King Olaf's first thought on ascending the throne of Norway was that he
would make it his mission to convert the country to Christianity. This
had been once before attempted by his own uncle, King Hakon the Good,
the foster son of Athelstane of England; but Hakon the Good was a weak
man, who, instead of winning his people to the true faith, had allowed
himself to drift back into paganism. Olaf was by nature better fitted
for the task, being zealous in the faith and strong in the conviction
of the sanctity of his cause. He resolved to stand firm against all
opposition, and if gentle persuasion should not avail he would have no
scruple in employing physical force. To abolish the custom of blood
sacrifice, to destroy all heathen temples, and to supplant the worship
of the pagan gods by preaching the gospel of Christ--this was to be his
life work.
He was, however, wise enough to recognize that in order to succeed in
his mission it was necessary for him first to make his own position as
monarch perfectly secure and unassailable. So rapidly did he establish
himself in the hearts of the people that even at the end of the first
summer he found that he might with safety begin his task. His one
possible rival and natural enemy, Earl Erik Hakonson, with some few
others of the kin of the late earl, had fled in fear from the land,
leaving him in absolute possession; and the lords of Viken and other
districts of the south, who had hitherto held their lands of the King
of Denmark, now became King Olaf's men, and paid him homage and tribute.
At this time Olaf could only depend upon his priest Thangbrand for
practical help. Thangbrand was a Saxon who had formerly been attached
to the see of Canterbury. He was a man of very violent temper, and his
readiness to enter a quarrel and to draw his sword must have made him a
very singular exponent of the gospel of peace. Olaf saw very soon that
he would require further help than this pugnacious priest could give;
so he sent Thangbrand over to England, bidding him fare to Canterbury
and bring back with him as many holy men as might be willing to serve
him as missionaries.
Meanwhile King Olaf, with some of his chosen companions, journeyed
south into Viken, where his mother lived with her husband Lodin--the
same who had bought her out of her bondage. There he abode throughout
the winter among his own kindred as well as many who had been great
friends with his father. They welcomed him with very great love.
And now, while the king was living with his friends in quiet comfort
and homeliness, he laid his plans most earnestly before them, craving
that they should help him with all their might. He said that he
intended to have the Christian faith set forth throughout all his
realm, and that he would bring about the christening of Norway or else
die in the endeavour. Accordingly he began by going about in Viken,
bidding the peasants take baptism, so it came to pass that the district
which his father, Triggvi, had formerly ruled over was the first part
of Norway to receive the true faith.
He was still in Viken when at the end of the winter Thangbrand returned
from England with a company of priests. Among them was a certain Bishop
Sigurd, a man of grave and gentle spirit, most learned and eloquent,
who stood at Olaf's right hand during the whole five years of his reign.
Now Bishop Sine, of Canterbury, had presented Thangbrand with a very
costly and curiously wrought shield. It was made of burnished bronze,
inlaid with gold and precious stones, and it bore the image of the
crucified Christ. Olaf admired this shield and desired to buy it.
Thangbrand loved money more than ornament, and he sold the shield to
the king for a very large sum. Finding himself suddenly rich, the
priest went off to enjoy himself. He fell into a drunken brawl with a
certain viking, who challenged him to fight. A desperate duel was
fought and the viking was killed. Great ill feeling was aroused against
Thangbrand by this unpriestly incident, and he went back full of
penitence to King Olaf.
Olaf foresaw that he would have trouble with this man, and he would no
longer bear to have him about his house; so, to get rid of him, he sent
him on a mission to Iceland, to convert the heathen there. Thangbrand
was absent in Iceland for three winters, and although he had great
success and brought the country to the true faith, yet he was not well
liked, and the people vexed him by making songs about him. Here, as in
Norway, he was boisterous and boastful and over fond of the drinking
horn. It is told that in a quarrel with the islanders he slew three
men. Howbeit, he was obliged to return to Norway with his mission only
half fulfilled.
King Olaf met with no opposition in his endeavour to convert the people
of Viken and Agder. In the district of Ringarike he christened a
certain little boy, the son of Harald Groenske, who was of the race of
Harald Fairhair. The king named the boy Olaf, and in giving him his
blessing said that he would one day be a very great man. This same Olaf
Haraldson afterwards became the King of Norway and a very great
evangelist. He is known in history by the title of Olaf the Saint, and
he is to this day regarded as the patron saint of Norway. He fought
many battles in England, and, for this reason perhaps, he is often
wrongly confused with his godfather, Olaf Triggvison.
