The legend that concerns Dobrynya’s manifestation as a Lancer is one detailing the quest that raised him into the ranks of the Bogatyrs.
Dobrynya had been sent by his liege Prince Vladimir into the Sorochinsk Mountains to hunt down the dragons that plagued the populace there. Having encountered and slain many young dragons, Dobrynya decided to bathe in the nearby Puschai River. In the middle of swimming, Dobrynya was caught by a terrible three-headed she-dragon, Gorynych. Managing to dive into the waters, Dobrynya emerged on the bank of the river, only to find his horse, with which he had left all his weapons, frightened away by the monster. Spotting the hat of a priest abandoned in the grass, Dobrynya used it as an improvised weapon. As the hat was a holy object and heavy enough to be wielded against the dragon, Dobrynya managed to fend off the beast’s attack.
Sensing the turning tide of battle, Gorynych suggested peace between the two. As long as Dobrynya would no longer kill young dragons, come to the Sorochinsk Mountains, bathe in the Puschai river or rescue Russian captives, the dragon, in turn, would not raid the land of Russia, nor capture its people, nor attack Christians. Dobrynya agreed to the dragon’s terms, and the two swore to be as brother and sister in this pact. The dragon left, and Dobrynya, having lost his horse, began the slow walk back to the capital.
Once he arrived back in Kiev, however, Dobrynya heard that Gorynych had raided the capital, carrying off Prince Vladimir’s niece. Incensed at this betrayal, Dobrynya headed for the palace. There, he found a great many heroes mustering to attack the dragon. Told by his advisor of the pact between Dobrynya and Gorynych, and that Dobrynya had bested the dragon before, Prince Vladimir charges the young warrior with the task of retrieving his niece. Should he succeed, he would be made a Bogatyr. Should he fail, it would be Dobrynya’s head that would hang from the gates of Kiev, rather than the dragon’s.
Bemoaning his fate, Dobrynya went to his mother for guidance. His mother, a wise woman, gave her son a Tatar spear and a silken whip. She also bequeathed to Dobrynya the horse that had carried both Dobrynya’s father and grandfather to battle. With that, Dobrynya set off once again into the Sorochinsk Mountains.
There, he was once again faced with the dragon’s monstrous brood. Guiding his horse to trample them, he slew many, but the beasts were too numerous, biting at his horse’s legs. Remembering his mother’s instructions to use the whip should his horse be on the verge of failing, Dobrynya gently rapped the whip against his horse’s side. Suddenly filled with renewed vigor, the horse charged through the young dragons, carrying its Master towards Gorynych’s lair.
Striding to meet the warrior in battle, Gorynych berated Dobrynya for breaking his promises to her. Pointing out that it was Gorynych that first broke their pact, Dobrynya declared that Gorynych had to die for her crimes. With the time of words done with, battle was joined. The two fought tirelessly for days on end, and on the third day Dobrynya began to despair, hope of ever defeating the dragon draining from his heart. At that moment, he heard a voice from the heavens, telling him to fight for three hours more. Should he last, victory would be his.
In the space of three hours, the fighters had turned their battlefield into a crater, and Dobrynya had been unhorsed during the fierce battle. At her moment of triumph, Gorynych committed a fatal mistake, rearing upwards to slay her foe once and for all. Doing this exposed her soft underbelly, which Dobrynya thrust his spear into, the blow striking true. Deafened by the dragon’s scream of pain, Dobrynya ripped his spear free of Gorynych’s flesh in a spray of blood. The dragon staggered and collapsed, falling atop Dobrynya’s legs and pinning him down. Unable to move, Dobrynya could only watch as the dragon’s blood began to fill the crater, the earth unable to soak in such quantities of liquid. Despairing, Dobrynya once again heard the voice from the heavens, this time instructing him to thrust his spear into the ground, and to command the earth to drink up the blood. Doing so, Dobrynya did as the voice had bidden, and a great rent opened up in the earth, the blood draining into the resulting chasm.
Dobrynya managed to struggle out from underneath the dragon, rescuing Prince Vladimir’s niece as well as the dragon’s other captives. Upon his return, Dobrynya is greeted as a hero and inducted into the ranks of the Bogatyrs for his service.