king_olaf

The Norway inhabited by my ancestors a thousand years ago was a magical place where gods and goddesses, the stars of an elaborate mythology, played vital roles in daily lives.

As pagans they worshiped a god named Odin, reputedly the son of a giantess, who had killed a giant named Ymir. From the giant's body Odin had formed the earth, from his blood the oceans, from his bones the mountains, from his hair the trees, from his skull the heavens, and from his brain the clouds.

When battles brewed, Odin mounted an eight-legged horse and wielded a bow that unleashed ten arrows with every pull.

Odin had only one eye. According to Nordic mythology, he had gouged out and given his other eye to the god Mimir in return for permission to drink from the well of knowledge. That's how he learned how to read runes, the name for characters in an ancient germanic alphabet.

Odin was the god not only of wisdom, but also of battle, death and inspiration. Warrors believed that if they died in battle they might be invited to Odin's palace, Valhalla, where they would feast forever as his chosen companions.

As the creator of clouds, Odin was believed to control weather as well. Later in this essay, the reader will find heathen warriors challenging the Christian god to demonstrate mastery over Odin by delivering specified weather as an omen in their battle against the king of Norway.

At the dawn of the second millennium, my ancestors were digging in their heels to defend their gods and mythology against the steady encroachment of Christianity from the South. Their adversaries, paradoxically, were Vikings who had for centuries pillaged the European mainland, striking first at monasteries on the coast of England starting in 793 and continuing until 1085.

Both the Vikings and the Norwegian farmers had reason to fear the early church. As king of France in the early 800s, Karl the Big had set a standard for zealous brutality by beheading 4,500 Saxons in a single day for having the temerity to refuse baptism as Christians. Before administering the coup de grace, the king looked after the well-being of his victims in the hereafter by forcibly baptising them.

The Vikings, of course, didn't just pillage and kill and then flee. After an initial period of piracy, they seized control of big chunks of England, Ireland, France, Russia and Sicily, established permanent settlements, including Dublin, and sailed to Iceland, Greenland and North America. In Iceland, which had been settled by Norwegian expatriates, the Vikings set up the world's first modern democracy.

In their daily lives the Vikings hewed to highly developed precepts of democracy, personal honor and revenge, values exemplified in our own time by the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, whose famous axiom was, "Don't get mad; get even."

After more than a century of exposure to European Christians, many of the Vikings returned to Norway as warriors for the new religion. For decades, armies led by Christian Vikings fought bloody battles against pagan farmers across the Norwegian countryside.

The little we know about this period is mostly attributable to an Icelandic historian, Snorri Sturluson, who was born in 1179 and died in 1241. His "Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings," a saga based on stories told and retold over generations, is perhaps the most important written record. While reading an English translation, I found to my surprise that places inhabited for centuries by my ancestors, played a prominent role in the long struggle between paganism and Christianity in Norway.

Their story, I regret to report, is not a heroic one.

Forced by King Olaf to choose between Christian baptism and death, the pagan men of Vågå decided quickly to prolong their lives.

At Hundorp, later the home of my earliest identified ancestor, who lived in the 13th century, a hostile army of some 700 men from the Gudbrandsdal Valley faced the same choice a short time later. Most of them glimpsed an unspoken third option and ran for the high grass.

These routs were the prelude to the the ultimate defeat of paganism and the rooting of Christianity in Norway's heartland, the Gudbrandsdal Valley.

Three of my four ancestral lines - the Shellums, Lees and Nelsons - originated in this part of Norway. Two of those lines - the Lees and Nelsons - go back to Haakon Hundorp, who is believed to have been born in 1220 at Hundorp farm, which figures significantly in this story. It is reasonable to assume that Haakon's ancestors took part in the events described here.

The central figure is the renowned Olaf Haraldsen, a Viking who set out, as king, to Christianize Norway once and for all. Using his broadaxe and an army for persuasion, he made considerable progress. As is evident in the Icelandic Sagas, he also used bold duplicity to his advantage.

A son of Norwegian King Harald Grenske, Olaf was born in 995, the same year that Olaf Tryggvasson defeated his rivals in battle, assumed the throne and proclaimed a Christian kingdom. The proclamation meant little, however, to the rich and powerful landowners, sometimes referred to as earls or kings, who reigned over local kingdoms throughout Norway. They were not about to let go of their power or their treasured pagan gods, chief among them Odin and Thor, and the rich mythology that nurtured their lives.

Thor, a son of Odin, was known as the thunderer, and had eyes that resembled lightning bolts. He was revered for a big hammer that he threw in battle only to have it return mysteriously to his hand. Thor is believed to have been more popular than Odin if only because he oversaw the interests of the common man, not just warriors, and didn't require human or animal sacrifices.

