Odin to Olav

I’ve been asked by the local library to present for 20 minutes on the creation and Christianization of Norway later this month. In preparation for this event, I sketched out the document below for this Sunday’s Adult Education. As you can see, so far I’m failing miserably at the 20 minute part, despite keeping my history quick and dirty. Ah, well. We have a week or two to trim. In the meantime, please enjoy, and forgive any sloppy mistakes.

Odin to Olav:

The Birth and Baptism of Norway

Legendary Beginnings

“Two houses, both alike in dignity …” Long ago, far to the east, the lands of Asaland and Vanaheim came into conflict. In peace they exchanged prisoners. Njord of Vanaheim and his children, Frey and Freya, became the hostage-companions of King Odin. Through magic, Odin foresaw the future, and traveled west through Russia and Germany, fathering many children. One of his sons, Skjold, founded the legendary Scylding dynasty of Denmark, while Frey founded the Yngling dynasty of ancient Sweden. Skjlod’s grandson Fróði ruled at the time when Christ was born, with all the world at peace. The Scylding dynasty fell shortly after the events of Beowulf, and the Yngling kings were driven from Sweden into Norway, though clans of Yngling blood remained.

Into the Woods

Norway was a hodgepodge of settlements and sea kings scattered throughout thick woodlands. Travel could only occur by ship. Little wonder that they viewed the universe as separate realms hidden in the branches of the great World Tree. Halvdan the Black (ruled AD 820-860), of royal Yngling descent, became a great king and married Queen Ragnhild, who descended from Sigurd Serpent-Eye, the son of Ragnar Loðbrok and Aslaug. Aslaug claimed to be the daughter of Sigfried (Sigurd Fafnir’s-Bane) and Brynhild, the heroes of the Volsunga saga and Nibelungenleid. Ragnhild dreamt of a mighty tree, red at the root, green in the middle, and white in its highest branches. Ragnar was a Skjolding, Halvdan a Yngling, Sigfried a Volsung (another family descended from Odin). Thus, the child of Halvdan and Ragnhild, prophesied by Ragnhild’s dream, would be a descendant of all these mythical bloodlines.

Harald Fairhair

As might be expected, Halvdan’s son Harald (ruled AD 860-933) was tall, strong, and successful. As he conquered new territories, he sent men to woo the noblewoman Gyda, but she rebuffed him, asking why she should marry a petty king when she could be the wife of the Danish or Swedish monarchs, who had managed to unify their countries. Harald thanked her for reminding him of his duty, and swore neither to cut nor comb his hair until he had subdued all of Norway under him. It took 10 years, but through ferocity in battle and generosity to allies, Harald finally eliminated the last resistance to his rule at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. His best friend, Ragnvald Eysteinsson, then cut his hair and proclaimed him “Harald Fairhair.” Harald then wed Gyda, though he had accrued many wives and innumerable children in the meantime. His friends were made jarls and his sons were called kings. Those Norwegians who preferred not to live under his rule left to settle Iceland.

My Three Sons

Harald sent forth to subdue the Vikings (pirates) of the westlands, i.e. Ireland, Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland and Hebrides Islands, and the Isle of Man. One of the sons of Ragnvald Eysteinsson fell in this campaign. In addition to being Jarl of Møre and brother-in-law to the king, Ragnvald was now made Jarl of Orkney and the Kingdom of the Isles. His little-loved and one-eyed son Turf Einar left to rule Orkney and founded a long line of Orkney jarls. They intermarried with Scottish royalty. Another of Ragnvald’s sons, Hrolf Ganger, was convicted of being a Viking (pirate) and exiled; he conquered Normandy and became its first duke. The Dukes of Normandy would later go on to conquer England. A third of Rognvald’s sons would go on to be a great chief in Iceland. When some of Fairhair’s sons, jealous of their father’s friends, burned Ragnvald in his hall, it was Turf Einar who blood-eagled them in revenge. Norway ruled the North Sea.

Hakon the Good

Of Fairhair’s many sons, Erik was his favorite and Hakon his youngest. Groomed to be his successor, Erik became known as Blood-axe and was not beloved by the people. Hakon, meanwhile, was fostered by the English King Æethelstan and raised a catechized Christian. Upon Fairhair’s death, Hakon the Good was proclaimed king, and Erik exiled. Blood-axe died fighting in Northumbria. Norway, however, was unsure of what to do with a Christian king. They required him to preside at pagan sacrifices. He did mandate that they move the dates of Yule to coincide with Christmas, and when he blessed them with the sign of the Cross, advisors explained that it was the sign of Thor’s hammer. In A.D. 961, Hakon died in battle against the sons of Erik Blood-axe, and the people mourned so greatly that they declared him bound for Valhalla, Christian or no. After this, much fighting took place throughout the country between various kings and jarls.

Olav Trygvasson

Many fought for the throne of Norway. Anyone who could claim an army and descent from Harald Fairhair had a shot, and Harald had begotten so many children that it was difficult to keep track. Olav Trygvasson, a great-grandson of Fairhair, was born in Orkney in the 960s. Hiding from the sons of Blood-axe, who had killed Olav’s father, his mother Astrid fled first to Sweden and then to Novgorod, but their ship was taken by Estonian Vikings. His maternal uncle, in the service of King Valdemar of the Kievan Rus (Swedish Russia) found Olav as a slave and bought him; Olav later returned to murder his former master with an axe. Olav became the head of the Russian king’s guard, until his popularity made Valdemar suspicious and Olav fled to Wendland, where he married the Wendish queen and fought in the Holy Roman Emperor’s army. After the death of his wife Greira, Olav mourned so deeply that he had to leave Wendland and raided as a Viking. A seer told him that he would become a great king, but first he would be wounded near death and be baptized upon recovery. So it happened, and Olav went on to marry Queen Gyda, sister to the king of Dublin. Meanwhile, Norway chafed under the rule of Hakon the Jarl, who served the Danish king. Olav took the throne.

Pagans for Christ

King Olav was dedicated to Christ, but not big on the 10 Commandments. In many ways he seemed to treat Christ as a new war god, superior to Odin and Thor, who gave him victory in battle. Olav was known as the greatest of Vikings: he could juggle three swords, throw two spears at once, and dance across the oars of a rowing ship. He built great warships. Leif the Lucky, son of Erik the Red who first settled Greenland, came to Olav’s court and was baptized. After discovering Vinland, Leif would go on to build the first church in Greenland just as Olav is said to have built the first church in Norway. Olav also defeated Sigurd the Stout, Jarl of Orkney, forcing him to accept Olav as king and Christ as Lord, under threat of “scourging every isle with fire and sword.” The forced baptism seems to have stuck, for Sigurd’s descendants if not for the jarl himself. Opponents who refused conversion were often tortured and executed: not very Christlike. Olav also founded the city of Trondheim. From there the medieval Archbishops of Nidaros would eventually gain jurisdiction over 10 bishoprics: four in Norway, two in Iceland, and one each in Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes, and Greenland. Ultimately, it took a combined fleet of Swedish, Danish, Wendish, and Norwegian ships to defeat Olav at the Battle of Svolder. His body was never recovered, and legends of his survival abound.

King Olav II

Olav Digre Haraldsson (A.D. 995-1030) was a great-great-great-grandson of Harald Fairhair. As a young man he went a-Viking through Estonia, Denmark, and England. He fought in the service of King Æthelred against the Danes, inspiring “London Bridge is Falling Down.” He dreamed of uniting Norway as Fairhair had, and while wintering in Normandy he was baptized. By now the Normans were ardent Christians who catechized Olav well. Landing in the north, Olav received the support of five petty Norse kings and began his conquest. Soon he had swept south, ruling all of Norway and Orkney, while marrying Astrid, the illegitimate daughter of Sweden’s king. (Olav’s daughter with Astrid would marry the Duke of Saxony, from whose line the modern Norwegian royal family is descended.) Norwegian nobles, however, supported the Danish King Canute in his claim to the throne, and Olav fled to the Rus in 1029. By 1030 he was back with a fleet, but fell at the Battle of Stiklestad. Olav’s son Magnus would later displace Canute’s son Sven.

Olav the Holy

The differences between the two Kings Olav demonstrate the Christianization of Norway. Olav II brought in Bishop Grimkell and the episcopal organization of the Church. For him Christ was much more than a war god. Nevertheless, he seems to have had many wives, and while not as sadistic as Olav Trygvasson he could be brutal by modern standards. Olav II used priests of Norman descent to catechize and educate the people. Upon his death, tales of miracles spilled forth from his tomb. He was proclaimed a saint (the last one canonized before the Great East-West Schism) and the Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae. Modern scholars note that by the time of Olav II, Christianity had already spread throughout the coastlands, though the king brought it to the country’s interior. Olav’s Way became a major medieval pilgrimage route, and the cult of St Olav spread throughout Scandinavia and Britain to Rome and the Varangian Guard—even Minnesota.

Kvitekrist

Once, Norse rulers had claimed legitimacy from divine ancestry. Now they claimed descent from a saintly king. Norway had gone from being baffled at their king’s Christianity (Hakon the Good) to embracing a Christianity that looked familiarly pagan (Olav Trygvasson) to fully integrating themselves into Christendom (King St Olav II). And the histories of these kings were penned by the same authors who wrote down the old heathen mythologies: the Christian priests and skalds of Iceland.