| Noteringar |
- Also Known As: "Olav Digre", "the Saint", "the Big", "Holy Olaf", "Heilag-Olav", "Olaf the Holy", "Olav den Hellige", "Olaus", "Saint Olaf", "the Fat", "Óláfr Digre", "Óláfr Haraldsson", "the Stout", "The /Saint/", "Olav Den Hellige", "kong Olav den Hellige"
Birthdate: cirka 995
Birthplace: Gvarv, Sauherad, Telemark, Norway
Death: 29 Juli 1030 (31-39)
Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway (Døde i slaget på Stiklestad)
Begravningsort: Trondheim, Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
Närstående:
Son till Harald Gudrødsson Grenske och Åsta Gudbrandsdotter, Queen of Norway
Make till Thorberga Arnimsdatter och Drotning av Norge Astrid Olofsdotter, av Sverige
Partner till Alvhild Kongemor, concubine
Fader till Ulfhild Olafsdotter of Norway, Duchess of Saxony och Magnus I Olavsson «the Good» den Gode
Halvbror till Halfdan Sigurdsson; Halvdan Sigurdsson, av Stein; Gunnhild Kalvsson; Guttorm (Gudrød) Sigurdsson; Ingrid Sigurdsdatter och 1 annan
Occupation: Norges konge/kung 1015-1028, King of Norway 1015-1028, Roi, de Norvège, , King of Norway, Gift 1019, Konge av Norge, Kung av Norge 1015-1028
- Olav II Haraldsson «the Saint/Digre» den Hellige
http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00104684&tree=LEO
http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=&emne=nor&person=Olav%20Haraldsson%20%28den%20heilage%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_the_Holy
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyh%C3%A4_Olavi
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olav_den_Hellige
http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Olav_2_Haraldsson_Den_Hellige/utdypning
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/44977 (Current Archeology 11/23/16)
http://www.katolsk.no/biografi/olav/
Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse Óláfr Haraldsson, 995 – July 29, 1030) was king of Norway from 1015 to 1028, (known during his lifetime as "the Big" (Óláfr Digre) and after his canonization as Saint Olaf or Olaus). His mother was Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, and his father was Harald Grenske, great-grandchild of Harald Fairhair. In modern day Norway he is known as Olav den Hellige ("Olaf the Holy") or Heilag-Olav ("Holy Olaf") as a result of his sainthood.
Concerning the king's name
King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway had the given name Óláfr in Old Norse. (Etymology: Anu - "forefather", Leifr - "heir".) Olav is the modern equivalent in Norwegian, formerly often spelt Olaf. His name in Icelandic is Ólafur, in Faroese Ólavur, in Danish Oluf, in Swedish Olof, the Norse-Gaels called him Amlaíb and in Waterford it is Olave. Other names, such as Oláfr hinn helgi, Olavus rex, and Olaf (as used in English) are used interchangeably (see the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson). He is sometimes referred to as Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, eternal King of Norway, a designation which goes back to the thirteenth century. The term Ola Nordmann as epithet of the archetypal Norwegian may originate in this tradition, as the name Olav for centuries was the most common male name in Norway.
Reign
Olaf was the subject of several biographies, both hagiographies and sagas, in the Middle Ages, and many of the historical facts concerning his reign are disputed. The best known description is the one in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, from c. 1230. That saga cannot be taken as an accurate source for Olaf's life, but most of the following description is based on the narrative there.
Norway during the reign of St. Olaf (1015–1028) showing areas under the control of hereditary chieftains (petty kingdoms).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. He founded the town Borg by the waterfall Sarpr, later to be known as Sarpsborg. Within a few years he 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, conducted a successful raid on Denmark, achieved peace with king Olof Skötkonung of Sweden through Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker, and was for some time, engaged to his daughter, the Princess of Sweden, Ingegerd Olofsdotter without his approval. After the end of her engagement to Olaf, Ingegerd married the Great Prince Yaroslav I of Kiev.
In 1019 Olaf married the illegitimate daughter of King Olof of Sweden and half-sister of his former bride, Astrid Olofsdotter. Their daughter Wulfhild married Duke Ordulf of Saxony in 1042. The present king of Norway, Harald V and his father Olav V are thus descended from Olaf, since the latter's mother Maud was the daughter of Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, one of the numerous royal, grand ducal and ducal lines descended from Ordulf and Wulfrid.
But Olaf's success was short-lived. In 1026 he lost the Battle of the Helgeå, and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, rallied round the invading Cnut the Great of Denmark, forcing Olaf 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 Cnut the Great's vassal as ruler of Norway, Håkon Jarl, was lost at sea, he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, where some of his own subjects from central Norway were arrayed against him.
Olaf, a rather stubborn and rash ruler, prone to rough treatment of his enemies, ironically became Norway's patron saint. His canonization was performed only a year after his death by the bishop of Nidaros. The cult of Olaf not only unified the country, it also fulfilled the conversion of the nation, something for which the king had fought so hard.
While divisive in life, in death Olaf wielded a unifying power no foreign monarch could hope to undo.
Cnut, most distracted by the task of administrating England, managed to rule Norway for 5 years after the Battle of Stiklestad, through the viceroyship of his son Svein. However, when Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus (dubbed 'the Good') laid claim to the Norwegian throne, Cnut had to yield. A century of prosperity and expansion followed, lasting until the kingdom again descended into a civil war over succession.
Sainthood
Owing to Olaf's later status as the patron saint of Norway, and to his importance in later medieval historiography and in Norwegian folklore, it is difficult to assess the character of the historical Olaf. Judging from the bare outlines of known historical facts, he appears, more than anything else, as a fairly unsuccessful ruler, who had his power based on some sort of alliance with the much more powerful king Cnut the Great; who was driven into exile when he claimed a power of his own; and whose attempt at a reconquest was swiftly crushed.
