In Focus

While reading up on the Ukraine invasion, I came across this interesting gem I thought I’d share.

Have you heard of Saint Olga of Kyiv? I haven’t until now. Her story makes me believe she should be the patron saint of scorned women.

Olga was born to Viking parents in Pskov, northern Russia, around the turn of the 10th century. She married Prince Igor who may have been about 20 when the Drevlians, a neighboring tribe, murdered him. He was tied to two tree trunks which were released so his body was split in two. That’s brutal.

Igor left behind Olga and their three-year-old son in the dangerous area. The Drevlians sent emissaries to suggest she marry their leader, Prince Mal. Plotting her revenge, she accepted the proposal. She told them to return to their boat and she would send for them the next day. Olga had arranged for a trench to be dug. The delegation was thrown into the trench and was burned alive. Wow!

Olga had called for a second delegation from the tribe before they could learn of the fate of the first ones. When they arrived, she had her people draw them a bath. The Drevlians entered the bathhouse. Olga ordered the doors to be bolted and the building set ablaze. How does that saying go? “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?”

Olga went to the place where the Drevlians had killed her husband. She wished to hold a funeral feast to commemorate him. Once the Drevlians were drunk she had her men massacre them. Oh, but she’s was not done yet...

Olga laid siege to the Drevlians’ base at Iskorosten (the modern-day Ukraine city of Korosten). She tricked those inside the city with an offer of peace: all they had to give up were three pigeons and three sparrows from each house. When Olga had the birds, she had her men tie a sulphurous cloth to each bird’s legs. The birds flew back to their nests for the night and the sulphur set every building on fire simultaneously. How nefariously genius!

Olga ordered her soldiers to catch everyone who fled the burning city so they could be extirpated or taken into slavery. Her revenge for her husband’s death was at last complete.

Saint Olga of Kyiv: Ukraine’s saint of defiance and vengeance.

That is definitely a fitting title. I believe she is being heavily channeled by the Ukrainian people right now. Look at Sunflower Grandma (Ukrainian woman offering seeds to Russian soldiers so “sunflowers grow when they die”) for example. She’s the perfect embodiment of Saint Olga.

Godspeed to the Ukrainian people.