their feet, and, when they fought in retreat,
they turned this enormous buckler on their backs and became (p. 035)
invulnerable. The fury of the battle frenzied them. They were never
seen to surrender. When victory was lost they stabbed themselves, for
they believed that those who died by the hand of an enemy were
condemned to serve him in the life after death. The emperors of
Byzantium were glad to secure their services, and the _ross_, as they
called them, often formed the body-guard. In the Byzantine expedition
against Crete, 700 Russians served in the army.

The Norsemen readily adapted themselves to the habits, customs, and
language of the people among whom they settled. We find the Norse
names of Rurik, Oleg, and Igor, but after the last named their
descendants were Russians and bore Russian names.

At Igor's death his son Sviatoslaf was still a minor, whose mother,
Olga, became Regent. She was a woman of determination, whose first
thought was to avenge the death of her husband. The Drevlians, hearing
of her preparations, sent two deputations to appease her: not a man
returned. They were all put to death at her command. Nestor tells us
that Olga herself commanded her warriors at the siege of Korosthenes,
and that she offered to make peace on payment of a tribute of three
pigeons and three sparrows for every house. This was accepted and the
birds were delivered, when she ordered lighted tow to be fastened to
their tails, and when they flew back to the wooden town, they set fire
to the houses and barns. Korosthenes was then captured and a great
number of its inhabitants were slaughtered and the rest were made
slaves.

It seems strange that such a woman should have been the first of (p. 036)
Rurik's house to embrace Christianity. There is no doubt that she
visited Constantinople where she astonished the emperor by the force
of her character. She was baptized and received the name of Helen. It
is quite possible that she came to Constantinople for that purpose,
because we read that she refused to be baptized at Kief "for fear of
the pagans." This confirms the Greek records in which it is stated
that a bishop was established in Russia, probably at Kief, in the time
of Oleg.

It is not strange that Christianity should have taken root in Russia
after the frequent wars with the Byzantine Empire, and considering the
commerce carried on between Kief and Constantinople. Missionaries
entered Russia at an early p