Holy Vengeance: Olga of Kyiv

Saint Olga by Mikhail Nesterov (1892), sketch of the painting of the Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Kiev, oil on canvas, private collection

Olga or Elena of Kyiv 

Born: c. 925 

Died: 11 July 969

Country: Ukraine

Culture: Kievan Rus

Few words describe Olga as well as savage. Not much is known about her childhood, but when she came to power as a young woman she proved just how much you didn’t want to be on her bad side.

Born in Pleskov, a town in northwestern Russia, Olga’s early life is mostly a mystery. We do know that by the time she was fifteen, she married Prince Igor of Kiev and had a son. Her new husband had a friend named Oleg, and they were busy convincing their neighboring rulers to unite and combine their power. They turned out to be successful and created one large territory called Kievan Rus. It spanned parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. 

The nearby land of Dereva was ruled by Prince Mal, and their people were called Drevlians. The Drevlian prince had been allied with Kievan Rus, and decided to pay them tribute instead of joining their territory. But after Oleg died, Prince Mal stopped paying tribute. This made Igor mad—really mad.

Igor left Olga and their young son to lead an army to the Drevlians, demanding that they pay up. Prince Mal, faced with such a large force, conceded. With that taken care of, Igor was returning home when he started to get selfish. If it had been that easy, why not take more? Bringing just a small escort this time, he returned to Dereva and demanded more tribute money. In answer, Prince Mal killed Igor. Mal then sent a convoy of twenty negotiators in a small boat to Olga, who had not yet heard the news of her husband. 

When the Drevlian convoy arrived at Olga’s royal court, they had two messages for her. First, Prince Mal had killed her husband. Second, Prince Mal wanted to marry her. Though this report was certainly shocking, Olga had to hatch a plan, and quickly. Igor’s death meant that she now ruled Kievan Rus as queen regent, since her three-year-old son was not old enough to assume the throne. Olga thought quickly and concocted a grand scheme of bitter revenge, all executed with the grace and dignity of a queen. 

She told the Drevlians that she was honored by the proposal, and wished to honor them in return. They should return to the ship for the night, and in the morning Olga would send her people to them. She said that the people would hoist them up in the ship and carry them on their shoulders to a great ceremony in their honor. The Drevlians were thrilled, and returned to their ship for the night.

The next day, Olga’s people did indeed hoist the Drevlians and their ship on their shoulders--straight to a massive trench. Olga had ordered it to be dug under cover of night. Her people tossed the men into the trench and started burying them alive. According to the historic record, as they were being buried Olga bent down and asked whether they “found the honor to their taste”.

Olga's Revenge on the Drevlians by Fyodor Bruni, before 1839

But Olga wasn’t done yet. Prince Mal had no way to know what had occurred to his men. She sent a letter pretending to accept Mal’s marriage proposal, and asked him to send another convoy to escort her to Dereva. Mal agreed. 

The second convoy, clueless about the fate of the first, arrived in Olga’s court. She demanded that they had to bathe before she would see them, and directed them to the royal bathhouse. When the Drevlians entered, Olga had the doors bolted and the building set on fire, burning all of the Drevlians to death. 

Olga (right) overseeing the burning of the Drevlians in the bathhouse, Radziwiłł Chronicle (15th century)

Then, Olga sent a third message to Dereva. She played the part of a blushing bride-to-be, saying that she was on her way to her new husband. She asked that a grand feast be prepared, with lots of mead to drink upon her arrival. When she arrived, Prince Mal welcomed the queen to Dereva and escorted her to the feast, filled with the lords and ladies of Drevlia and prepared just as she had asked. Feeling victorious, the Drevlians drank heavily, getting drunker and drunker by the hour. Late into the night, when the Drevlians could hardly see straight, Olga gave the signal. The soldiers killed all 5,000 Drevlian in attendance. 

Now Olga put the rest of her plan into action. She gathered her army and set off for a city called Korosten, the town where her husband had been slain. The cat was finally out of the bag and the Drevlians feared Olga. She sent her armies across the kingdom, taking over towns and staking her claim to their lands. After all, most of the cities’ lords had been at the wedding feast and were not coming back. 

The city of Korosten saw her coming and quickly closed the city walls. No problem, she was patient. She laid siege to the city, surrounding it with her troops and stopping any supplies from getting in. If they wouldn’t let Olga in, then she would starve them out. 

The people of Korosten proved pretty formidable, but while they had enough resources in the beginning, things started to get tough after a year. The Korosten people could not access their fields to farm crops, could not import food from other towns, and could not get medicine when their stores ran out. If the siege didn’t end soon, their people would die. 

Olga got creative. She sent the city a message, asking basically ‘Why are you being so stubborn? All of the other cities have already submitted to me and can farm their lands and live in peace. If you surrender, life can return to normal.’

The Korosten people were exhausted, but they were still wary of Olga. They agreed to pay tribute but refused to surrender. The Korostens thought if they opened the gates Olga would destroy the city as vengeance for her husband. She answered them saying that her vengeance had already been satisfied by killing Prince Mal, and all she wanted was to make peace. She offered to give up the siege of the Korostens if they gave her just three pigeons and three sparrows from each family. 

The people of Korosten offer sparrows and pigeons in tribute to. Olga, Radziwiłł Chronicle (15th century)

Relieved at such a small price to pay, Korosten agreed. They sent the birds in cages to Olga, and that was their last mistake. Under cover of night she ordered her soldiers to strapped sulfur pouches to their legs, set them on fire, and sent them flying back to the city. The birds returned to their nests, and the entire city went up in flames. Anyone who escaped the city was cut down by her soldiers.

Olga (left) overseeing the seige and destruction of Korosten, Radziwiłł Chronicle (15th century)

Finally, all of Dereva was hers. Olga’s vengeance finally satisfied, she actually turned out to be an astute and just ruler. She spent the rest of her life enacting legal reform, establishing administrative centers, defending her country, and evading marriage proposals.