Even after baptism as Christians, often under threat of death, Norwegians at the time commonly returned to these old gods and their traditional religious practices.

For Olaf, in the beginning, it was the spoils of war, not the characteristics of gods, that set him on his path to glory. At the age of 12, he joined Viking expeditions that plundered the coasts of Sweden, Finland and Denmark, then headed south to England and France. He spent one summer and three winters in England, two summers and one winter in France, and then returned to Norway, where he was recognized as king in 1015.

During these sojourns abroad, the Icelandic sagas say, Olaf began taking a serious interest in Christianity, by then well established in continental Europe. The sagas say he was baptised in Norway in 998, but more recent historians argue that this seminal event more likely took place in 1010 in Rouen, France.

Known early as Olaf the Stout, he was just 20 when crowned king of Norway. Not one to rule by public opinion polls, King Olaf set out to achieve two unpopular causes: unify Norway, then dominated by the local kingdoms, and rid the society of paganism, especially the messy practice of human and animal sacrifices. His army smashed pagan temples and built churches in their places, then imported priests and other religious officials from England to set up a church.

Regarding this encroachment with fear and loathing, the local chieftains recruited their own armies and fought back.

In his cross-country campaign to put down these uprisings, Olaf's army reached the upper end of what later came to be called the Gudbrandsdal Valley in 1021. This is how Sturluson described King Olaf's campaign to Christianize the communities now known as Lesja and Vågå, centuries later the origin of some of my immigrant ancestors and relatives.

"He laid hold of all the best men, and forced them, both at Lesjar and Dovre, either to receive Christianity or suffer death, if they were not so lucky as to escape. After they received Christianity, the king took their sons in his hands as hostages for their fidelity. The king stayed several nights at a farm in Lesjar called Boar, where he placed priests. Then he proceeded over Orkadal and Lorodal, and came down from the Uplands at a place called Stafabrekka. There a river runs along the valley, called the Otta, and a beautiful hamlet, by name Loar, lies on both sides of the river, and the king could see far down over the whole neighbourhood."

"'A pity it is,' said the king, 'so beautiful a hamlet should be burnt.' And he proceeded down the valley with his people, and was all night on a farm called Nes."

"The king took his lodging in a loft, where he slept himself; and it stands to the present day, without anything in it having been altered since. The king was five days there, and summoned by message-token the people to a Thing, both for the districts of Vagar, Lear, and Hedal; and gave out the message along with the token, that they must either receive Christianity and give their sons as hostages, or see their habitations burnt. They came before the king, and submitted to his pleasure; but some fled south down the valley."

Having vanquished Lesja and Vågå without a fight, King Olaf and his army headed south, bent on a showdown with Dale-Gudbrand, a pagan who was the most powerful landowner in the valley that would later bear his name.

Sturluson wrote: "Now when Gudbrand received the tidings that King Olaf was come to Lear, and obliged people to accept Christianity, he sent out a message-token, and summoned all the men in the valley to meet him at a farm called Hundthorp. All came, so that the number could not be told; for there is a lake in the neighbourhood called Laugen, so that people could come to the place both by land and by water."

"There Gudbrand held a Thing with them, and said, 'A man is come to Loar who is called Olaf, and will force upon us another faith than what we had before, and will break in pieces all our gods. He says that he has a much greater and more powerful god; and it is wonderful that the earth does not burst asunder under him, or that our god lets him go about unpunished when he dares to talk such things. I know this for certain, that if we carry Thor, who has always stood by us, out of our temple that is standing upon this farm, Olaf's god will melt away, and he and his men be made nothing so soon as Thor looks upon them.'"

"Then the bondes (landowners) all shouted as one person that Olaf should never get away with life if he came to them; and they thought he would never dare to come farther south through the valley. They chose out 700 men to go northwards to Breida, to watch his movements. The leader of this band was Gudbrand's son, eighteen years of age, and with him were many other men of importance. When they came to a farm called Hof they heard of the king; and they remained three nights there. People streamed to them from all parts, from Lesjar, Loar, and Vagar, who did not wish to receive Christianity."

"The king and Bishop Sigurd fixed teachers in Loaf and in Vagar. From thence they went round Vagarost, and came down into the valley at Sil, where they stayed all night, and heard the news that a great force of men were assembled against them. The bondes who were in Breida heard also of the king's arrival, and prepared for battle. As soon as the king arose in the morning he put on his armour, and went southwards over the Sil plains, and did not halt until he came to Breida, where he saw a great army ready for battle."

