challenged the fortunate stranger to mortal combat. Fierce and long was
the fight, but Norse blood and valor conquered and Gyda was enraptured
with the courage and skill of her spouse. They were duly wedded and Olaf
spent several years in England and Ireland, winning fame there as a
doughty champion and growing ever more earnest in the Christian faith.
In the chronicles of the time we are told much of the doings of the
doughty Olaf, who won fame as the chieftain of a viking fleet, which in
994 made many descents upon the English coast. In the end he landed in
Southampton and fixed his winter quarters there, living upon the country.
He was finally bought off by King Ethelred with £10,000, which he divided
among his men. He received confirmation in the Christian faith the same
year, King Ethelred being present, and took a solemn vow, which he never
broke, that he would never again molest England and her people.
Olaf's name was no longer concealed and the fame of his deeds reached
Norway, where they gave no small trouble of mind to Earl Haakon, who
dreaded this young adventurer of royal descent, knowing well how much the
people loved King Harold and his race. Haakon went so far as to try to
compass his death, sending his friend Thore Klakka to Dublin, where Olaf
then was, to kill him if he could, otherwise to entice him to Norway when
he would himself destroy him.
The latter Thore did, finding Olaf ready for any new adventure, and under
Thore's treacherous advice he sailed with five ships and landed in
Hördaland, where Haakon's power was the greatest, and thence sailed
northward to Tröndelag where the earl was and where he hoped to take him
by surprise.
Thore had represented that Olaf would find friends in plenty there, and
much to his own surprise found that he had told more truth than he knew;
for, as told in the last tale, the peasants were then in arms and in
pursuit of the recreant earl. They gladly accepted Olaf as their leader,
on learning who he was, and helped him in the quick and sudden downfall
and death of Haakon, as already described.
All the chiefs and peasants of the district were now summoned to meet in
assembly and with one voice they chose Olaf Tryggvesson, great-grandson
of the renowned Harold, as their king. All Norway confirmed their action
and thus easily did the adventurer prince, who had once been a slave-boy,
sold for half a fat ram, rise to the throne of Norway.
_OLAF DETHRONES ODIN AND DIES A HERO._
Earl Haakon was the last heathen king of Norway. Olaf, the new king, was
a zealous Christian and was determined to introduce the new faith. And
this was done not in the mild and gentle way in which Haakon the Good had
attempted it, but with all the fierce fury of the viking spirit. Christ
the White the Northmen called the new deity, but it was rather Christ the
Red in Olaf's hands, for, while Christian in faith, he was a son of the
old gods, Odin and Thor, in spirit.
It is not the Christianizing of Norway that we have set out to tell, but
as this is a matter of great importance some space must be given to it.
Olaf, high spirited and impetuous, did by storm what he might not have
been able to do by milder measures. He had little trouble in the south of
Norway, where the Christian faith had been making its way for years, but
in the north the old heathen spirit was strong, sacrifices to the gods
were common, and the rude and cruel barbarism which the old doctrines
favored everywhere prevailed. Here it was that Olaf had a strong fortress
of heathenism to take by storm.
In Tröndelag was the temple of Hlade, ancient and grand, the stronghold
of the Norse gods. Fierce and impulsive in his zeal, Olaf broke into this
old temple, destroyed the altar, burned the idols, and carried away the
treasure. At once the people were in arms, but the resolute king began to
build a Christian church where the temple had stood and also a
fortress-like residence for himself.
In the end the peasants grew so fierce and warlike and were so backed up
by a lusty chieftain named Ironbeard, that Olaf found himself obliged to
promise to take part with them in the feast and sacrifices of the coming
Yuletide.
But before this time arrived he appeared again at Hlade and he now
brought with him a strong fleet and numerous armed warriors. Many guests
had been invited to meet him, and these were entertained until they were
all royally drunk. Then the king said to them:
"I have promised to sacrifice with you, and am here to keep my word. I
propose to make a royal sacrifice, not of thralls and criminals, but of
lords and chieftains, for thus we can best do honor to Odin."
He then selected six of his most powerful opponents and said that he
intended to sacrifice them to Odin and Frey, that the people might have
good crops. The dismayed chiefs were instantly seized and were offered
the alternative of being sacrificed or baptized. Taken by surprise, they
were not long in deciding upon the latter, the king making them give
hostages for their good faith.
