Spirited away by the evil sorcerer Chernomor on the day of her wedding, Lyudmila waits for her beloved Ruslan to rescue her. However, before he can effect her release, the gallant Ruslan must first endure all the trials and tribulations that the world and the malevolent wizard can throw at him. Full of daring adventures, and peopled with a remarkable collection of magical - and monstrous - characters, the resulting epic is a brilliantly ironic retelling of the medieval fairy tale world of swashbuckling knights and damsels in distress.