Avid history buff and A Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin has been very open about the real events that inspired some of the series’ most shocking moments. However, he’s not going to let slip any news about a historical inspiration that might spoil events he hasn’t put to the page yet.
After the publication of The Winds of Winter, when Cersei’s explosive plot plays out on the page as well as the screen, I expect George will be willing to share the true inspiration for the newly crowned Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Cersei Lannister.
Cersei’s inspiration, Olga of Kiev, is from a little further east than many of George’s inspirations. Like Cersei, Olga came to power as Regent for her son after the death of her husband. Ruling over Kieven Rus (Proto-Russia) in 945 CE wasn’t easy. Luckily for Olga, she was also similar to Cersei in that she never forgot a slight and was pretty excited to murder anyone who messed with her in increasingly elaborate ways.
The Kieven Rus was a loose federation of various tribes. Olga’s primary enemies were one such tribe – the Drevlians. After murdering her husband, the Drevlians wanted to make a match between Olga and their Prince. The Drevlians sent a delegation of their twenty best men to persuade Olga to make the match. We can imagine their logic: ‘Surely, as a member of the fairer sex you can’t rule alone, you must marry a strong man to rule for you.’
Olga wasn’t a fan of this logic, nor of giving up her power, so she made sure to politely let them know - by burying all of them alive. That might be enough of a message for some people, but like Cersei, Olga doesn’t quit until every enemy is dead.
After killing all the envoys, she wrote a letter to Prince Mal that essentially said the following: ‘Sure, I accept your proposal. But just one thing - I need all the distinguished men of your land to escort me to your lands.’ Mal got pretty excited and sent all his regional governors to Olga. She welcomed them after their long journey and asked them if they might want a warm bath to wash the travel off. When they entered the bathhouse she locked the doors and burned them all alive.
She then invited the remaining Drevlians to a funeral feast to mourn her lost husband. The Drevlians, who were as slow to catch on to a plot as the Starks, sent 5,000 men to the feast, Olga got them nice and drunk then murdered all of them. The surviving Drevlians closed their gates and begged for mercy.
Olga told the Drevlians she would spare them as long as they gave her three pigeons and three sparrows from every house. The Drevlians thought they were getting the deal of a century and gladly complied. She had her soldiers attach cloth and sulfur to each pigeon, then lit them on fire and released them. They flew back to their nests, igniting every single house in the city at the exact same time. This is Olga’s wildfire moment.
Like Cersei, Olga used her opponents’ expectation of honesty and honor against them. She made deals when convenient only to set traps. She also loved theatrical bombastic ways to destroy her foes. The most interesting part of Olga’s life is she was later annointed as a Saint. We can only hope a re-corrupted post-Sparrow church does the same for Cersei.
