"The Legend of Princess Olga" by Yuri Ilyenko, summary

The work was created in 1983 as the literary basis for a film. The text tells the ruler’s life story through the memoirs of three different people: a monk, a housekeeper, and her grandson. The author of the book is Yuri Ilyenko, a Soviet film director and screenwriter.

A film based on this script was released in 1983. The film received an honorary award for best cinematography at the 1984 All-Union Film Festival.

The first trials of young Vladimir

A mute groom and the boy Vladimir are tending a white Arabian stallion named Oblak. A messenger from Vivera insults the boy, calling him the son of a slave. Vladimir replies that he is the prince’s son. Mounted warriors press and torment the mute groom. The Gridni — the prince’s armed servants — bring young Vladimir to Svyatoslav.

Svyatoslav examines the boy’s face in the forge and tests the teenager’s knowledge. The youth can read Greek and Slavic books and throws a heavy knife straight at the target. The weapon embeds itself in the wall next to the face of Vivera’s assailant. Svyatoslav reports the death of Princess Olga at dawn. The boy names all the months of the ancient Slavic calendar and bursts into tears. The prince gives the youth a white horse and orders the monk Arefa to write his mother’s life, following the example of the Greek emperors.

The Chronicle of the Monk Arefa

In winter, Arefa and Vladimir come to Svyatoslav, and the monk reads the completed manuscript. The chronicler describes Olga as a righteous Christian, shining among the pagans. He then moves on to avenging her murdered husband, Prince Igor. Arefa reads the legend of the arrival of the Drevlyan ambassadors. On Olga’s orders, the guests are thrown into a deep pit and buried, along with their boat. Svyatoslav is astonished by the meaning of these words.

The next episode from the chronicle infuriates the prince. The chronicler describes the burning of the Drevlians in a bathhouse. Svyatoslav accuses the monk of lying, but Aref remains calm. He declares that the pagan’s sins only highlight the greatness of her Christian transformation. Enraged, Svyatoslav burns the manuscript in a bonfire and orders his retinue to prepare for a swift campaign. The prince wants to place young Vladimir on the Novgorod throne.

The story of the housekeeper Malusha

That night, a mute groom leads Oblak out of the yard. Vladimir mounts his horse and meets his mother, Malusha. They are fleeing Kyiv out of fear of Vladimir’s older brothers. On the journey, Malusha tells her son her version of Princess Olga’s youth. On the pagan night of Kupala, Oleg the Prophet’s armed retinue kidnapped the girl. The pagans intended to sacrifice her to the fearsome Perun.

Prince Igor rescued a captive woman at the temple. The idol of the god of love fell into the sacrificial fire. Olga became Igor’s bride, but her heart belonged to a simple youth, Rus. At a riotous wedding feast, Rus defeated a ferocious bear with his bare hands. Then he danced a farewell dance with Olga. The Drevlyan prince Mal stabbed Rus to death during the dance, with Igor’s consent.

Olga hid her unbearable grief and continued dancing with her husband. Malusha also claims there was no revenge for Igor’s death. Olga merely forced the Drevlyan prince Mal to wrestle a bear, and he died of fear. The legendary city of Iskorosten was not burned. The little girl Malusha threw herself at the princess’s feet and begged her to stop the terrible massacre.

The Death of the Messenger and the Visions of the Magus

Vladimir refuses to hide from danger and gallops to his father. Vivera intercepts him and locks him in a dark bathhouse. There, the boy meets the old sorcerer Ilm. The sorcerer is a pagan priest and a wise prophet. The elder explains how to escape by using the hands of enemies and creates living fire with his bare hands. He steams the boy with a broom of dried herbs and removes his fear.

The sorcerer tells Vladimir of Olga’s prophetic dream. The princess saw wild bears on the princely throne in Kyiv. In the morning, Svyatoslav finds his son in the bathhouse, and Ilm dying on a wooden shelf. In the forest, an armed Vivera attempts to kill Vladimir. A messenger manages to reveal the secret. Olga was a Christian from Bulgaria, baptized in Constantinople for power and equality with the Byzantine Caesar.

An arrow from the old commander Sveneld pierces Vivera. The commander kills the messenger to protect the prince’s secrets. At rest, the warrior Drozd sings a long song to his retinue about Olga’s cruel revenge. The lyrics contradict Malusha’s kind story. Malusha repeats her pleas for him to go to a safe place, but the young man remains steadfast and believes in his destiny.

The accession to the throne in Novgorod

The Novgorodians meet Svyatoslav’s army at the Udalets stream. The Novgorodians’ forces are overwhelming. Vladimir rides forward on his white stallion, Oblak, and presents his favorite horse to the Novgorod voivode as a sign of respect. The voivode accepts the valuable gift and praises the young man’s courage. He promises to release the stallion into the wild herd. The prince’s horse will never again bear the weight of a saddle.

Vladimir is solemnly recognized as Prince of Novgorod. Many years later, the elderly Prince Vladimir dies in Kyiv. He asks his servants to summon Arefa, but the monk has been dead forty years. Vladimir summons a scribe. The Prince dictates to him from memory the words from the chronicle his father burned: "She was the harbinger of the Christian land… she shone… like pearls."