Malusha Malkovna ( Old Ruthenian: Малушa) was allegedly a servant (

kholop A kholop ( rus, холо́п, p=xɐˈlop) was a type of feudal serf in Kievan Rus', then in Russia between the 10th and early 18th centuries. Their legal status was close to that of slaves. Etymology The word ''kholop'' was first mentioned i ...

ka) for

Olga of Kiev Olga ( orv, Вольга, Volĭga; (); russian: Ольга (); uk, Ольга (). Old Norse: '; Lith: ''Alge''; Christian name: ''Elena''; c. 890–925 – 969) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav from 945 until 960. Following ...

and concubine of

Sviatoslav I of Kiev ; (943 – 26 March 972), also spelled Svyatoslav, was Grand Prince of Kiev famous for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. ...

. According to Slavonic chronicles, she was the mother of

Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

and sister of Dobrynya. The

Norse saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the P ...

s describe Vladimir's mother as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. There are monuments of Malusha with her young son, Vladimir, in

Korosten Korosten ( uk, Ко́ростень, ; historically also ''Iskorosten'' ) is a historic city and a large transport hub in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh River. Korosten serves as the administrative ce ...

, Ukraine.

Origin

As the chronicles are silent on the subject of Malusha's pedigree, 19th-century Russian and Ukrainian historians devised various theories to explain her parentage and name. Malusha Malkovna is said to be the daughter of Malk of Lyubech, prince of the

Drevlians The Drevlians ( uk, Древляни, Drevliany, russian: Древля́не, Drevlyane) were a tribe of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries, which inhabited the territories of Polesia and right-bank Ukraine, west of the ...

. The same one that wanted to marry

after she became a widow. However, historian Leo Loewenson rebutted that Malk was not Drevlian nor a prince, pointing out that the '' Primary Chronicle'' only mentions his name as 'Malk Lyubechinin' or 'Malk of Lyubech' and that there "there is not the faintest indication that Malyusha's father was a prince". Loewenson further notes that Lyubech "was a town of the

Severians The Severians or Severyans or Siverians ( be, Севяране; bg, Севери; russian: Северяне; uk, Сiверяни, translit=Siveriany) were a tribe or tribal confederation of early East Slavs occupying areas to the east of the m ...

not the Drevlians".

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

- Israeli historian Savely Dudakov stated that due to having a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

name and with Lyubech being a part of pre-

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

Rus at the time, Malk should be considered either a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

or a

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

- Judaist in the historical context. ''Primary Chronicle'' records that a certain Malusha died in 1000. This record follows that of

Rogneda Rogneda of Polotsk (962–1002) is the Slavic name for Ragnheiðr, a Princess consort of Rus'. She was the daughter of Ragnvald (Slavic: Rogvolod) who came from Scandinavia and established himself at Polotsk in the mid-10th century. Life ...

's death. Since Rogneda was Vladimir's wife, historians assume that Malusha was another close relative of the ruling prince, preferably his wife or mother. The anti-Normanist historian Dmitry Ilovaisky managed to draw an opposite conclusion: that the Slavic name Malusha was turned into a Scandinavian Malfried. This claim received no wider support.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malusha 10th-century women Prophets Kievan Rus' princesses Concubines 10th-century Rus' people 10th-century Rus' women