In 912 Oleg died. The tradition is that some years earlier he had been warned by a wizard that the horse he was riding would cause his death. The prince dismounted at once, sent this favorite steed away to be cared for, and never rode him again. On being told that the horse was dead and his bones were bleaching in the field, he resolved to go and look at them, saying: “These wizards are always lying. The horse is dead, and I am living.” When he came to where the bones were, he pushed the skull with his foot, and exclaimed: “This was to be my death!” That instant a serpent sprang out and bit him in the leg, and straightway he sickened and died.
Igor, son of Rurik, now came to power. In 903 he had married Olga, a maiden famed for wit and beauty, and said to be the daughter of that Gostomyal who first proposed the election of Rurik. Igor’s reign had no such importance as that of his predecessor. In 941, after twenty-nine years of waiting, he made an attack on the Byzantine Empire. This attack was a failure; a mere remnant of warriors came home from it, and those brought no booty with them.
Igor resolved to find a cure for this failure, and set out for Tsargrad in 944, three years later. He went by sea, with a numerous army collected from all tribes between Lake Ladoga and the Euxine, including even Petchenegs of the southern steppe land.
The Greek Emperor sent envoys to Igor, and as he sailed near the coast they met him north of the Danube, where they delivered rich presents. “Go no farther,” said they to him. “Take the same that Oleg took, even more will be given thee.” Advised by his attendants, Igor accepted the offer, and the following year envoys were sent by him to make a treaty of commerce at Tsargrad. The treaty was made and the Emperor gave oath to observe it, then he sent envoys to Kief and Igor took the oath. Those of his men who were pagans swore by Perun, the god of thunder, and by their weapons; those who were Christians gave oath in the church of Elias. This treaty, more favorable to the Greeks than that made with Oleg, contains the phrase “Russian land,” used [[8]]then for the first time in history. Toward the end of that same year, 945, Igor went to the Drevlians, a forest tribe in the North-west, to collect tribute a second time. Learning of his approach, the Drevlians counseled together and said: “If a wolf attacks sheep he will devour the whole flock, unless he is killed; so this man will ruin us, unless we destroy him.” They seized Igor, bent down two trees, tied his feet to the top of one and his head to the other, then let them go; thus he was torn asunder.
The Drevlians then sent envoys to Olga to justify their action, and propose that she should marry their prince. Olga, determined to avenge her husband, answered: “Your speech is pleasing to me. To-morrow I will receive you in the presence of all my people. When my messengers come in the morning, tell them that you will not go on horseback or on foot,—that you must be carried in your boats.” When the envoys were gone, Olga had a deep pit dug in the courtyard. Next morning she sent for her guests, who came in their boats borne on the shoulders of men. The Drevlians, from their lofty position, looked down proudly on the multitude; but when they arrived at the courtyard they, with their boats, were thrown into the pit and quickly covered with earth.
Olga, keeping secret what had taken place, sent for a guard of honor to conduct her to the Drevlians. The first men of the tribe came; these she had burned up in a bath-house. Then she sent a message, saying: “I am on the road. Bring as much mead as you can to where my husband died. I wish to weep over his grave.” She came, with a part of her army, to where Igor was buried, and there she had a great mound raised, and celebrated the funeral feast. The Drevlians asked, “Where are our men?” She replied, “They are coming with my men.” The simple foresters, satisfied with this answer, went on feasting. When they had drunk themselves into helplessness, Olga’s warriors fell upon them and slew great numbers.
This vengeful widow next attacked Korosten. Unable to take it by force, she destroyed it by cunning. She sent a message to the inhabitants saying: “You have neither mead nor skins in abundance; give me a tribute of three pigeons, and as many sparrows from each house, and I will leave you in peace.” The Drevlians, pleased with this moderation, sent the birds at once. When evening came, Olga had rags steeped in oil tied to their wings [[9]]and ignited. The terrified creatures, set free, flew to their cots and nests, and soon every house in Korosten was in flames. The inhabitants, rushing out of the place, were either killed or captured. This was a victory of far-reaching importance, for had Olga failed to conquer the Drevlians, other tribes would have revolted, and Kief would have been lost.
Olga ruled wisely and firmly till 957, when Sviatoslav, her only son, reached manhood and succeeded his father; then she made a journey to Tsargrad, became a Christian and was baptized under the name of Helen, the Greek Emperor being her godfather. It is said that upon her return she strove to introduce Christianity into Russia, but was unsuccessful, mainly because of her son’s opposition. She, however, remained a strong advocate of the new faith and has been canonized by the Church, as the first Russian who ascended to the heavenly kingdom.
Sviatoslav, whose sole delight was in war, began his stormy rule by marching against the only Slavs east of the Dnieper, who paid him no tribute, the tribe of the Vyatichi. They were at that time tributary to the Kazars, a tribe that had issued from Northern Asia and were known to the Armenian historians as early as the second century. In the ninth century they were familiar to the Byzantines as the Eastern Turks; by the eighth century they had gained the greater part of Tauris, the present Crimea. It is not known when they first met the Slavs, but in the middle of the ninth century four Slav tribes paid tribute to the Kazars. The Kazan state itself was a composite one with four religious systems, Paganism, Mohammedanism, Judaism and Christianity. The Khan was converted to Judaism in the eighth century, and in a letter written by Khan Joseph to a Rabbi in Bagdad, he claimed to be ruler over nine nations of the Caucasus and thirteen near the Black Sea.
Sviatoslav attacked Sarkel on the Don, the chief western town and fortress of the Kazars, and captured it. Then he marched eastward to the Volga, and sailed down the river to Itil, the Kazar capital, near the northern shore of the Caspian. Itil, and all the towns of that region, were seized and plundered. Next the Russian prince marched to the foot of the Caucasus, and turned westward toward the Azoff, or “Sea Bend,” as the Russians call it. He overcame all forces that met him on the way, and established Tmutarakan, [[10]]with its capital at the Greek town Tamatarche, between the Azoff and the Euxine.