The Vengeful Olga of Kiev

I think I mentioned this before, but history was one of my favorite subjects when I was in school. When I was studying, I covered many crazy historical antics including:

• The American Revolution
• The French Revolution
• World Wars I and II
• The American Civil War

There's one story that was quite a shocker for me. I found it on Facebook, a 30-second short that discussed some of what she did. Now, that short clip didn't give much info except one or two highlights, and I thought I'd look into her story.

Olga of Kiev and the Kievan Rus

Olga's date of birth is unknown, but it could be anywhere between 890 and 925 A.D. Here's what we do know about her birth: she was born in Psov, Northern Russia, as part of a Viking family. She married Igor I of Kiev at the tender age of 15, and they had a son together. They had a son together, Sviatoslav, not long after.

Everything else we know comes after her marriage to Prince Igor I of Kiev. Igor himself was the son of a chieftain named Rurik. He was left in the care of a man named Oleg after his dad's death. Oleg had managed to form a sort of kingdom by uniting specific tribes in the region comprising the Kievan Rus.

The Murder of Igor I of Kiev

A smaller tribe, the Drevlians, had joined Igor on a few military campaigns and often paid significant tribute. In 945, Igor headed off to the Drevlian capital to force them to pay tribute (they'd stopped after Oleg's death). To that end, he took a large army to the smaller tribe. The Drevlians were, as you can imagine, terrified of the larger army and paid the demanded tribute pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, it's at this point that Igor got a little cocky. See, on his way home, Igor decided that the tribute wasn't enough; he turned around and went back to demand more. His mistake - apart from the obvious - was taking a much smaller escort with him.

As soon as he arrived, the Drevlians killed him.

Bloody Vengeance

With Igor's death, his wife, Olga, took the throne. It wasn't long before she'd get her revenge. The Drevlians, feeling pretty smug about their successful assassination, sent a messenger to the Kievan Rus. The messenger presented a proposal that she marry their Prince.

Now, any normal person would likely be furious about that. Olga, however, saw an opportunity and responded:

"Your proposal is pleasing to me, indeed, my husband cannot rise again from the dead. But I desire to honor you tomorrow in the presence of my people. Return now to your boat, and remain there with an aspect of arrogance. I shall send for you on the morrow, and you shall say, "We will not ride on horses nor go on foot, carry us in our boat." And you shall be carried in your boat." - Olga of Kiev

The negotiators, rather chuffed with themselves, returned the next day as instructed. They repeated what they were instructed to say, the locals did exactly as Olga said, and carried the negotiators in their boat. Of course, they thought they'd be honored, but that wasn't the case. Instead, Olga's people carried them to a trench where they were dropped in and buried alive. Apparently she asked them at one point whether they liked the 'honor' they were getting.

After that, Olga sent word to the Drevlians with instructions to send their most distinguished men to escort her to their prince. The idea being that she'd be escorted to the prince with all the honors she deserved. Of course, since they didn't know what had happened to the previous diplomatic party, these instructions were also followed. When this second group arrived, Olga had baths drawn for them and invited them to refresh themselves before the meeting. I'm sure you can guess what happened next: they were killed off. When the diplomats entered the bathhouse, the doors were slammed shut, and the bathhouse was burned to the ground with the men inside it.

Hell Hath No Fury...

Oh, and if you thought Olga was done, well, you'd be very, very wrong.

She sent word to the Drevlians one more time, this time instructing them to lay out a feast so that she could hold a proper funeral feast for her husband. As they held the feast, her enemies joined in and promptly got absolutely sozzled on mead (an alcoholic drink made of fermented honey, yeast, and water).

Once the Drevlians were all completely drunk out of their minds, Olga gave the order, and her entourage set about slaughtering their king's murderers. The vengeful queen then returned to Kiev to assemble an army to finish what she started. That initial battle was won easily by Olga's forces, and they drove the Drevlians back to their cities. Eventually, the only city that still stood was the capital, and the resulting siege was frustrating. Olga, however, wasn't done. Instead, she sent them a message:

"Why do you persist in holding out? All your cities have surrendered to me and submitted to tribute, so that the inhabitants now cultivate their fields and their lands in peace. But you had rather die of hunger, without submitting to tribute." - Olga of Kiev

She promised that everything would end, all she wanted was...birds? Yes, really, she requested birds - specifically three pigeons and three sparrows from each house in the city. The Drevlians, exhausted and desperate, accepted the terms without question.

The birds were delivered, and Olga had her soldiers attach small pieces of sulphur to each bird's leg and set them aflame. The birds returned to their nests and, well, obviously, the whole place went up in flames.

Now, that's just terrifying!

The Legacy of Olga of Kiev

With her revenge completed, Olga remained in control of the Kievan Rus for many years before she converted to Christianity. She passed away in 969, and her son and entire kingdom mourned her loss.

She was later granted a sainthood...I'm not sure how I feel about that. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this exploration into the story Olga of Kiev. Feel free to recommend someone else to write about in the comments

Thanks for Reading! :)