Руслан и Людмила
Although "The Lay" is the only authentic source mentioning Boyan, his name became exceedingly popular with later generations. He is mentioned in the "Zadonshchina" and Pushkin's "Ruslan and Ludmila". The folklorist Alexander Afanasyev considered Boyan a precursor of Ukrainian "kobzar"s. Soviet scholars tended to associate him with the House of Chernihiv, assuming that he started his career at the court of Mstislav of Tmutarakan. Boris Rybakov supported this theory and linked his name to a graffito on the wall of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev which mentions a purchase of "Boyan's land" by "Vsevolod's wife".