Brita Olsdotter

1719) was an old Swedish woman who, according to legend, saved the city of Linköping from being burnt by the Russians during the Great Northern War.

In 1719, in the last years of the war, Sweden was invaded by the Russian army which burned several cities and plundered villages along the coasts.

A lot of stories are maintained which describe how some of the villages, churches and farms was saved by individual acts and personal courage.

She improvised a story and told them that a courier had arrived in Linköping with the message that the British fleet had come to Sweden's rescue, and that a Swedish army of 20,000 soldiers was on its way.

For example, the vicar's wife Maria Faxell was said to have armed her maids in Värmland, defending her parish against an attack from Norway.