Profiles In History: Olga of the Rus

Hi everyone! Do you remember us? I know, it has been quite a long time since we have written. Well, it's the beginning of a new school year, so I am going to attempt to rectify that situation. I'm taking a class on early Russian history right now, and we've read quite a variety of documents about the early princes and princesses of the Rus lands (what Russia used to be called). Well, the coolest of these (in my eyes) was Olga. Let me share her story with you:

Olga's husband, Igor, was killed by the Derevlians. Why? Well, he'd gone with a bunch of his men to collect tribute. After they were done and were riding away from the city, Igor decided that they hadn't quite gotten enough, so he rode back to take even more from them. Understandably, they were a little pissed off about this. Their response? They killed him.

Well, after this, the Derevlians send emissaries to Olga. They told her that they had killed her husband because he was bad, but their prince was good, so she ought to marry him. Well, Olga told them to go back to their ship. The next day, she would send her men down to them and they should demand to be carried to her hall in their boat. She would then have a celebration for them. Well, they go back to their boats and do everything as she suggested. However, when they get to her hall, it turns out that she had told her men to dig a pit over night. She then has the Derevlians dropped in to the pit. She then basically looks down at them and asks them how they like that. She then has them buried alive.

But it doesn't end there. She then sent her own emissary to the Derevlians. She tells them that she would love to marry their prince, but that her people won't let go of her that easily, so the Derevlians need to send a group of their greatest men to come and convince her people. The Derevlians happily oblige. When this new group shows up, Olga tells them that she has prepared a bath house for them. Pleased by her kindness, the Derevlians all happily trot in to the bath house. Olga promptly locks it behind them and lights it on fire.

But wait, there's more! She takes an army with her and rides off to Dereva, ostensibly to visit her husband's grave. She goes, and mourns, and the Derevlians ask where the men they sent to her were. She tells them that their men are following behind with her husband's body guards. She then lays siege to the town. After a short while, the Derevlians ask her if they could make peace with her. They tell her they will pay her all sorts of great tribute. She says that they can't because they've been under siege. However, she will accept tribute of a few small birds from each house. They happily oblige. Well, she has her soldiers tie incendiary devices of some sort to each bird and lets the birds go. They all promptly fly back to the houses from whence they came, thus burning the city down.

What happens to the survivors of all of this? Olga levies a heavy tribute on them and happily trots back home.

I feel as though there ought to be a moral to this story, but there isn't. Also, to make everything more complicated, Olga is apparently a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church because she was a convert to Christianity before the Rus were officially converted.

I hope you all enjoyed that story as much as I did!

Until next time,
Brenna