The Pechenegs, seeing Olga’s attitude, thought the approaching garrison was actually the returning army of Sviatoslav, come to bust heads and destroy them.

They ran for it.

After they were gone, Olga sent an angry letter to her son, demanding he return and avenge this disgrace. He came back, attacked the Pechenegs, and destroyed their chief. Happy to be avenged, Olga died of old age a month later and was given a good Christian burial. She was declared an Orthodox saint and Equal to the Apostles, making her one of only five women in history to receive the honor.

One of the grandsons she saved during the Siege of Kiev would grow up to become King Vladimir the Great, among the most famous and influential rulers in Russian history.

BLENDA

Speaking of terrible dinner parties, an eleventh-century Swedish legend talks about a sixteen-year-old girl named Blenda who threw a doozy. When she heard that Danish Vikings were coming while all the men were away on raids, Blenda rounded up the women of the village, cooked an awesome feast, and rode out to meet the marauding army with giant roasted turkey legs, huge hocks of beef jerky, and flowing mugs of delicious mead. The Danish horde basically walked into a huge party. Once all the men got drunk and fell asleep, Blenda and the women grabbed any farm implements they could find and killed the sleeping Danes with everything from shovels to riding lawn mowers. At least they died happy.

KNOW YOUR VIKINGS

NAME:

Saint Olga of Kiev

RANK:

Princess of Kievan Rus

RELIGION:

Orthodox Christian (converted 957)

BORN:

Pskov, Russia, around 890

DIED:

Natural causes, Kiev, Russia, 969

AREAS OF OPERATION:

Russia, Ukraine, Greece

NOTEWORTHY:

Destroyed her enemies with fire and earth and converted Russia into a Christian land