Soon after came the Yuletide and Olaf was present with a strong force at
Möre, where the sacrifices were to be made. The peasants also came in
force, all armed, with the burly Ironbeard as their leader. They were
rude and noisy and it was some time before the king could make himself
heard. Then he called on them all to accept baptism and acknowledge
Christ the White in place of their bloodthirsty gods. Ironbeard haughtily
replied that they were supporters of the old laws and that the king must
make the sacrifices as all the kings before him had done.
Olaf heard him through and said that he was there to keep his promise.
Then, with many men, he entered the temple, leaving his arms outside as
the law required. All he carried was a stout, gold-headed stick. Stopping
before the statue of the god Thor, around which were rings of gold and
iron, he raised the stick and gave the idol a blow so fierce and strong
that it tumbled in pieces from its pedestal. At the same moment his
followers struck down the other idols. The peasants, thunderstruck at the
sacrilege, looked for support to Ironbeard, but the doughty warrior lay
dead. He had shared the fate of the idols he worshipped, being struck
down at the same moment with them. What to do the peasants knew not, and
when Olaf told them they must either be baptized or fight they chose the
former as the safest. The province of Haalogaland, still farther north,
was dealt with in the same arbitrary fashion, those of the chiefs who
refused baptism being put to death with torture. And in this fierce and
bloody way the dominion of Christ the White was established in the land
of the vikings. It was but a substitute for the heathen gods that was
given them in such a fashion, and years had to pass before they would
become true Christians.
Much more might be said about King Olaf, his kindliness and winning
manners in peace, his love of show and splendor, his prowess in battle
and his wonderful skill with weapons. He could use both hands with equal
effect in fighting, could handle three spears at once, keeping one always
in the air, and when his men were rowing could run from prow to stern of
the ship on their oars. But what we have chiefly to tell is the last
adventure of the viking king and how death came to him in the heat of the
fray.
What became of his wife Gyda, the Irish princess, we are not told, but he
had now a new wife, Thyra, sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, and
it was to this queen he owed his death. She had large estates in Wendland
and Denmark, from which she now received no revenues, and she fretted
Olaf so by appeals, prayers, and tears to win back for her this property
that he had no peace in his palace. The annoyance went on until the
hot-tempered king could bear it no longer and he began to prepare for war
abroad that he might gain peace at home.
Word was sent out to the chiefs of the land, bidding them to join the
king with the ships required by the laws of the kingdom. Among his own
ships was one called the Short Serpent, and he had just finished another
of great size and beauty which he named the Long Serpent. Never had so
noble a ship been seen in the north. It was 112 feet long and had 104
oars, while it could carry six hundred warriors, none being over sixty or
under twenty years of age except the great bowman Thambarkskelver, who
was but eighteen, yet was so skilful with the bow that he could shoot a
blunt arrow through a hanging raw ox-hide.
With sixty ships and as many transports Olaf sailed south to Wendland,
where he was well received by his old friend King Burislav, whose
daughter Geira had been his first wife. The Wend king royally entertained
him and made a just settlement of Queen Thyra's estates, and Olaf
prepared to sail homeward again. But dark clouds of war were gathering on
his path.
Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark was hostile both to Burislav and Olaf and the
king of Sweden was leagued with the Danish king. To detain Olaf while
they gathered their fleets, these kings employed Sigvalde, the cowardly
chief of the Jomsvikings, who had fled from the battle with Earl Haakon,
to visit and lure him into blind confidence.
The treacherous viking succeeded. His smooth, soft ways won Olaf's heart
and the open-minded king put complete trust in him. Sigvalde finally,
after bringing about much delay by his false arts, engaged to pilot Olaf
with his own fleet through the dangerous waters of the coast, and even
induced him to divide his ships by sending part of them in advance.
The traitor meanwhile kept in communication with King Sweyn and promised
to lure Olaf away from his main force and lead him into the snare they
were laying for him. Chief among the enemies of the Norse king was Earl
Erik, the son of Earl Haakon, whom he was eager to avenge, and King Olaf
the Swede, who was present with a fleet.
With sixty or seventy ships of war these foes of Norway's king lay hidden
behind the little island of Svolder, in Olaf's track. For a number of
days they awaited him with impatience. At last Olaf's transports appeared
within view of the leaders of the hostile fleet, who were posted at an
elevated point on the land.
The day was fair, the wind gentle and favorable, and the foremost ships
sailed onward, seeing nothing of the foes. When King Sweyn saw among them
a large and handsome ship he was sure it must be the Long Serpent, and
said:
"Olaf of Norway is afraid to-day, for he carries no dragon-head on his
ship."
"That is not the king's ship," said Earl Erik, "but that of Erling of
Sole. I know it by its striped sails. Let it pass, for it will be better
for us to have Erling out of the fray."
On, one by one, came the Norse ships, sweeping proudly by, and at length
Sigvalde's eleven ships came in sight. These, signalled from the shore,
suddenly turned inward round the island, to the surprise of Thorkill
Dyrdill, captain of the Crane, which followed in their wake. Seeing this
fine ship, Sweyn grew eager for the fight and ordered his men on board in
spite of Erik's warning that the time had not yet arrived.
"Are you afraid of them?" sneered the Dane. "Have you lost all desire to
avenge your father?"
"Wait and you will see," retorted Erik. "Before the sun sets you will
find who is most eager for battle, I, or you and your men."
When Thorkill saw the treacherous act of Sigvalde and caught sight of the
ambushed fleet, he let fall the sails of the Crane and awaited the coming
of the king. Soon the Short Serpent came up, its gilded dragon-head
shining brightly in the sunlight. Not long after the Long Serpent
appeared, its golden prow glittering brilliantly as the sunbeams fell
upon it. Those who saw it marvelled at its size and beauty and many
beheld with dread the glittering array of swords and shields as it came
sweeping onward.
But the great body of King Olaf's ships had gone on without thought of a
foeman and were now out of sight. Only eleven of them remained, and some
of his captains advised him not to fight against such odds.
"Down with the sails," he cried cheerily. "Bind the ships together. Never
yet have I fled from battle and I will not do so now. God is my shield
and I will flee from no foe. He is no king who lets fear put him to
flight before his enemies."
Yet his peril was deadly, as was evident when the fleet of more than
sixty ships rowed out from its ambush against Olaf's eleven.
"Who is the leader here before us?" he asked.
"That is King Sweyn with his Danes," said one of the men.
"Let them come on. Danes have never yet beaten Norsemen, and they will
not to-day. But whose standards are those on the right?"
"They are those of Olaf of Sweden."
"The heathen Swedes had better have stayed at home to lick their
sacrificial bowls. We need not fear these horse-eaters. Yonder to the
left; whose ships are those?"
"They belong to Earl Erik, the son of Earl Haakon."
"Then we may look for hard blows from them. Erik and his men are Norsemen
like ourselves, and he has reason not to love me and mine."
While he spoke Queen Thyra, who was with him, came on deck. When she saw
the desperate odds she burst into tears.
"Do not weep," said Olaf. "You have got what was due in Wendland; and
to-day I will do my best to win your rights from your brother Sweyn."
King Sweyn came first into the fray, but after a stubborn fight was
driven off with great carnage. Then the Swedes swarmed to the rescue, and
a second hard battle ensued, in which the Norsemen were outnumbered ten
to one. Yet Olaf, with shining helmet and shield and a tunic of scarlet
silk over his armor, directed the defence, and gave his men such courage
by his fierce valor that the victory would have been his but for Earl
Erik.
When Erik's great galley, the Iron Ram, came into the fight and Norse met
Norse, the onset was terrific. Greatly outnumbered, worn out with their
exertions, and many of them bleeding from wounds, the men in ship after
ship were overpowered and these cut adrift, their defenders being slain.
At length only the Long Serpent remained, and against it was driven the
Iron Ram.
There was little wind and the damage was not great, and soon the storm of
spears and arrows was resumed. Einer Thambarkskelver, the famous bowman,
saw Earl Erik in the prow of his ship screened by the shields of his men,
and soon Einer's arrows were hurtling around him.
"Shoot that tall bowman," said Erik to one of his own archers.
An arrow sped and hit Einer's bow in the middle, breaking it in twain.
"What is broke?" asked Olaf, hearing the sound.
"Norway broke then from your hands, my king," said Einer.
"Not so bad as that; take my bow and try what it is worth."
Einer caught the bow, bent it double, and threw it back.
"It is too weak," he said.
Desperate was now the strait and no escape was possible. Olaf sent his
spears hurtling on Erik's crowded deck, but he saw that his men were
scarce able to hold their own.
"Your swords bite poorly," he said. "Have your arms lost their strength?"
"No," was the reply, "but our blades are dull and notched."
The king ran forward, opened a chest, and flung out armfulls of bright,
sharp swords.
"Here is what will bite deeply," he said.
But victory was now hopeless; the earl's men swept back the tired
warriors; blood flowed from under the king's armor; all hands were bent
against him, for he loomed above his men. Kolbjörn, a man who resembled
the king, sprang to his side and helped him shrewdly in the fray.
Still the stern combat went on, still the weapons flew, still men fell
groaning, and as the king looked along his deck he saw that only eight
men kept their feet besides himself and his companion. All was lost.
Raising the shield above his head, he leaped over the ship's side.
Kolbjörn followed and was picked up by the earl's men, who took him to be
the king. As for Olaf, the hungry sea swallowed his form.
Legend tells us, indeed, that he was rescued by a ship sent to his aid by
Aastrid, Earl Sigvalde's wife, and that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and
long afterwards lived as a hermit in the Holy Land. But that is one of
the stories based on good wishes rather than sound facts.
It was in the year 1000, when King Olaf was thirty-six years old, that
this famous sea-fight took place. Queen Thyra felt that she had caused
his death and could not be consoled. Erik treated her kindly and promised
her the honors due to her high estate, but her heart was broken by her
loss, and nine days afterwards she died.
_OLAF THE SAINT AND HIS WORK FOR CHRIST._
The story of Olaf the Saint, the Norse king who comes next into our view,
illustrates the barbarous character of the heathen people with whom we
are dealing. Few warriors in those days died in their beds, death coming
to them in some more violent form. Olaf's grandfather, a son of Harold
the Fair-Haired, was killed by his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, and his
father was burned alive by a royal widow whom he sought to marry. Many
wooers came to seek her hand and she got rid of them by setting on fire
the hall in which they slept.
"I'll teach these little kings the risk of proposing to me," said this
viking widow.
A proud little fellow was Olaf, hot of temper and bearing no opposition.
He knew that he was of kingly birth, and despised his step-father Sigurd
Syr, also a descendant of King Harold, but caring more for his crops than
for the dreams of ambition. Once, when Olaf was ten years old, Sigurd
sent him to the stable to saddle and bring out his horse. When he came
out he led a big goat, on which he had placed the saddle.
"Why do you do that?" he was asked.
"Oh, the goat is good enough for him, for he is as much like a king as a
goat is like a war-horse."
The boy was only twelve when he began to take part in the cruises of the
vikings, and in these quickly showed himself brave and daring. When he
grew to a ripe age and found that the rule of Norway was divided between
two young men, successors of the Olaf whose story we have last told, he
determined to strike for the throne.
The story of how he won the throne is interesting, but must be dealt with
here very briefly, as we have rather to do with the story of how he lost
it. Olaf was fortunate at the start, for he captured a ship on which Earl
Erik, one of these boy kings, was sailing along the coast.
A beautiful youth he was, tall and shapely, with silky golden hair which
fell in long curls over his shoulders. Proud he was too, and answered his
captor's questions with manly resolution.
"Your luck has left you and you are in my power," said Olaf; "what shall
I do with you?"
"That depends on you," answered the fearless young earl.
"What will you do if I let you go unharmed?"
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Only this, that you leave your country and renounce your claim of
kingship, and that you swear never to make war on me."
To this young Erik agreed and sailed away to England to join his uncle,
Canute the Dane, who was then king of both Denmark and England.
With the other young king, Earl Sweyn, Olaf did not find his task so
easy, since Sweyn fought for his rights in a naval battle in which he had
forty-five ships and three thousand men, while Olaf had less than half
that number of men and ships. Olaf won the battle by a shrewd stratagem.
He told his men to act at first only on the defensive, holding back their
weapons until the enemy had thrown away theirs.
On came Earl Sweyn's fleet, fiercely attacking that of Olaf, a cloud of
spears and arrows filling the air. As none came back from Olaf's men,
their opponents fancied they were afraid, and rushed on them eagerly. But
by this time their spears and arrows had grown scarce, and when a storm
of these came from the opposite side they were taken by surprise and many
of them killed. Wild with fear, they now sought to escape, and in the end
their whole fleet broke and fled, leaving victory to the new king.
