Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameOlaf II ‘the Saint’ , King of Norway 
Birthabt 995
Death29 Jul 1030
FatherHarald “Grenske” , Underking of Westfold (~960-995)
MotherAsta
Misc. Notes
Olav II Haraldsson ( 995 – July 29, 1030), king from 1015–1028, (known during his lifetime as the Stout and after his canonization as Saint Olav), was born in the year in which Olav Tryggvasson came to Norway. His father was Harald Grenske, great-grandchild of Harald I Fairhair.
After some years' absence in England, fighting the Danes, he returned to Norway in 1015 and declared himself king, obtaining the support of the five petty kings of the Uplands. In 1016 he defeated Earl Sweyn, hitherto the virtual ruler of Norway, at the Battle of Nesjar, and within a few years had won more power than had been enjoyed by any of his predecessors on the throne.
He had annihilated the petty kings of the South, had crushed the aristocracy, enforced the acceptance of Christianity throughout the kingdom, asserted his suzerainty in the Orkney Islands, had achieved peace with king Olof Skötkonung of Sweden through ?orgn?r the Lawspeaker, and was for some time engaged to his daughter, the princess of Sweden, Ingegerd Olofsdotter without his approval, and had conducted a successful raid on Denmark.
But his success was short-lived, for in 1026, he lost the Battle of the Helgeå and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, rallied round the invading Knut the Great, and Olav had to flee to Kievan Rus. During the voyage he stayed some time in Sweden in the province of Nerike where, according to local legend, he baptized many locals. On his return a year later, seizing an opportunity to win back the kingdom after Knut the Great's vassal Håkon Jarl was lost at sea, he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, where his own subjects were arrayed against him.
For various reasons, most importantly the death of king Knut the Great in 1035, but perhaps even a certain discontent among Norwegian nobles with the Danish rule in the years after Olav's death in 1030, Olav's son Magnus the Good, assumed power in Norway, eventually also in Denmark. Numerous churches in Denmark were dedicated to Olav during his reign, and the sagas give glimpses of similar efforts to promote the cult of his deceased father on the part of the young king.
After some years' absence in England, fighting the Danes, he returned to Norway in 1015 and declared himself king, obtaining the support of the five petty kings of the Uplands. In 1016 he defeated Earl Sweyn, hitherto the virtual ruler of Norway, at the Battle of Nesjar, and within a few years had won more power than had been enjoyed by any of his predecessors on the throne.
He had annihilated the petty kings of the South, had crushed the aristocracy, enforced the acceptance of Christianity throughout the kingdom, asserted his suzerainty in the Orkney Islands, had achieved peace with king Olof Skötkonung of Sweden through ?orgn?r the Lawspeaker, and was for some time engaged to his daughter, the princess of Sweden, Ingegerd Olofsdotter without his approval, and had conducted a successful raid on Denmark.
But his success was short-lived, for in 1026, he lost the Battle of the Helgeå and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, rallied round the invading Knut the Great, and Olav had to flee to Kievan Rus. During the voyage he stayed some time in Sweden in the province of Nerike where, according to local legend, he baptized many locals. On his return a year later, seizing an opportunity to win back the kingdom after Knut the Great's vassal Håkon Jarl was lost at sea, he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, where his own subjects were arrayed against him.
For various reasons, most importantly the death of king Knut the Great in 1035, but perhaps even a certain discontent among Norwegian nobles with the Danish rule in the years after Olav's death in 1030, Olav's son Magnus the Good, assumed power in Norway, eventually also in Denmark. Numerous churches in Denmark were dedicated to Olav during his reign, and the sagas give glimpses of similar efforts to promote the cult of his deceased father on the part of the young king.