Oslo honors Queen Elisiv of Kyiv, celebrating historic ties between Ukraine and Norway

OSLO – A monument to Norwegian Queen Elisiv of Kyiv, the daughter of Kyiv’s Prince Yaroslav the Wise and wife of King Harald Hardråde of Norway, was officially unveiled at Harald Hardråde Square in Oslo on Oct. 25, the Ukrainian Community in Norway reported.

Elisiv (known in Scandinavian as Ellisiv of Kyiv) symbolizes the deep medieval ties between Kyivan Rus and Scandinavia, when royal marriages linked the two regions through diplomacy, culture, and faith.

Her father, Yaroslav the Wise, married his daughters into the royal houses of France, Hungary, and Norway, making Kyiv a major center of European political life in the 11th century.

The monument, titled “Dronning Ellisiv av Kyiv,” symbolically references themes from the Norse sagas.

Made of granite it features a conical opening filled with onyx when sunlight aligns with Kyiv at an azimuth of 121.5°, a golden ring of light appears, uniting Oslo and Kyiv in a shared moment of illumination.

“After the ceremony, guests and representatives of the Ukrainian Community in Norway were invited to Oslo City Hall, where they were joined by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, Ambassador of Ukraine to Norway Oleksiy Havrysh, Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe, City Council Chair Eirik Lae Solberg, and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide,” the community said.

Community members had the opportunity to meet personally with First Lady Zelenska and thank her for her work. Zelenska expressed her gratitude to Ukrainians in Norway for their daily demonstrations and active support of Ukraine.

“We thank the Oslo municipality and Yulia Pidlisna for their many years of work to bring the monument project to life,” the community said.