "Руслан и Людмила"
"...Ruslan dismounts, and, never pausing,
The space between them neatly cleared,
Grabs the magician by the beard!
The captive grunts and strains, and, heaving
Himself from off the bank of snow,
Sails skyward with our hero, leaving
The knight's astonished steed below.
They're 'neath the clouds, Ruslan still gripping
The beard and swinging in the air.
O'er seas and forests, o'er the bare
And rugged hills, their summits tipping..."
A. Pushkin "Ruslan and Ludmila"
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