"Then the king drew up his troops, rode himself at the head of them, and began a speech to the bondes, in which he invited them to adopt Christianity. They replied, 'We shall give thee something else to do today than to be mocking us;' and raised a general shout, striking also upon their shields with their weapons. Then the king's men ran forward and threw their spears; but the bondes turned round instantly and fled, so that only few men remained behind."

"Gudbrand's son was taken prisoner; but the king gave him his life, and took him with him. The king was four days here. Then the king said to Gudbrand's son, 'Go home now to thy father, and tell him I expect to be with him soon.' He went accordingly, and told his father the news, that they had fallen in with the king, and fought with him; but that their whole army, in the very beginning, took flight. "

"'I was taken prisoner,' said he, 'but the king gave me my life and liberty, and told me to say to thee that he will soon be here. And now we have not 200 men of the force we raised against him; therefore I advise thee, father, not to give battle to that man.'"

"Says Gudbrand, 'It is easy to see that all courage has left thee, and it was an unlucky hour ye went out to the field. Thy proceeding will live long in the remembrance of people, and I see that thy fastening thy faith on the folly that man is going about with has brought upon thee and thy men so great a disgrace.'"

"But the night after, Gudbrand dreamt that there came to him a man surrounded by light, who brought great terror with him, and said to him, 'Thy son made no glorious expedition against King Olaf; but still less honour wilt thou gather for thyself by holding a battle with him. Thou with all thy people wilt fall; wolves will drag thee, and all thine, away; ravens wilt tear thee in stripes.' At this dreadful vision he was much afraid, and tells it to Thord Istermage, who was chief over the valley."

"He replies, 'The very same vision came to me.' In the morning they ordered the signal to sound for a Thing, and said that it appeared to them advisable to hold a Thing with the man who had come from the north with this new teaching, to know if there was any truth in it. Gudbrand then said to his son, 'Go thou, and twelve men with thee, to the king who gave thee thy life.' He went straightway, and found the king, and laid before him their errand; namely, that the bondes would hold a Thing with him, and make a truce between them and him."

"The king was content; and they bound themselves by faith and law mutually to hold the peace so long as the Thing lasted. After this was settled the men returned to Gudbrand and Thord, and told them there was made a firm agreement for a truce. The king, after the battle with the son of Gudbrand, had proceeded to Lidstad, and remained there for five days: afterwards he went out to meet the bondes, and hold a Thing with them. On that day there fell a heavy rain. When the Thing was seated, the king stood up and said that the people in Lesjar, Loaf, and Vagar had received Christianity, broken down their houses of sacrifice, and believed now in the true God who had made heaven and earth and knows all things."

"Thereupon the king sat down, and Gudbrand replies, 'We know nothing of him whom thou speakest about. Dost thou call him God, whom neither thou nor any one else can see? But we have a god who can be seen every day, although he is not out today, because the weather is wet, and he will appear to thee terrible and very grand; and I expect that fear will mix with your very blood when he comes into the Thing. But since thou sayest thy God is so great, let him make it so that tomorrow we have a cloudy day but without rain, and then let us meet again.'"

"The king accordingly returned home to his lodging, taking Gudbrand's son as a hostage; but he gave them a man as hostage in exchange. In the evening the king asked Gudbrand's son what like their god was. He replied that he bore the likeness of Thor; had a hammer in his hand; was of great size, but hollow within; and had a high stand, upon which he stood when he was out. 'Neither gold nor silver are wanting about him, and every day he receives four cakes of bread, besides meat.'

"They then went to bed, but the king watched all night in prayer. When day dawned the king went to mass, then to table, and from thence to the Thing. The weather was such as Gudbrand desired. Now the bishop stood up in his choir-robes, with bishop's coif upon his head, and bishop's staff in his hands. He spoke to the bondes of the true faith, told the many wonderful acts of God, and concluded his speech well.

"Thord Istermage replies, 'Many things we are told of by this horned man with the staff in his hand crooked at the top like a ram's horn; but since ye say, comrades, that your god is so powerful, and can do so many wonders, tell him to make it clear sunshine tomorrow forenoon, and then we shall meet here again, and do one of two things - either agree with you about this business, or fight you.'"

"And they separated for the day."

"There was a man with King Olaf called Kolbein Sterke (the strong), who came from a family in the Fjord district. Usually he was so equipped that he was girt with a sword, and besides carried a great stake, otherwise called a club, in his hands. The king told Kolbein to stand nearest to him in the morning; and gave orders to his people to go down in the night to where the ships of the bondes lay and bore holes in them, and to set loose their horses on the farms where they were; all which was done. Now the king was in prayer all the night, beseeching God of His goodness and mercy to release him from evil. When mass was ended, and morning was grey, the king went to the Thing."

"When he came there some bondes had already arrived, and they saw a great crowd coming along, and bearing among them a huge man's image glancing with gold and silver. When the bondes who were at the Thing saw it they started up, and bowed themselves down before the ugly idol. Thereupon it was set down upon the Thing-field; and on the one side of it sat the bondes, and on the other the king and his people. Then Dale-Gudbrand stood up, and said, "Where now, king, is thy god? I think he will now carry his head lower; and neither thou, nor the man with the horn whom ye call bishop, and sits there beside thee, are so bold today as on the former days; for now our god, who rules over all, is come, and looks on you with an angry eye; and now I see well enough that ye are terrified, and scarcely dare to raise your eyes. Throw away now all your opposition, and believe in the god who has all your fate in his hands."

"The king now whispers to Kolbein Sterke, without the bondes perceiving it, "If it come so in the course of my speech that the bondes look another way than towards their idol, strike him as hard as thou canst with thy club."

"The king then stood up and spoke. 'Much hast thou talked to us this morning, and greatly hast thou wondered that thou canst not see our God; but we expect that he will soon come to us. Thou wouldst frighten us with thy god, who is both blind and deaf, and can neither save himself nor others, and cannot even move about without being carried; but now I expect it will be but a short time before he meets his fate: for turn your eyes towards the east - behold our God advancing in great light."

"The sun was rising, and all turned to look. At that moment Kolbein gave their god a stroke, so that the idol burst asunder; and there ran out of it mice as big almost as cats, and reptiles, and adders. The bondes were so terrified that some fled to their ships; but when they sprang out upon them they filled with water, and could not get away. Others ran to their horses, but could not find them. The king then ordered the bondes to be called together, saying he wanted to speak with them; on which the bondes came back, and the Thing was again seated."

"The king rose up and said, 'I do not understand what your noise and running mean. Ye see yourselves what your god can do - the idol ye adorned with gold and silver, and brought meat and provisions to. Ye see now that the protecting powers who used it were the mice and adders, reptiles and paddocks; and they do ill who trust to such, and will not abandon this folly. Take now your gold and ornaments that are lying strewed about on the grass, and give them to your wives and daughters; but never hang them hereafter upon stock or stone.'"

"'Here are now two conditions between us to choose upon. Either accept Christianity, or fight this very day; and the victory be to them to whom the God we worship gives it.' Then Dale-Gudbrand stood up and said, 'We have sustained great damage upon our god; but since he will not help us, we will believe in the God thou believest in.'"

"Then all received Christianity. The bishop baptized Gudbrand and his son. King Olaf and Bishop Sigurd left behind them teachers, and they who met as enemies parted as friends; and Gudbrand built a church in the valley."

As King Olaf and his army moved on, however, they found that not all of the local chieftains were so easily fooled.

In fact, while Olaf was waging war against the local kings for control of Norway, King Canute of Denmark and England was showering them with gifts and promising to restore their power and privileges if they would accept him as king.

The local kings readily accepted the deal. When King Canute arrived with a big fleet of ships in 1028, he was accepted as king without having to fight a single battle.

The deposed Olaf and remnants of his army fled to Russia, where they found refuge with his brother-in-law, Grand Duke Yaroslav of Novgorod.

After two years in exile, Olaf returned to Norway with a small army made up partly of Swedes, bent on taking back his kingdom. But his enemies again rose up against him, and on July 29, 1030, pagan peasants killed King Olaf in a celebrated battle at Stiklestad, north of Trondheim.

Dynastic feuds continued to disrupt Norway for another century, but historians generally credit Olaf with its adoption of Christianity.

Buried secretly by his friends, Olaf soon gave rise to a new controversy. Stories were told of strange lights, and even miracles, in the vicinity of his grave. When his coffin was opened, months later, witnesses reported that his rosy skin was unchanged by death.

Olaf's stature soared, and even his enemies decided they had done him wrong, joining the chorus asking that Olaf be designated a saint. In 1164, the church complied and Olaf became Norway's patron saint.

Norway's coat of arms shows a lion with Olaf's battleax between its forepaws.

Over the next century, unique wooden stave churches were built all over Norway, several dozen of which still stand.

St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, one of my alma maters, and many Lutheran churches are named after him. So are a variety of Roman Catholic churches.

Meanwhile, Olaf's old pagan adversaries soldier on in the everyday lives of people all over the world, but without religious significance. Odin, who also was known as Woden, is memorialized every Wednesday. Thor's day is Thursday.