There are few tales of revenge as epic as that of Olga of Kyiv. In 945 AD Olga set out on a campaign of vengeance that would make a lasting mark on the history of Eastern Europe. However, there is good reason to believe it never actually happened. The source that contains the tale of Olga’s vengeance is among the most unreliable chronicles of the medieval era. What should we believe about one of Eastern Europe’s most merciless female rulers? Tune in and find out how arrogant boat faces, burning bathhouses, and a baptism switcheroo all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Bushkovitch, Paul. A Concise History of Russia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Butler, Francis. “Ol’ga’s Conversion and the Construction of Chronicle Narrative.” Russian Review, vol. 67, no. 2, 2008, pp. 230–242.

Cross, Samuel Hazzard., and Nestor. The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. Harvard University Press, 1953.

Duczko, Wladyslaw. Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. Brill, 2004.

Isoaho, Mari. “Shakhmatov’s Legacy and the Chronicles of Kievan Rus’.” Kritika, no. 3 (2018), p. 642.

Likhachev, D.S, Deming Brown, and et al. “Russian Culture in the Modern World.” Russian Social Science Review 34, no. 1 (February 1, 1993): 70.
Tolochko, O. P. Ocherki nachalʹnoĭ Rusi. Laurus, 2015.