Conversion of Norway
Olaf and Olaf Tryggvasson together were the driving force behind Norway's final conversion to Christianity. However, large stone crosses and other Christian symbols suggest that at least the coastal areas of Norway were deeply influenced by Christianity long before Olav's time; with one exception, all the rulers of Norway back to Håkon the Good (c. 920–961) had been Christians; and Olav's main opponent, Cnut the Great, was a Christian ruler. What seems clear is that Olav made efforts to establish a church organization on a broader scale than before, among other things by importing bishops from England and Germany, and that he tried to enforce Christianity also in the inland areas, which had the least communication with the rest of Europe, and which economically were more strongly based on agriculture, so that the inclination to hold on to the former fertility cult would have been stronger than in the more diversified and expansive western parts of the country.
Although Olav was certainly not the first to introduce Christianity to Norway, he established the first codification of the faith in 1024, thus laying the basis for the Church of Norway. So high did Olaf's legal arrangements for the Church of Norway come to stand in the eyes of the Norwegian people and clergy, that when Pope Gregory VII attempted to make clerical celibacy binding on the priests of Western Europe in 1074-5, the Norwegians largely ignored this, since there was no mention of clerical celibacy in Olaf's legal code for their Church. Only after Norway was made an metropolitan province with its own archbishop in 1151—which made the Norwegian church, on the one hand, more independent of its king, but, on the other hand, more directly responsible to the Pope — did canon law gain a greater predominance in the life and jurisdiction of the Norwegian church.
Sigrid Undset noted that Olaf was baptized in Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and suggested that Olaf used priests of Norman descent for his missionaries, since these priests were themselves of Norwegian descent, could speak the language and shared the culture of the people they were to convert. Since the Normans themselves had only been in Normandy for about two generations, these priests might, at least in some cases, be their new parishioners distant cousins and thus less likely to kill their pastors once Olaf and his army had left an area. One might note here, as well, that the few surviving manuscripts and the printed missal used in Archdiocese of Nidaros shows a clear dependence on the missals used in Normandy.
Olaf's dynasty
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 Olaf's death in 1030, his illegitimate son with the concubine Alvhild, Magnus the Good, assumed power in Norway, and eventually also in Denmark. Numerous churches in Denmark were dedicated to Olaf 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. This would become typical in the Scandinavian monarchies. It should be remembered that in pagan times the Scandinavian kings derived their right to rule from their claims of descent from the Norse god Odin, or in the case of the kings of the Swedes at Old Uppsala, from Freyr. In Christian times this legitimation of a dynasty's right to rule and its national prestige would be based on its descent from a saintly king. Thus the kings of Norway promoted the cult of St. Olaf, the kings of Sweden the cult of St. Erik and the kings of Denmark the cult of St. Canute, just as in England the Norman and Plantagenet kings similarly promoted the cult of St. Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, their coronation church.
Saint Olaf
Among the bishops that Olaf brought with him from England, was Grimkell (Grimkillus). He was probably the only one of the missionary bishops who was left in the country at the time of Olaf's death, and he stood behind the translation and beatification of Olaf on August 3, 1031. Grimkell later became the first bishop of Sigtuna in Sweden.
At this time, local bishops and their people recognized and proclaimed a person a saint, and a formal canonization procedure through the papal curia was not customary; in Olaf's case, this did not happen until 1888.
Grimkell was later appointed bishop in the diocese of Selsey in the south-east of England. This is probably the reason why the earliest traces of a liturgical cult of St Olaf are found in England. An office, or prayer service, for St Olaf is found in the so-called Leofric collectar (c. 1050), which was bequeathed in his last will and testament by Bishop Leofric of Exeter to Exeter Cathedral, in the neighbouring diocese to Selsey. This English cult seems to have been short-lived.
Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070, mentions pilgrimage to the saint's shrine in Nidaros, but this is the only firm trace we have of a cult of St. Olaf in Norway before the middle of the twelfth century. By this time he was also being referred to as "The Eternal King of Norway". In 1152/3, Nidaros was separated from Lund as the archbishopric of Nidaros. It is likely that whatever formal or informal — which, we do not know — veneration of Olav as a saint there may have been in Nidaros prior to this, was emphasised and formalized on this occasion.
During the visit of the papal legate, Nicholas Brekespear (later Pope Adrian IV), the poem Geisli ("the ray of sun") was recited. In this poem, we hear for the first time of miracles performed by St. Olaf. One of these took place on the day of his death, when a blind man got his eyesight back again after having rubbed his eyes with hands that were stained with the blood from the saint.
The texts which were used for the liturgical celebration of St. Olaf during most of the Middle Ages were probably compiled or written by Eystein Erlendsson, the second Archbishop of Norway (1161–1189). The nine miracles reported in Geisli form the core of the catalogue of miracles in this office.
The celebration of St. Olaf was widespread in the Nordic countries. Apart from the early traces of a cult in England, there are only scattered references to him outside of the Nordic area. Several churches in England were dedicated to him (often as St Olave). St Olave Hart Street in the City of London is the burial place of Samuel Pepys and his wife. Another south of London Bridge gave its name to Tooley Street and to the St Olave's Poor Law Union, later to become the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey: its workhouse in Rotherhithe became the St Olave's Hospital, now an old-people's home a few hundred metres from St Olaf's Church, which is the Norwegian Church in London. It also led to the naming of St Olave's Grammar School, which was established in 1571 and up until 1968 was situated in Tooley Street. In 1968 the school was moved to Orpington, Kent.
St. Olaf was also, together with the Mother of God, the patron saint of the chapel of the Varangians, the Scandinavian warriors who served as the bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor. This church is believed to have been located near the church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople. The icon of the Madonna Nicopeia, presently in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, which is believed to have been one traditionally carried into combat by the Byzantine military forces, is believed to have been kept in this chapel in times of peace. Thus St. Olaf was also the last saint to be venerated by both the Western and Eastern churches before the Great Schism.
