Lezione di storia individuata su Twitter proprio ora. :-)

Oh, I love St Olga. For anyone who doesn’t want to google, here’s a potted history of why she is the patron saint of defiance and vengeance.

Pre-conversion, Olga was pagan and was married to Prince Igor. The Drevlians were a neighbouring tribe and during a dispute over tributes, they bent two birch trees to the ground, and tied them to each of Igor’s legs. Then, they let the trees go. The trees straightened out, but Igor didn’t. He was torn apart.

Enter – Princess Olga and her vengeance.

Step one. Olga, playing nice, welcomed the Drevlian ambassadors who had been sent to negotiate her next marriage to Prince Mal, because that’s appropriate(?!). She sent messengers to summon the Drevlians to her hall, but the ambassadors demanded that they -along with their boats – be carried to Olga’s court. So they did!

What the Drevlians didn’t know was that, before they arrived, Olga had ordered her men to dig a trench. Her men carried the boats filled with Drevlians over to the trench and dumped them in, boats and all. Then she watched as they were buried alive. But she isnt done, oh no.

Step two. Mal sent a group of Drevlian chieftains to Olga. She rolled out the red carpet and took her guests in, offering them some bathhouse time to clean up after their journey. The bathhouse doors locked from the outside and she set them on fire.

Step three. Olga sent a message to Mal saying okay, let’s get married but I want to hold a funeral feast at your place for my husband, who you just murdered. Mal said okay, sure, because he was so thirsty to be King.

Olga and her soldiers arrived for the funeral feast and the mead was flowing. But, while the Drevlians were blacking out, Olga’s men had been ordered to teetotal and keep their wits. When the time was right and the Drevlians were good and drunk, Olga gave her men the signal and they killed every single Drevlian there. And she is still not done!

Step four, and this is the most relevant. The surviving Drevlians begged Olga for mercy and she said okay, but I’m going to need a tribute, three sparrows and three pigeons from each house. They eagerly agreed and Olga instructed her men to tie a thread to each bird’s feet. On the end of that thread, tie some cloth-bound sulfur. At nighttime, they released the birds, with a small flame at the end of the thread. Of course, they flew home and just like that, Olga burned down every house to the ground.

[https://youtu.be/n1hR9rpvS74?t=151](https://youtu.be/n1hR9rpvS74?t=151)

Produced and directed by r/SamONellaAcademy

Inside every Ukrainian woman lives a little Saint Olga. It’s hard to see, but she’s ready to grow up instantly and skin you in revenge, without a shred of remorse.