10th-11th Century – Norway. How Olaf, enslaved at the age of 3, ultimately became a powerful monarch who converted his people to Christianity and traveled throughout Europe, as recounted by the German newspaper “Die Welt.”
Olaf Tryggvason was a typical Viking: his life was marked by murders, homicides, and similar ventures. However, the Old Norse sagas and other sources offer little reliable information about his life. As he is considered one of the pioneers of Christianity in Norway, countless legends quickly surrounded his persona after his death on September 9, 1000.
Even his origins remain unclear. He may have been born in 968. Given his later career, some have suggested he was a descendant of Harald Fairhair, who was the first king of Norway in the 10th century and succeeded in uniting much of this coastal country under his rule.
According to certain sagas, Olaf was captured as a child by pirates in the Baltic Sea and enslaved before being bought by a merchant who took him to the court of the Varangian prince Vladimir the Great in Novgorod. There, he encounters his captor and kills him. He then makes a name for himself as an officer, but his success raises the prince’s suspicion, and he must seek a new area of endeavor.
The Terror of England
Olaf manages to impress the Polish prince Boleslaw I, known as the Brave, to the extent that he gives Olaf his daughter in marriage. Olaf fights alongside his father-in-law against the Danes in the retinue of Otto II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. This occurs around 974, making his commonly supposed birth date highly implausible.
Then his wife dies, and Olaf redirects his activities towards the British Isles. After the death of Alfred the Great, succession wars break out, complicating the defense of the kingdom against the Danes. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Olaf intervenes multiple times at the head of large Viking bands. He appears to travel to the southern and eastern coasts of England with more than 90 ships. He succeeds in annihilating an entire army at Maldon in Essex.
He is offered 10,000 pounds to withdraw — for historian Neil Price, this is the first of many danegeld payments made to Viking troops to ensure their departure. Olaf takes the money and leaves, perhaps realizing there is nothing left to gain from a country drained of resources. He invests his loot in the struggle for the crown of Norway.
Champion of Christianity
At this point, the king of Norway is Hakon Sigurdsson. In 974, he contributed to preventing Otto II’s invasion alongside the Danes, but his reign is increasingly unaccepted. Hakon subsequently falls out with Sven Forkbeard, the king of Denmark. Forced to flee after a peasant revolt, he is killed soon after. Through money and eloquence, Olaf manages to occupy the throne of Norway in 995, although what this effectively means remains unclear. To escape Olaf, Erik, Hakon’s son, seeks refuge in Sweden with King Olof Skötkonung and dreams of revenge.
In the meantime, Olaf reveals two new advantages. He founds Trondheim, which becomes the center of power, and declares himself a champion of Christianity, which he admittedly intends to propagate more through force than through words. The message of Christ evidently serves to quash any internal resistance in blood. Norwegian missionaries manage to convert the Vikings of the Faroe Islands and Iceland in a less violent manner.
Olaf seeks to strengthen Norwegian influence in the Baltic with the help of Boleslaw I. This scheme meets resistance from Sven Forkbeard and Olof Skötkonung — as well as a third party, Erik, the son of Hakon. “A Norwegian heir driven from his kingdom, an ambitious Swede eager for land, and a resentful Dane ally against King Olaf of Norway,” writes Price. They gather a fleet of over sixty longships and ambush him at Svolder.
Olaf and the “King’s Leap”
The exact location of the site is still unclear and has led to various hypotheses. Some prefer the Øresund (the strait separating Denmark from Sweden), while others lean towards the Oderhaff. Olaf’s eleven ships, returning from Boleslaw’s court and escorted by a few vessels of Prince Sigvaldi, a vassal of Boleslaw, are attacked. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Sigvaldi flees, leaving the Norwegians to fend for themselves.
Although Olaf can rely on the Long Serpent, the largest warship ever built in Norway, the enemy enjoys a significant numerical superiority. This naval battle is the largest of the Viking era. To avoid capture, Olaf ultimately performs the “king’s leap”: he jumps into the sea fully equipped and drowns. One saga recounts that he merges into a bright light. Others even claim he managed to reach the shore by swimming.
Regardless, the Norwegian throne remains a prize for enterprising individuals. Harald Hardrada, for example: the commander of the Varangian guard in Byzantium, he becomes the son-in-law of the prince of Kyiv and eventually fights for the English crown. However, the Baltic Sea is no longer up for grabs. Since the defeat at Svolder, Norway has abandoned its efforts to seize this part of the Viking world.