There is also an altar dedicated to St. Olaf in the church of Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome with a painting of the saint given to Pope Leo XIII in 1893 on the occasion of the golden jubilee of his ordination as a bishop by Wilhelm Wedel-Jarlsberg as its altarpiece.
Recently the pilgrimage route to Nidaros Cathedral, the site of St. Olav's tomb, has been reinstated. Following the Norwegian spelling the route is known as Saint Olav's Way. The main route, which is approximately 640 km long, starts in the ancient part of Oslo and heads North, along Lake Mjosa, up the Gudbrandsdal Valley, over Dovrefjell and down the Oppdal Valley to end at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There is a Pilgrim's Office in Oslo which gives advice to Pilgrims, and a Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim, under the aegis of the Cathedral, which awards certificates to successful Pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.
Propers of the Mass for the Feast of St. Olaf
Entrance Verse:
Let us all rejoice in the Lord on the feast of blessed Olav, Norway's eternal king. The angels exult over his martyrdom and praise the Son of God.
Opening Prayer:
Almighty, eternal God, you are the crown of kings and the triumph of martyrs. We know that your blessed martyr, Olav, intercedes for us before your face. We praise your greatness in his death and we pray you, give us the crown of life that you have promised those who love you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Old Testament Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 10: 10-14.
Responsory Psalm: Psalm 31 (30): 1-7 with the response: "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit."
Epistle: James 1: 2-4, 12.
Allelua Verse:
Alleluia. Holy Olav, you who rejoice with the angels of heaven, pray for us that we may be worthy to present our sacrifice of praise before the Lord. Alleluia.
Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28
Prayer over the Offerings (Secret):
Almighty God, in awe we call upon your inscrutable might. Make holy these created things which you have chosen so that they may become the body and blood of Christ, your Son. Through the intercession of the holy Olav, king and martyr, let them for the salvation of body and soul. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Verse:
Great is his glory through your saving help. With glory and honor will you clothe him, Lord.
Closing Prayer (Postcommunion):
We who have been fed at the table of the Lamb implore you, almighty God, through the intercession of your blessed martyr Olav let us always stand under the protection of your Son who redeemed us by his death on the cross, he who lives and reigns from eternity to eternity.
Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse Óláfr Haraldsson, 995 – July 29, 1030), was king of Norway from 1015–1028, (known during his lifetime as "the Fat" (Óláfr Digre) and after his canonization as Saint Olaf or Olaus). His mother was Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, and his father was Harald Grenske, great-grandchild of Harald Fairhair. In modern day Norway he is known as Olav den Hellige ("Olaf the Holy") as a result of his sainthood.
Olaf II Haraldsson, patron saint of Norway (Old Norse: Óláfr Haraldsson) (known during his lifetime as "the Big" (Óláfr Digre) and after his canonization as Saint Olaf or Olaus). In modern day Scandinavia he is known as Olav den Hellige ("Olaf the Holy") or Heilag-Olav ("Holy Olaf") as a result of his sainthood. King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway had the given name Óláfr in Old Norse. (Etymology: Anu – "forefather", Leifr – "heir".) Olav is the modern equivalent in Norwegian, formerly often spelt Olaf. His name in Icelandic is Ólafur, in Faroese Ólavur, in Danish Oluf, in Swedish Olof, the Norse-Gaels called him Amlaíb and in Waterford it is Olave. Olave was also the traditional spelling in England, preserved in the name of medieval churches dedicated to him. Other names, such as Oláfr hinn helgi, Olavus rex, and Olaf (as used in English) are used interchangeably (see the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson). He is sometimes referred to as Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, eternal King of Norway, a designation which goes back to the thirteenth century. The term Ola Nordmann as epithet of the archetypal Norwegian may originate in this tradition, as the name Olav for centuries was the most common male name in Norway.
Born: 995
Died: July 29, 1030
Father: Åsta Gudbrandsdatter
Mother: Harald Grenske
Spouses:
Astrid Olofsdotter
Alvhild (concubine)
Issue:
Wulfhild (Ulvhild)
Tore
Emund
Edla
Magnus the Good
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_II_of_Norway
Olaf was the subject of several biographies, both hagiographies and sagas, in the Middle Ages, and many of the historical facts concerning his reign are disputed. The best known description is the one in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, from c. 1230. That saga cannot be taken as an accurate source for Olaf's life, but most of the following description is based on the narrative there.
Norway during the reign of St. Olaf (1015–1028) showing areas under the control of hereditary chieftains (petty kingdoms). 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. He founded the town Borg by the waterfall Sarpr, later to be known as Sarpsborg. Within a few years he 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, subdued the aristocracy, enforced the acceptance of Christianity throughout the kingdom, asserted his suzerainty in the Orkney Islands, and conducted a successful raid on Denmark. He made peace with king Olof Skötkonung of Sweden through Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker, and was for some time engaged to his daughter, Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter, though without Olof's approval.
In 1019 Olaf married Astrid Olofsdotter, Olof's illegitimate daughter and half-sister of his former fiancée. Their daughter Wulfhild married Ordulf, Duke of Saxony in 1042. Numerous royal, grand ducal and ducal lines are descended from Ordulf and Wulfrid, including the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, was the mother of King Olav V of Norway, so Olav and his son Harald V, the present king of Norway, are thus descended from Olaf.
But Olaf's success was short-lived. In 1026 he lost the Battle of the Helgeå, and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, supported the invasion of King Cnut of Denmark. Olaf was driven into exile in Kievan Rus. During the exile he stayed some time in Sweden in the province of Nerike where, according to local legend, he baptized many locals. In 1030, Cnut's Norwegian vassal king, Jarl Håkon Eiriksson, was lost at sea. Olaf seized the opportunity to win back the kingdom, but he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, where some of his own subjects from central Norway were arrayed against him.
Olaf, a rather stubborn and rash ruler, prone to rough treatment of his enemies, ironically became Norway's patron saint. His canonization was performed only a year after his death by the bishop of Nidaros. The cult of Olaf not only unified the country, it also fulfilled the conversion of the nation, something for which the king had fought so hard. While divisive in life, in death Olaf wielded a unifying power no foreign monarch could hope to undo.
Cnut, though distracted by the task of administrating England, managed to rule Norway for five years after Stiklestad, with his son Svein as viceroy. However, when Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus (dubbed 'the Good') laid claim to the Norwegian throne, Cnut had to yield. A century of prosperity and expansion followed, lasting until the kingdom again descended into a civil war over succession.
Owing to Olaf's later status as the patron saint of Norway, and to his importance in later medieval historiography and in Norwegian folklore, it is difficult to assess the character of the historical Olaf. Judging from the bare outlines of known historical facts, he appears, more than anything else, as a fairly unsuccessful ruler, who had his power based on some sort of alliance with the much more powerful king Cnut the Great; who was driven into exile when he claimed a power of his own; and whose attempt at a reconquest was swiftly crushed.
This calls for an explanation of the status he gained after his death. Three factors are important: his role in the Christianization of Norway, the various dynastic relationships among the ruling families, and the needs for legitimization in a later period.
Olaf and Olaf Tryggvasson together were the driving force behind Norway's final conversion to Christianity. However, large stone crosses and other Christian symbols suggest that at least the coastal areas of Norway were deeply influenced by Christianity long before Olav's time; with one exception, all the rulers of Norway back to Håkon the Good (c. 920–961) had been Christians; and Olav's main opponent, Cnut the Great, was a Christian ruler. What seems clear is that Olav made efforts to establish a church organization on a broader scale than before, among other things by importing bishops from England and Germany, and that he tried to enforce Christianity also in the inland areas, which had the least communication with the rest of Europe, and which economically were more strongly based on agriculture, so that the inclination to hold on to the former fertility cult would have been stronger than in the more diversified and expansive western parts of the country.
Although Olav was certainly not the first to introduce Christianity to Norway, he established the first codification of the faith in 1024, thus laying the basis for the Church of Norway. So high did Olaf's legal arrangements for the Church of Norway come to stand in the eyes of the Norwegian people and clergy, that when Pope Gregory VII attempted to make clerical celibacy binding on the priests of Western Europe in 1074–5, the Norwegians largely ignored this, since there was no mention of clerical celibacy in Olaf's legal code for their Church. Only after Norway was made an metropolitan province with its own archbishop in 1151—which made the Norwegian church, on the one hand, more independent of its king, but, on the other hand, more directly responsible to the Pope — did canon law gain a greater predominance in the life and jurisdiction of the Norwegian church.
Sigrid Undset noted that Olaf was baptized in Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and suggested that Olaf used priests of Norman descent for his missionaries. These priests would be of Norwegian descent, could speak the language, and shared the culture of the people they were to convert. Since the Normans themselves had only been in Normandy for about two generations, these priests might, at least in some cases, be distant cousins of their new parishioners and thus less likely to be killed when Olaf and his army departed. The few surviving manuscripts and the printed missal used in Archdiocese of Nidaros show a clear dependence on the missals used in Normandy.
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 Olaf's death in 1030, his illegitimate son with the concubine Alvhild, Magnus the Good, assumed power in Norway, and eventually also in Denmark. Numerous churches in Denmark were dedicated to Olaf 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. This would become typical in the Scandinavian monarchies. It should be remembered that in pagan times the Scandinavian kings derived their right to rule from their claims of descent from the Norse god Odin, or in the case of the kings of the Swedes at Old Uppsala, from Freyr. In Christian times this legitimation of a dynasty's right to rule and its national prestige would be based on its descent from a saintly king. Thus the kings of Norway promoted the cult of St. Olaf, the kings of Sweden the cult of St. Erik and the kings of Denmark the cult of St. Canute, just as in England the Norman and Plantagenet kings similarly promoted the cult of St. Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, their coronation church.
Among the bishops that Olaf brought with him from England, was Grimkell (Grimkillus). He was probably the only one of the missionary bishops who was left in the country at the time of Olaf's death, and he stood behind the translation and beatification of Olaf on August 3, 1031. Grimkell later became the first bishop of Sigtuna in Sweden.
At this time, local bishops and their people recognized and proclaimed a person a saint, and a formal canonization procedure through the papal curia was not customary; in Olaf's case, this did not happen until 1888.
Grimkell was later appointed bishop in the diocese of Selsey in the south-east of England. This is probably the reason why the earliest traces of a liturgical cult of St Olaf are found in England. An office, or prayer service, for St Olaf is found in the so-called Leofric collectar (c. 1050), which was bequeathed in his last will and testament by Bishop Leofric of Exeter to Exeter Cathedral, in the neighbouring diocese to Selsey. This English cult seems to have been short-lived.
Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070, mentions pilgrimage to the saint's shrine in Nidaros, but this is the only firm trace we have of a cult of St. Olaf in Norway before the middle of the twelfth century. By this time he was also being referred to as "The Eternal King of Norway". In 1152/3, Nidaros was separated from Lund as the archbishopric of Nidaros. It is likely that whatever formal or informal — which, we do not know — veneration of Olav as a saint there may have been in Nidaros prior to this, was emphasised and formalized on this occasion.
During the visit of the papal legate, Nicholas Brekespear (later Pope Adrian IV), the poem Geisli ("the ray of sun") was recited. In this poem, we hear for the first time of miracles performed by St. Olaf. One is the killing and throwing onto the mountain of a still visible sea serpent. One of these took place on the day of his death, when a blind man got his eyesight back again after having rubbed his eyes with hands that were stained with the blood from the saint.
The texts which were used for the liturgical celebration of St. Olaf during most of the Middle Ages were probably compiled or written by Eystein Erlendsson, the second Archbishop of Norway (1161–1189). The nine miracles reported in Geisli form the core of the catalogue of miracles in this office.
The celebration of St. Olaf was widespread in the Nordic countries. Apart from the early traces of a cult in England, there are only scattered references to him outside of the Nordic area. Several churches in England were dedicated to him (often as St Olave). St Olave's Church, York is referred to in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 1055 as the place of burial of its founder Earl Siward. This is generally accepted to be the earliest datable church foundation to Olaf and is further evidence of a cult of St Olaf in the early 1050s in England. St Olave Hart Street in the City of London is the burial place of Samuel Pepys and his wife. Another south of London Bridge gave its name to Tooley Street and to the St Olave's Poor Law Union, later to become the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey: its workhouse in Rotherhithe became the St Olave's Hospital, now an old-people's home a few hundred metres from St Olaf's Church, which is the Norwegian Church in London. It also led to the naming of St Olave's Grammar School, which was established in 1571 and up until 1968 was situated in Tooley Street. In 1968 the school was moved to Orpington, Kent.
St. Olaf was also, together with the Mother of God, the patron saint of the chapel of the Varangians, the Scandinavian warriors who served as the bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor. This church is believed to have been located near the church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople. The icon of the Madonna Nicopeia, presently in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, which is believed to have been one traditionally carried into combat by the Byzantine military forces, is believed to have been kept in this chapel in times of peace. Thus St. Olaf was also the last saint to be venerated by both the Western and Eastern churches before the Great Schism.
There is also an altar dedicated to St. Olaf in the church of Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome with a painting of the saint given to Pope Leo XIII in 1893 on the occasion of the golden jubilee of his ordination as a bishop by Wilhelm Wedel-Jarlsberg as its altarpiece.
Recently the pilgrimage route to Nidaros Cathedral, the site of St. Olav's tomb, has been reinstated. Following the Norwegian spelling the route is known as Saint Olav's Way. The main route, which is approximately 640 km long, starts in the ancient part of Oslo and heads North, along Lake Mjosa, up the Gudbrandsdal Valley, over Dovrefjell and down the Oppdal Valley to end at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There is a Pilgrim's Office in Oslo which gives advice to Pilgrims, and a Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim, under the aegis of the Cathedral, which awards certificates to successful Pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.
On July 29-th, Faroe Islands celebrates Olavsøka (Saint Olaf celebration), the National Day also, when they remember Saint Olaf, the king who Christianized the islands.
Propers of the Mass for the Feast of St. Olaf
Entrance Verse:
Let us all rejoice in the Lord on the feast of blessed Olav, Norway's eternal king. The angels exult over his martyrdom and praise the Son of God.
Opening Prayer (Collect):
Almighty, eternal God, you are the crown of kings and the triumph of martyrs. We know that your blessed martyr, Olav, intercedes for us before your face. We praise your greatness in his death and we pray you, give us the crown of life that you have promised those who love you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Old Testament Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 10: 10–14.
Responsory Psalm: Psalm 31 (30): 1–7 with the response: "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit."
Epistle: James 1: 2–4, 12.
Allelua Verse:
Alleluia. Holy Olav, you who rejoice with the angels of heaven, pray for us that we may be worthy to present our sacrifice of praise before the Lord. Alleluia.
Gospel: Matthew 16:24–28
Prayer over the Offerings (Secret):
Almighty God, in awe we call upon your inscrutable might. Make holy these created things which you have chosen so that they may become the body and blood of Christ, your Son. Through the intercession of the holy Olav, king and martyr, let them for the salvation of body and soul. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Verse:
Great is his glory through your saving help. With glory and honor will you clothe him, Lord.
Closing Prayer (Postcommunion):
We who have been fed at the table of the Lamb implore you, almighty God, through the intercession of your blessed martyr Olav let us always stand under the protection of your Son who redeemed us by his death on the cross, he who lives and reigns from eternity to eternity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_II_of_Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson (Old Norse: Óláfr Haraldsson) (995 – July 29, 1030) was king of Norway from 1015 to 1028, (known during his lifetime as "the Big" (Óláfr Digre) and after his canonization as Saint Olaf or Olaus). His mother was Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, and his father was Harald Grenske, great-great-grandchild of Harald Fairhair. In modern day Scandinavia he is known as Olav den Hellige ("Olaf the Holy") or Heilag-Olav ("Holy Olaf") as a result of his sainthood.
Concerning the king's name
King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway had the given name Óláfr in Old Norse. (Etymology: Anu – "forefather", Leifr – "heir".) Olav is the modern equivalent in Norwegian, formerly often spelt Olaf. His name in Icelandic is Ólafur, in Faroese Ólavur, in Danish Oluf, in Swedish Olof, the Norse-Gaels called him Amlaíb and in Waterford it is Olave[citation needed]. Olave was also the traditional spelling in England, preserved in the name of medieval churches dedicated to him. Other names, such as Oláfr hinn helgi, Olavus rex, and Olaf (as used in English) are used interchangeably (see the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson). He is sometimes referred to as Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, eternal King of Norway, a designation which goes back to the thirteenth century. The term Ola Nordmann as epithet of the archetypal Norwegian may originate in this tradition, as the name Olav for centuries was the most common male name in Norway.
Reign
Olaf was the subject of several biographies, both hagiographies and sagas, in the Middle Ages, and many of the historical facts concerning his reign are disputed. The best known description is the one in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, from c. 1230. That saga cannot be taken as an accurate source for Olaf's life, but most of the following description is based on the narrative there.
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. He founded the town Borg by the waterfall Sarpr, later to be known as Sarpsborg. Within a few years he 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, subdued the aristocracy, enforced the acceptance of Christianity throughout the kingdom, asserted his suzerainty in the Orkney Islands, and conducted a successful raid on Denmark. He made peace with King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden through Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker, and was for some time engaged to his daughter, Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter, though without Olof's approval.
In 1019, Olaf married Astrid Olofsdotter, Olof's illegitimate daughter and half-sister of his former fiancée. Their daughter Wulfhild married Ordulf, Duke of Saxony in 1042. Numerous royal, grand ducal and ducal lines are descended from Ordulf and Wulfrid, including the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, was the mother of King Olav V of Norway, so Olav and his son Harald V, the present king of Norway, are thus descended from Olaf.
But Olaf's success was short-lived. In 1026 he lost the Battle of the Helgeå, and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, supported the invasion of King Cnut of Denmark. Olaf was driven into exile in Kievan Rus. During the exile he stayed some time in Sweden in the province of Nerike where, according to local legend, he baptized many locals. In 1030, Cnut's Norwegian vassal king, Jarl Håkon Eiriksson, was lost at sea. Olaf seized the opportunity to win back the kingdom, but he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, where some of his own subjects from central Norway were arrayed against him.
Olaf, a rather stubborn and rash ruler, prone to rough treatment of his enemies, ironically became Norway's patron saint. His canonization was performed only a year after his death by bishop Grimkell. The cult of Olaf not only unified the country, it also fulfilled the conversion of the nation, something for which the king had fought so hard. While divisive in life, in death Olaf wielded a unifying power no foreign monarch could hope to undo.
Cnut, though distracted by the task of administrating England, managed to rule Norway for five years after Stiklestad, with his son Svein as viceroy. However, when Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus (dubbed 'the Good') laid claim to the Norwegian throne, Cnut had to yield. A century of prosperity and expansion followed, lasting until the kingdom again descended into a civil war over succession.
Sainthood
Owing to Olaf's later status as the patron saint of Norway, and to his importance in later medieval historiography and in Norwegian folklore, it is difficult to assess the character of the historical Olaf. Judging from the bare outlines of known historical facts, he appears, more than anything else, as a fairly unsuccessful ruler, who had his power based on some sort of alliance with the much more powerful king Cnut the Great; who was driven into exile when he claimed a power of his own; and whose attempt at a reconquest was swiftly crushed.
This calls for an explanation of the status he gained after his death. Three factors are important: his role in the Christianization of Norway, the various dynastic relationships among the ruling families, and the needs for legitimization in a later period.
Conversion of Norway
Olaf and Olaf Tryggvasson together were the driving force behind Norway's final conversion to Christianity.[3][citation needed] However, large stone crosses and other Christian symbols suggest that at least the coastal areas of Norway were deeply influenced by Christianity long before Olav's time; with one exception, all the rulers of Norway back to Håkon the Good (c. 920–961) had been Christians; and Olav's main opponent, Cnut the Great, was a Christian ruler. What seems clear is that Olav made efforts to establish a church organization on a broader scale than before, among other things by importing bishops from England and Germany, and that he tried to enforce Christianity also in the inland areas, which had the least communication with the rest of Europe, and which economically were more strongly based on agriculture, so that the inclination to hold on to the former fertility cult would have been stronger than in the more diversified and expansive western parts of the country.
Although Olav was certainly not the first to introduce Christianity to Norway, he established the first codification of the faith in 1024, thus laying the basis for the Church of Norway.[4] So high did Olaf's legal arrangements for the Church of Norway come to stand in the eyes of the Norwegian people and clergy, that when Pope Gregory VII attempted to make clerical celibacy binding on the priests of Western Europe in 1074–5, the Norwegians largely ignored this, since there was no mention of clerical celibacy in Olaf's legal code for their Church. Only after Norway was made an metropolitan province with its own archbishop in 1151—which made the Norwegian church, on the one hand, more independent of its king, but, on the other hand, more directly responsible to the Pope — did canon law gain a greater predominance in the life and jurisdiction of the Norwegian church.
Sigrid Undset noted that Olaf was baptized in Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and suggested that Olaf used priests of Norman descent for his missionaries. These priests would be of Norwegian descent, could speak the language, and shared the culture of the people they were to convert. Since the Normans themselves had only been in Normandy for about two generations, these priests might, at least in some cases, be distant cousins of their new parishioners and thus less likely to be killed when Olaf and his army departed. The few surviving manuscripts and the printed missal used in Archdiocese of Nidaros show a clear dependence on the missals used in Normandy[citation needed].
Olaf's dynasty
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 Olaf's death in 1030, his illegitimate son with the concubine Alvhild, Magnus the Good, assumed power in Norway, and eventually also in Denmark. Numerous churches in Denmark were dedicated to Olaf 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. This would become typical in the Scandinavian monarchies. It should be remembered that in pagan times the Scandinavian kings derived their right to rule from their claims of descent from the Norse god Odin, or in the case of the kings of the Swedes at Old Uppsala, from Freyr. In Christian times this legitimation of a dynasty's right to rule and its national prestige would be based on its descent from a saintly king. Thus the kings of Norway promoted the cult of St. Olaf, the kings of Sweden the cult of St. Erik and the kings of Denmark the cult of St. Canute, just as in England the Norman and Plantagenet kings similarly promoted the cult of St. Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, their coronation church.
Saint Olaf
Among the bishops that Olaf brought with him from England, was Grimkell (Grimkillus). He was probably the only one of the missionary bishops who was left in the country at the time of Olaf's death, and he stood behind the translation and beatification of Olaf on August 3, 1031. Grimkell later became the first bishop of Sigtuna in Sweden.
At this time, local bishops and their people recognized and proclaimed a person a saint, and a formal canonization procedure through the papal curia was not customary; in Olaf's case, this did not happen until 1888.
Grimkell was later appointed bishop in the diocese of Selsey in the south-east of England. This is probably the reason why the earliest traces of a liturgical cult of St Olaf are found in England. An office, or prayer service, for St Olaf is found in the so-called Leofric collectar (c. 1050), which was bequeathed in his last will and testament by Bishop Leofric of Exeter to Exeter Cathedral, in the neighbouring diocese to Selsey. This English cult seems to have been short-lived.
Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070, mentions pilgrimage to the saint's shrine in Nidaros, but this is the only firm trace we have of a cult of St. Olaf in Norway before the middle of the twelfth century. By this time he was also being referred to as "The Eternal King of Norway". In 1152/3, Nidaros was separated from Lund as the archbishopric of Nidaros. It is likely that whatever formal or informal — which, we do not know — veneration of Olav as a saint there may have been in Nidaros prior to this, was emphasised and formalized on this occasion.
During the visit of the papal legate, Nicholas Brekespear (later Pope Adrian IV), the poem Geisli ("the ray of sun") was recited. In this poem, we hear for the first time of miracles performed by St. Olaf. One is the killing and throwing onto the mountain of a still visible sea serpent. One of these took place on the day of his death, when a blind man got his eyesight back again after having rubbed his eyes with hands that were stained with the blood from the saint.
The texts which were used for the liturgical celebration of St. Olaf during most of the Middle Ages were probably compiled or written by Eystein Erlendsson, the second Archbishop of Norway (1161–1189). The nine miracles reported in Geisli form the core of the catalogue of miracles in this office.
The celebration of St. Olaf was widespread in the Nordic countries. Apart from the early traces of a cult in England, there are only scattered references to him outside of the Nordic area. Several churches in England were dedicated to him (often as St Olave). St Olave's Church, York is referred to in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 1055[5] as the place of burial of its founder Earl Siward. This is generally accepted to be the earliest datable church foundation to Olaf and is further evidence of a cult of St Olaf in the early 1050s in England. St Olave Hart Street in the City of London is the burial place of Samuel Pepys and his wife. Another south of London Bridge gave its name to Tooley Street and to the St Olave's Poor Law Union, later to become the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey: its workhouse in Rotherhithe became the St Olave's Hospital, now an old-people's home a few hundred metres from St Olaf's Church, which is the Norwegian Church in London. It also led to the naming of St Olave's Grammar School, which was established in 1571 and up until 1968 was situated in Tooley Street. In 1968 the school was moved to Orpington, Kent.
St. Olaf was also, together with the Mother of God, the patron saint of the chapel of the Varangians, the Scandinavian warriors who served as the bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor. This church is believed to have been located near the church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople. The icon of the Madonna Nicopeia[1], presently in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, which is believed to have been one traditionally carried into combat by the Byzantine military forces, is believed to have been kept in this chapel in times of peace. Thus St. Olaf was also the last saint to be venerated by both the Western and Eastern churches before the Great Schism.
There is also an altar dedicated to St. Olaf in the church of Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome with a painting of the saint given to Pope Leo XIII in 1893 on the occasion of the golden jubilee of his ordination as a bishop by Wilhelm Wedel-Jarlsberg as its altarpiece.
Recently the pilgrimage route to Nidaros Cathedral, the site of St. Olav's tomb, has been reinstated. Following the Norwegian spelling the route is known as Saint Olav's Way. The main route, which is approximately 640 km long, starts in the ancient part of Oslo and heads North, along Lake Mjosa, up the Gudbrandsdal Valley, over Dovrefjell and down the Oppdal Valley to end at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There is a Pilgrim's Office in Oslo which gives advice to Pilgrims, and a Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim, under the aegis of the Cathedral, which awards certificates to successful Pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.
On July 29-th, Faroe Islands celebrates Olavsøka (Saint Olaf celebration), the National Day also, when they remember Saint Olaf, the king who Christianized the islands.
Propers of the Mass for the Feast of St. Olaf
Entrance Verse:
Let us all rejoice in the Lord on the feast of blessed Olav, Norway's eternal king. The angels exult over his martyrdom and praise the Son of God.
Opening Prayer (Collect):
Almighty, eternal God, you are the crown of kings and the triumph of martyrs. We know that your blessed martyr, Olav, intercedes for us before your face. We praise your greatness in his death and we pray you, give us the crown of life that you have promised those who love you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Old Testament Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 10: 10–14.
Responsory Psalm: Psalm 31 (30): 1–7 with the response: "Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit."
Epistle: James 1: 2–4, 12.
Allelua Verse:
Alleluia. Holy Olav, you who rejoice with the angels of heaven, pray for us that we may be worthy to present our sacrifice of praise before the Lord. Alleluia.
Gospel: Matthew 16:24–28
Prayer over the Offerings (Secret):
Almighty God, in awe we call upon your inscrutable might. Make holy these created things which you have chosen so that they may become the body and blood of Christ, your Son. Through the intercession of the holy Olav, king and martyr, let them for the salvation of body and soul. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Verse:
Great is his glory through your saving help. With glory and honor will you clothe him, Lord.
Closing Prayer (Postcommunion):
We who have been fed at the table of the Lamb implore you, almighty God, through the intercession of your blessed martyr Olav let us always stand under the protection of your Son who redeemed us by his death on the cross, he who lives and reigns from eternity to eternity.[6]
Other instances of St Olaf
Faroe stamp featuring St. OlavSt. Olaf College was founded by Norwegian immigrant Bernt Julius Muus in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1874.
St Olav's Church is the tallest church in Tallinn, Estonia, and between 1549 and 1625 was the tallest building in the world.
The coat of arms of the Church of Norway contains two axes, the instruments of Saint Olav's martyrdom.
The oldest picture of St. Olav is painted on a column in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The only country which keeps July 29 as a holiday is the Faroe Islands; see Ólavsøka.
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav was founded in 1847 by Oscar I, king of Norway and Sweden, in memory of this king.
Saint Olaf Catholic Church [2] in downtown Minneapolis and the statue of the saint from the sanctuary.[3]
The Tower of St. Olav is the only remaining tower of the Vyborg Castle
T.S.C Sint Olof is a Dutch student organisation with St. Olav as its patron.
Olav den helligeFra Wikipedia, den frie encyklopedi Gå til: navigasjon, søk Mangler kilder: Denne artikkelen inneholder påstander som trenger kildehenvisninger, enten fordi de er kontroversielle eller vanskelige å verifisere. Slike påstander kan bli fjernet. Olav II Haraldsson Konge av Norge
Navn: Olav den hellige Olav Digre Regjeringstid: 1015–1028 Født: 995, Ringerike Død: 29. juli 1030, slaget på Stiklestad Foreldre: Harald Grenske og Åsta Gudbrandsdatter Ektefelle?(r): Astrid Olofsdatter, datter av Olof Skötkonung av Sverige Barn: Magnus (1024–1047) Ulvhild Olavsdatter, f. 1020 i Borg, d. i Saksen 24 mai 1071; g. m. Ordulf av Saksen (1020–1072)
Olav den hellige Konge og martyr Helligkåret 1031 Anerkjent av Den katolske kirke og Den ortodokse kirke Festdag 29. juli (Olsok) Se også Ekstern biografi Vernehelgen Norge I kunsten Konge med sverd, øks eller spyd.
Olav II (Haraldsson) den hellige (Óláfr Haraldsson, Óláfr hinn helgi) (født 995 på Ringerike, død 29. juli 1030 på Stiklestad), gravlagt i Nidaros, var Norges konge fra 1015 til 1028. Han er blant annet kjent for å ha felt London Bridge på en av sine vikingferder og for å være en sentral skikkelse i kristningen av Norge. Erklært helgen 3. august 1031. St. Olavs skrin i Nidarosdomen var et viktig nordisk valfartssted til reformasjonen i 1537.
Innhold 1 Bakgrunn 2 Oppvekst og impulser fra utlandet 3 Tilbake til Norge 4 Kristningen av Norge 5 Knut den mektige erobrer Norge - Olav rømmer 6 Olavs hjemkomst og slaget på Stiklestad 7 Helgenkongen 8 Arven etter Olav 8.1 Kristen helgenkultus 8.2 Olav i nasjonal retorikk 9 Referanser 10 Litteratur 11 Eksterne lenker
Bakgrunn [rediger]
St Olav fra Austevoll kirke i Sunnhordland fra ca 1450. Dragen med menneskehode som Olav tråkker på symboliserer hedenskapenHan ble født på Ringerike, og var sønn av Harald Grenske, og dermed tippoldebarn av Harald Hårfagre på farssiden. Hans mor var Åsta Gudbrandsdatter.
Harald Grenske døde da Åsta gikk gravid med Olav. Hun giftet seg senere med Sigurd Syr, som var en fredelig mann som likte bondeyrket sitt. Han var en rolig, sindig mann, klok og lovkyndig.[trenger referanse] Olav vokste opp på storgården hans.
Snorre Sturlason skildrer ham slik: «Han ble snart en kjekk kar. Han var vakker å se til, middels høy av vekst. Han var svært tettvoksen, hadde store krefter, lysebrunt hår, bredt ansikt, lys hud og rødlett ansikt. Han hadde usedvanlige gode øyne, de var vakre og så kvasse at en kunne bli redd for å se ham i øynene når han ble sint. Olav var svær i idretter og kunne mange ting. Han var god til å skyte med bue og siktet godt. Han kastet spyd bedre enn de fleste, var hendig og hadde et sikkert øye for all slags håndverk. Han ble kalt Olav Digre. (Det norrøne ordet kan bety tykk eller grovbygd, mest sannsynlig det siste, siden han selv likte dette tilnavnet). Han talte djervt og kvikt, var tidlig voksen i alle ting, både i styrke og vett, og alle frender og kjenninger var glade i ham. Han var ærekjær i leik, ville alltid være den første.»[trenger referanse]
Han hadde ikke så godt forhold til stefaren. Trolig var Olav veldig klar over den slekten han kom fra, og så litt ned på Sigurd Syr som var en slik ivrig bonde.[trenger referanse]
Oppvekst og impulser fra utlandet [rediger]12 år gammel dro Olav på sitt første vikingtokt. Med aner fra Hårfagre-ætten hadde han både villskap, griskhet, hevnlyst, grusomhet og et lettferdig forhold til kvinner, men også mer positive egenskaper som evnen til å organisere, styre og samle. Alt dette er egenskaper som gjorde at han likte livet som viking. Som tenåring dro han på tokt i Austerveg. Først noen år i Østersjølandene, deretter møtte han en jomsviking i Danmark som het Torkjell Høge, som han slo seg sammen med. Deretter herjet de sammen i England. De forsøkte å ta London, og i år 1011 tok de Canterbury.
Olav så det som sitt kall å samle Norge til ett rike, slik som hans forfar Harald Hårfagre i stor grad greide. På vei hjemover - etter en snartur nedom Spania og Karlså (sannsynligvis dagens Cadiz) - overvintrer han hos hertug Richard II av Normandie (1013-1014) (Frankrike). Denne regionen hadde normannerne (norske og danske vikinger) erobret i år 881, og de fikk beholde området i lovnad mot å ikke angripe resten av landet. De skulle også forsvare landet mot fremmede makter.
Her fikk Olav mange kristne impulser. Hertugen selv var en ivrig kristen, og normannerne var også kristnet. Siden Olav knapt hadde bodd hjemme, hadde han også liten tilknytning til Åsatroen, noe som nok gjorde ham mer åpen for disse impulsene. Han lot seg etterhvert døpe i Rouen (hovedstaden i Normandie). Under tiden sin her hørte han mange historier om gamle hendelser og helter, og særlig én gjorde inntrykk på ham - Karl den Store (Karla-Magnus) (ca. år 800). