History's Most Terrifying Revenge Story

[00:00:00]History's most terrifying revenge didn't involve armies or massive wars. It involved a widow, a marriage proposal, and thousands of flaming birds. About 1,100 years ago, during the Viking era, King Igor ruled over Kiev covering parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Once a year, Igor would go around collecting taxes from neighboring tribes. And back then, taxes meant clothes, liquor, food, and even slaves.

[00:00:30]But, Igor got greedy. After collecting tax from a tribe called the Drevlians, he decided it wasn't enough. He went back for a second round. The Drevlians had enough.

[00:00:41]They captured him, tied his right limbs to one bent tree, his left limbs to another, and let the trees snap back.

[00:00:49]Igor was [music] literally torn in half.

[00:00:52]Thinking they won, the Drevlian leader, Prince Mal, sent messengers to Igor's widow, [music] Olga, with a marriage proposal.

[00:01:01]Olga played along. She told them, "Your proposal is great, but I want to honor you in front of my people. Go rest, and tomorrow my men will carry you into the court in your boats." The next morning, Olga's men carried the Drevlians in their boats, just as promised. But, halfway there, they dumped the boats and the messengers into a massive ditch they had dug the night before. Olga looked down >> [music] >> and buried them alive. Before anyone found out, she sent a message to Prince Mal. "Send your best soldiers to escort me [music] safely." The prince sent his top military men. When they arrived, Olga welcomed them warmly. "Please, go refresh yourselves in our bathhouse after your long journey." As soon as they stepped inside, Olga's men locked the doors from the outside [music] and burned the entire building to the ground. Next, Olga traveled straight to the Drevlian capital, >> [music] >> pretending she was ready to marry. She asked for a massive funeral feast to honor her late husband first. The Drevlians drank until they were completely passed out. Olga's soldiers stayed perfectly sober. On her command, they slaughtered all 5,000 unconscious Drevlians. Finally, she laid siege to their remaining city. She offered peace on one bizarre condition. Every household [music] had to give her three pigeons and three sparrows. The relieved citizens agreed. But that night, Olga tied pieces of sulfur-soaked cloth to the birds' feet, lit them on fire, and released them. The birds flew straight back [music] to their nests, burning the entire city to ash. The survivors were either killed or turned into slaves.

[00:02:42]Never mess with a Viking queen. Vikings, I promise.