Sweyn fled to Sweden, whose king promised him help to regain his kingdom.
But he died before his plans were ripe and Olaf was left without a rival
except the king of Sweden, who had won a part of Norway in a former
battle and now held it. This source of trouble was settled by the Swedes
themselves, who had no fancy for fighting to help their king's ambition,
and forced him to agree to yield his claim and give his daughter Ingegerd
to Olaf for wife. So by a marriage Olaf won the remainder of his kingdom
and became ruler over all Norway; but not by marrying Ingegerd, for he
chose instead her sister Aastrid.
There is a pretty story told just here in the sagas, or historical tales
of the Icelanders. Thus it reads: Sigurd Syr, who had married Olaf's
mother Aasta, died in 1018, and Olaf came to her house to help in
settling her affairs. She had three boys, Guttorm, Halfdan, and Harold,
whom she brought into the hall to introduce to their half-brother, the
king. Olaf put the two older ones on his knees and made so fierce a face
at them that they ran away sadly scared. Then he took up little Harold
and stared at him in the same way. The brave youngster was not so easily
frightened as his brothers and stared back at the king. Then Olaf pulled
his hair, but the daring youngster pulled his beard in exchange.
"He will do," said Olaf, setting him down with a laugh.
The next day the king and his mother watched the boys at their play. The
older two amused themselves by building barns, in which they put toy cows
and sheep; but Harold launched mock boats on a pond and watched them
drift away.
"What do you call them?" asked Olaf.
"Ships of war," said the boy.
"Good lad," answered the king; "the day will come when you will command
real ships."
Calling the boys to him, he asked Guttorm, the oldest, what he most
wished for.
"Land," said the boy.
"How much?"
"Enough to sow as much grain every summer as would cover the headland
yonder."
Ten large farms covered the headland in question.
"And what do you most desire?" the king asked Halfdan.
"Enough cows to cover the shores of the headland when they went to the
water to drink."
"So; one wants land and the other cattle; and what do you want, Harold?"
"Men," said the boy.
"How many?"
"Enough to eat up in a single dinner all brother Halfdan's cows."
"Come, mother," said Olaf, laughing; "you have here a chap in training to
make himself a king."
So it proved, for in later days Harold rose to be king of Norway.
But now we have to tell from what the king gained his title of Olaf the
Saint. It came from his warm endeavors to make Norway a Christian land.
The former King Olaf had forced his people to be baptized, but the most
of them were heathens at heart still and after his death many began to
worship the old gods again. It was the second Olaf that made the
Christian secure in the land, and this still more by his death than by
his life.
When he was still an infant the former King Olaf had baptized him and
given him his own name, and the time came when his little namesake took
up and finished his work. What most troubled the kings of Norway in that
age was the power held by the tribal chiefs, who were difficult to
control and ready to rebel; and this power came from the fact that they
were not only chiefs, but were the priests of the old religion. As
priest-kings their people followed them blindly, and no king could be
sure of his crown while this system prevailed.
Olaf, who had been brought up in the new faith, set himself earnestly to
spread the true principles of Christ's teachings through the land and for
years he worked at it earnestly. But he had hard metal to deal with. It
is said that one chief, when about to be baptized, turned to the priest
and asked him where were his brave forefathers who had died without being
baptized.
"They are in hell," said the priest.
"Then hell is the place for me," answered the chief. "I would rather be
there with Odin and my hard fighting and noble fathers than in heaven
with cowardly Christians and shaven monks."
This was the spirit of the chiefs. A heaven in which there would be no
fighting and mead-drinking had no charms for them, and to live forever
with the souls of men who had never drawn sword and struck blow was too
dreary a prospect for their turbulent tastes.
But Olaf was ardent in the new faith and persistent in his endeavors,
travelling from end to end of the land in his efforts to break up the old
idolatry. Here is one of the stories told of this missionary work of the
king.
He was then in Nidaros, whose peasantry, called Trönders, were said to be
celebrating in secret the old pagan festivals and offering sacrifices to
Odin and Frey for bountiful crops. When King Olaf came among them they
took arms against him, but afterwards agreed to hold a public assembly
and deal in that way with the religious question that was troubling the
kingdom.
On the day they met it was raining hard. When the king asked them to
believe in the God of the Christians and be baptized, Dale Guldbrand,
their leader, replied: