Book 3: 'Arrow Odd'

APPENDIX D: HELGI 'ARROW ODD' WAS PRINCE OLEG OF KIEV

"Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands. Over that tomb Ol'ma built a church dedicated to St. Nicholas, but Dir's tomb is behind St. Irene's. Oleg set himself up as prince in Kiev, and declared that it should be the mother of Rus' cities. The Varangians, Slavs, and others who accompanied him, were called Russes."

So here we have Prince Oleg-Helgi conquering Kiev from his competing Varangian contemporaries, Askold and Dir by using stealth and hiding his men. I began wondering if, perhaps, Askold and Dir was an expansion on one Norse name such as Hoskolder or Angantyr, as cities were usually run by one man, not two. Now Arrow Odd does capture a city that seems a lot like Kiev in Chapter 29 of his saga:

"Odd accepted their surrender very graciously and had his men disarm and detain them, but some of them were mercenaries and those men Odd hired. He took them and all their camp followers and headed to the capital, where Odd encountered Alf Bjalki. Both now had great troops, but again Odd had fewer than Alf. At once battle broke out and it was so fierce that Odd was amazed at the slaughter, because he thought he saw a lot of losses from his own troop. Odd decided to battle his way up to the banner of Alf, but could see him nowhere. Then one countryman, who had been a mercenary with Vidgrip before, said, "I am not sure what's wrong with your eyes, for he stands just behind his banner and never leaves it, and he is using witchcraft because he shoots an arrow from each finger and kills a man with each shot."

"I still can't see him," said Odd.

Then the mercenary raised his hand above Odd's head and said, "Look here from under my hand." And then Odd saw Alf Bjalki and everything else the man had claimed was happening.

"Hold your hand there for a bit," said Odd, and he felt for a Gusir's Gift and took one out of his quiver and put it to the string, keeping his eyes on Alf the whole time, afraid to lose sight of him again and he shot at Alf ; but Bjalki put up his hand and the arrow hit his palm and did not bite. "Now you shall all go," said Odd to Gusir's Gifts, and he shot both remaining arrows, but neither one bit, and he could see all of Gusir's Gifts lying in the grass before Bjalki. "I am not sure," said Odd, "but maybe the time has come to give Jolf's stone arrows a try," and he took one of them and nocked it, and shot at Alf Bjalki. When he heard the whine of the arrow that flew at him, Alf again raised his palm but the arrow flew straight through it and his eye and out of the back of his head, taking his helmet off with it. Odd quickly took another stone arrow and laid it to string and without it even slowing him down, he thought about the five berserk brothers on the Island of Zealand and how they had tumbled off of their horses and he could see the dust rise as they crashed to the metaled road and he shot at Alf. Bjalki quickly put up his other palm to protect his remaining eye, but the arrow passed right through it and through that eye and out of the back of his head. Still, Alf did not fall, though now blind and holding both hands in front of his face. Then Odd shot the third stone arrow, hitting Alf in the chest, and now he fell, dead. Now all the old man's stone arrows vanished, as he had said that they could be shot only once and then would not be found.

Once King Alf had fallen, the fight was quickly over. The enemy was routed and the survivors retreated to the city. His wife, Gydja, stood in the center gate of the city and she shot arrows from all her fingers just as Alf had done. She held the one gate, but the battle died away and the enemy troop surrendered to Odd. Near the city were shrines and temples and Odd had them set on fire and burnt everything near the town," and then he killed Gydja with a huge stone.