In that dark and cruel age, war was apparently the only thought,
military conquest the only glory. The regent, Oleg, taking with him
the young prince Igor, immediately set out with a large army on a
career of conquest. Marching directly south some hundred miles, and
taking possession of all the country by the way, he arrived at last at
the head waters of the Dnieper. The renown of the kingdom of Ascolod
and Dir had reached his ears; and aware of their military skill and
that the ranks of their army were filled with Norman warriors, Oleg
decided to seize the two sovereigns by stratagem. As he cautiously
approached Kief, he left his army in a secluded encampment, and with a
few chosen troops floated down the stream in barges, disguised as
merchant boats. Landing in the night beneath the high and precipitous
banks near the town, he placed a number of his soldiers in ambuscade,
and then calling upon the princes of Kief, informed them that he had
been sent by the king of Novgorod, with a commercial adventure down
the Dnieper, and invited them to visit his barges.

The two sovereigns, suspecting no guile, hastened to the banks of the
river. Suddenly the men in ambush rose, and piercing them with arrows
and javelins, they both fell dead at the feet of Oleg. The two victims
of this perfidy were immediately buried upon the spot where they fell.
In commemoration of this atrocity, the church of St. Nicholas has been
erected near the place, and even to the present day the inhabitants of
Kief conduct the traveler to the tomb of Ascolod and Dir. Oleg, now
marshaling his army, marched triumphantly into the town, and, without
experiencing any formidable opposition, annexed the conquered realm to
the northern kingdom.

Oleg was charmed with his conquest. The beautiful site of the town,