To tell of all the good and ill happenings that King Olaf met with in
his progress through the land would make a long story. In many
districts he had but to announce his mission, and the people at once
yielded. In other places the people were very slow to understand that
there could be any advantage in changing their religion; but Olaf never
left them before every man and woman had been christened. Often,
however, he was met by bands of armed men who declared that they would
sooner die than consent to give up their old faith in Odin and Thor,
and then the king enforced his doctrines at the point of the sword, or
even by torture. When moved to anger he was guilty of committing
cruelties which in his calmer moments he sorely regretted, but it is to
be supposed that he never took to violent measures unless when very
severely provoked. For the most part he generally found that wise words
were a better argument than either the sword or fire.
Always when he came to a place where the people were still pagan it was
his custom to summon a great meeting, and then he would tell of how the
folk of another district had accepted Christianity and torn down their
sacrificing houses, and now believed in the true God, who shaped heaven
and earth and knew all things. Then perhaps he would fall into argument
with one of the leading men of the place and show how the God of
christened men was almighty, and how Thor and Odin must therefore be
rejected.
On one such occasion a chief named Gudbrand answered him thus:
"We do not know about whom you are talking, O king. Do you call him God
whom neither you nor any other man can see? We have a god whom we may
see every day, but he is not out today because the weather is so wet.
He will look terrible and great to you, and fear will creep into your
breast if he comes to the gathering of our people."
The king then asked how their god was made, and Gudbrand answered that
he was made in the image of Thor, that he had a hammer in his hand, was
of large size and hollow inside, and that there was a platform made
under him on which he stood when outside the temple.
Olaf said, "I would very much like to see that god. But for my own part
I have made up my mind never to believe in logs and stones, though they
be in the shape of fiend or man, whose power I do not understand; and
although I have been told that they have great power, yet it seems to
me very unlikely, for I find that those images which are called gods
are in every way uglier and less powerful than myself. How much less
powerful are they therefore than the great God who rules over the whole
universe, who makes the rain to fall and the sun shine!"
"If, as you say, your God is so powerful, then let him send sunshine
tomorrow and not rain as we have today," said Gudbrand.
On the next day, as it chanced, there was no rain, and when the people
were all gathered together in the early dawn Bishop Sigurd rose in his
gown, with a mitre on his head and a crozier in his hand, and preached
to the peasants and told them many tokens which God had shown. And
presently King Olaf saw a crowd of men approaching, carrying a large
image, ornamented all over with gold and silver. The people all stood
up and bowed to the monster, which was placed in the middle of the
meeting place.
"Where is your God now, O king?" cried Gudbrand, rising and addressing
Olaf. "It seems to me that your boasting, and that of the horned man,
whom you call your bishop, is far less than yesterday. It is because
our god, who rules all, has come, and looks on you with keen eyes. And
I see that you are full of terror at sight of him! Now throw off this
new superstition of yours--this belief in a God who cannot be seen--and
acknowledge the greatness of Thor!"
King Olaf whispered to Kolbiorn, who was at his side: "If during my
speech it happens that the people look away from this idol of theirs,"
said he, "then go you forward and strike the thing a lusty blow with
your club."
And aloud he said: "The god with whom you have threatened us is blind
and deaf and can help neither himself nor others; nor can he move
anywhere from his place unless he be carried. Of what use is such a
god? Now look into the east!" he added, pointing to the rising sun.
"Behold! There comes the messenger of our God, bringing light and
warmth into the world!"
The people all turned with their faces to the sun. At the same moment
Kolbiorn raised his club and struck their god so that the image fell to
pieces; and it is said that vipers and rats and mice ran out of it and
that the peasants were afraid.
"You see what has become of your god!" cried King Olaf. "What folly it
is to believe in such things! One blow has shattered your Thor into
fragments. Now I demand that you shall never again make images of wood
or stone, nor worship any but the one true God. And I offer you two
choices. Either you accept Christianity here on this spot, or you fight
a battle with me today."
So the people, unwilling to take to arms and seeing that the king had a
great host of warriors at his back, agreed to listen to the teachings
of the bishop, and finally to have themselves baptized. Olaf left a
priest among them to keep them steadfast in the faith, and to keep them
from lapsing into paganism.
King Olaf stood north along the land, christening all folk wheresoever
he came. But in the wintertime he went back into Trondelag. He built a
town on the bank of the river Nid, and a great hall for himself up
above Ship Creek. He called the town Nidaros, and it is to this day the
capital of Norway, although its name has been changed to Trondhjem, or
Drontheim.
Now on a certain winter's night the king had been feasting in his hall.
His guests had been drinking deeply, and the gray haired scalds had
been singing and reciting until a late hour. But at last Olaf was left
alone beside the fire, with the doors locked. He sat in his oaken chair
gazing into the glowing wood upon the hearth. Suddenly the door swung
wide open, and a blast of cold night air came in. He looked round and
saw upon the threshold a very old man whose cloak was sprinkled with
snow. Olaf saw that the stranger had but one eye.
"Oh, pale and shivering graybeard!" cried the king. "Come, warm your
vitals with this cup of spiced ale. Be not afraid. Sit here at my side
in the light of the flames."
The aged guest obeyed, quaffed the foaming draught, and then stretched
out his withered hands before the fire. Then he began to speak to the
king and to tell him of things that had happened many hundreds of years
before and of many lands whose very names were strange to the king. And
it seemed that he would never bring his tale to an end.
At last Bishop Sigurd entered and reminded Olaf that the night was far
spent and that it was time for him to go to sleep. But still the guest
spoke on, and the king listened enthralled until sleep came over him
and his head fell back. Yet even in his sleep he fancied that he still
heard the old graybeard's voice telling him of the gods of Asgard and
the glories of Valhalla.
When King Olaf awoke he was alone before the black hearth, and it was
full morning. He asked after the guest and bade his men call him; but
nowhere could the guest be found, nor had any man seen him. They found
the doors securely locked, the watchdog was asleep in the yard, and the
snow bore no trace of footprints. All declared that no such stranger
had ever entered the hall, and that the king had but been dreaming.
Then Olaf called the bishop to his side and, crossing himself, said:
"It is no dream that I have had. I know that my guest will never
return, and yet I know that he was here. The triumph of our faith is
sure. Odin the Great is dead, for the one eyed stranger was his ghost!"
So certain was King Olaf that the power of Odin was broken that after
this time he was less eager to follow up his mission, for he believed
that he had already established the Christian faith. He said to his
bishop that all the old gods were no more and that Christ alone was
supreme.
"Not yet is it so," answered the bishop, "for Thor still reigns among
the sea rovers of the far north. I have heard that there lives a great
viking in Salten fiord who is skilled in sorcery. A wizard he is, for
he has power over the wind and the sea, and he and his great horde of
heathens still worship Odin and Thor and offer them blood sacrifice.
Rand is his name, and he is chief over all the Godoe Isles."
Roused from his apathy, Olaf declared that he would conquer this bold
viking and bring him to christening or himself be conquered. So he got
together his ships and sailed into the north.
At the mouth of Salten fiord he encountered foul weather, and was
forced to lie there storm stayed for many days. So long did the storm
continue that at length he questioned the bishop, asking if he knew any
remedy.
Bishop Sigurd answered that it was surely Rand the Wizard who, by his
sorcery, had caused the winds to blow, and he ascended to the ship's
forecastle and raised a large crucifix, lighting tapers around it and
sprinkling holy water about the decks. It is told that the storm abated
near to the ships while it still roared wildly some distance away from
them. The lashed waves stood like a wall on either side, leaving a
track of calm water, through which the vessels sailed.
When at last King Olaf came abreast of Rand's stronghold he saw the
viking's dragonship lying at anchor in the bay. It was the largest and
most splendid ship that he had ever seen. The king landed with his
priests and fighting men, and went straightway up to the wizard's
homestead and broke open the door. Rand was taken prisoner and bound
hand and foot, as were also a great many of his men.
King Olaf had the viking brought before him, and bade him take
christening.
"I will not take your possessions and your riches from you," said the
king, "but will be your friend if you will be worthy thereof, and
accept the true faith."
But Rand cried out at him, saying that nothing would induce him to
believe in Christ. He blasphemed so much that Olaf became wrothful and
said that Rand should die the worst of deaths. This threat had no
effect upon the blasphemer. So, according to the legend, he was taken
and tied to a tree. A gag was set between his teeth to open his mouth,
and a live adder was forced down his throat. The adder cut its way
through his side, killing him with its poison.
This cruel act has always been regarded as a blot upon the fame of Olaf
Triggvison, but Olaf's fanaticism led him to believe that praise rather
than blame was due to him for thus punishing the enemies of God.
Moreover, this man Rand had been the terror of all peaceful men. He had
laid waste many villages, and made human sacrifices to the pagan gods.
In bringing him to his death Olaf was, in his own way, but giving just
punishment to a criminal.
King Olaf took very great wealth from Rand's stronghold, and all the
men who had been in the viking's service were allowed to go free on
condition that they would first be christened. The dragonship which
Rand had commanded now became King Olaf's property, for it was the most
beautiful vessel in all Norway, and very much larger than the Crane,
which Olaf had had built for himself. Forward at the prow there was a
very tall dragon's head, overlaid with thick gold, and at the stern was
a long dragon's tail, also of gold. When the sails were aloft they took
the form of dragon's wings. The king named the ship the Serpent.
While Olaf was in Halogaland he deemed it well to sail yet farther
north; so he fared out to the Lafoden Isles, and thence along the
coasts of Finmark as far even as the North Cape. He baptized all those
regions and destroyed many heathen temples and established Christianity
far and wide.
In that same summer King Olaf was back again in the Thrandheim country,
and had his fleet anchored off Nidaros. Now it was in this part of
Norway that Earl Hakon's power had always been greatest, and so zealous
had Hakon been in the keeping up of pagan customs that many of the
chief men of those parts withstood all King Olaf's efforts to win them
over to Christianity, and during his absence in Halogaland these men
did all they could to undo the good work that he had done in the
earliest days of his reign.
Not many days had Olaf been back in Nidaros when he heard that the
Thranders had re-established their temples, restored their idols, and
offered blood sacrifice to their gods. The young king was so disturbed
in mind over this that he resolved to put a speedy stop to it. He
therefore sent his messengers through all the lands bordering on
Thrandheim fiord summoning a great meeting of the bonders at a place
named Frosta.
Now the bonders quickly guessed the meaning of this summons. They knew
that the king would have them abandon their old customs and accept the
new faith. But they considered that he had no right to dictate to them;
so they turned this summons into one of war, and drew together, both
thane and thrall, from all parts of Thrandheim.
When King Olaf came to the meeting, thither also had come the hosts of
the bonders, all fully armed, ready to confront him.
When the Thing was established the king rose and spoke before his
lieges, first concerning matters of peace and law, and finally he bade
them take christening again.
There was one among the bonders named Skeggi Ironbeard, a very rich
farmer who cared little for king or earls, but loved only the freedom
of his farm, his ale at night, and the warmth of his fireside. He was a
huge and cumbersome man with an iron gray beard, and as he stood by the
side of his horse his feet were seen to be covered with the mud of his
ploughed fields. Near him there was a beautiful girl with very black
hair and dark brown eyes. She was his daughter Gudrun.
Well, when King Olaf began to rebuke the people for having gone back
from Christian worship, many men looked round at Ironbeard with wise
glances.
"Now hold your peace, O king!" cried he, addressing Olaf. "Say not
another word of this Christian faith of yours, or, by the hammer of
Thor and by the ravens of Odin, we will fall upon you and drive you
away out of the land. Thus did we with King Hakon the Good, nor do we
account you of a whit more worth than him."
So when King Olaf saw with what fierce minds the bonders confronted
him, and how great a force of armed men there were, he felt that he was
not prepared to withstand them, and he so turned his speech that it
appeared he was at one accord with them.
"It is my wish," said he, "that we make peace and good fellowship
together, even as we have hitherto done. I am willing, therefore, to be
present at your worship at any time, and to witness your greatest
ceremony of blood offering. We may then take counsel together and
consider which form of worship shall prevail."
Then the bonders thought that the king might easily be persuaded to
adopt their old time customs, and their indignation against him was
appeased. Thereafter all the talk went peacefully, and at the last it
was determined that a great midsummer feast of offering should be held
at Mere, and thither should come all the lords of the land and chiefs
of the bonders. King Olaf promised also to be present.
When it wore towards the time appointed for the sacrifice, Olaf gave a
great feast at Lade, to which were invited all the chieftains and most
powerful land owners of the country side. The guests were royally
entertained, and when the feast was over the king ordered his priests
to celebrate the mass. A crowd of armed men from Olaf's ships attended
the service. The guests saw that they were powerless to resist, so they
joined in the worship and awaited the course of events.
When the service was at an end the king rose and addressed his guests.
He said:
"When we held Thing the last time, at Frosta, you will remember that I
demanded of the peasants that they should accept baptism; and they, on
the other hand, demanded that I should join them in sacrifice and make
blood offering, even as my kinsman King Hakon the Good had done. I made
no objection to this, but promised to be present at the sacrificial
feast at Mere. Now I wish to tell you that if I am to make human
sacrifice, then I will make the greatest offering of blood that has
ever been made in Norway. I will offer human sacrifice to Odin and Frey
for good crops and fine weather. But, mind you, it will not be thralls
and evildoers that I shall offer to your gods. I will sacrifice the
most high born men among you." He then pointed to several of his
guests in turn, saying, "You, Ligra of Middlehouse, shall be offered as
a sacrifice; and you, Kar of Griting; and you, Haldor of Skerding."
Eight other of the nobles he named, and bade them prepare themselves
for death. They all stood back aghast. King Olaf laughed at their
craven fears.
"Plainly do I see that you do not relish this proposal," he said. "But
if I am to be king in this land I will be obeyed. I have commanded that
Norway shall be a Christian land, and I shall have it so, even if I
lose my own life in bringing it about. Here is my bishop, ready to
baptize you. Take christening, therefore, and you shall still live.
Refuse, and you shall surely be sacrificed in the manner I have said."
Not long did they meditate before choosing the easier alternative. They
agreed to be christened there and then, and Bishop Sigurd at once
baptized them, and all the bonders who were present. Before they were
allowed to depart King Olaf demanded that they should give him their
sons or brothers as hostages. Thus by a peaceful stratagem he gained
his ends.
Now, when the time arrived for the midsummer sacrifice at Mere, Olaf
went thither with a great host of followers. But such of the peasants
and land owners who had still resisted Christianity, gathered once
more, armed to the teeth and defiant as ever. Skeggi Ironbeard was the
ringleader of the pagans, and he was everywhere active in the forefront
of the opposition.
The king attempted to speak, but the tumult was so great that no one
could hear him. At last, when he got a hearing, he repeated his
commands that all present should accept baptism and believe in Christ
the White.
Ironbeard stepped forward, sword in hand, and, confronting the king,
said:
"Now, as before, O king, we protest against your interference with our
liberty, and we are here to prevent your breaking our laws and ancient
customs. It is held as a sacred custom among us that we shall make
sacrifices to our gods, and we now hold that, although you are our
king, you have no power to decide which gods we are to believe in, or
in what manner we shall worship. It is our intention, therefore, that
you shall make blood offering here as other kings have done before you."
King Olaf listened patiently to this speech and declared himself ready
to keep his promise. So, accompanied by many of his men, he entered the
temple.
It was a very large and splendid building. The door was of beautifully
carved oak, and the handle was in the form of a large gold ring which
Earl Hakon had had put there. In the inside there were two great rooms,
the first or outer one being the chamber in which feasts of sacrifice
were held; the inner one was the more sacred, for here the images of
the heathen gods stood on their various altars. The walls were hung
with tapestries and adorned with costly metals and precious stones.
Even the roof was covered with gold plates.
All who entered were unarmed, for no one was allowed to go through the
door bearing a sword or other weapon. But the king carried a stout
stick with a heavy gold head. He watched the bonders preparing the pyre
for the sacrifice, but before it was lighted he went into the inner
chamber and inspected the images of the gods. There sat the figure of
Thor, chief among all, with his hammer in his hand and gold and silver
rings about him. He was in a chariot of gold, into which were harnessed
a pair of goats made of wood and silver.
"What god is this one?" asked Olaf of the bonders who stood near him.
"It is our god Thor," answered one of the chieftains. "He is the most
celebrated of all gods, saving only Odin. His eyes flash in the
lightning, the wheels of his carriage rumble in the thunder, and the
blows of his hammer ring loud in the earthquake. The most powerful of
all gods is he."
"And yet," said Olaf; "it seems to me that he is made of nothing more
strong than wood. You call him powerful; but I think even I am more
powerful than he."
As he spoke these words he hove up his gold headed stick, and while all
were looking, he smote Thor a great blow, so that he fell down from his
seat and tumbled to fragments upon the stone floor. At the same instant
Olaf's men struck down the other idols, while at the temple door
Ironbeard was assailed and slain.
Olaf took possession of many of the treasures of the temple, and then
razed the building to the ground. And none of the bonders dared to
oppose him. After the death of Ironbeard they had no leader bold enough
to encounter the king and his men. So the end of it was that they all
forsook their heathenish customs and yielded to the king's demands that
they should take christening.
After this time King Olaf had no more trouble in Thrandheim, and in the
whole of Norway no man dared to speak a word against the faith of
Christ. In all places where the temples had been destroyed, the king
had Christian churches built. He instituted monasteries throughout the
land, governed by bishops and abbots brought over from Rome and
Canterbury. From these monasteries many missionaries were sent out into
the remoter parts of the country to preach the gospel and to hold the
people firmly to the faith. Never again, so long as King Olaf lived,
did the Norwegians attempt to return to paganism, and after his death
his good work was taken up by his godson and namesake, Olaf the Saint.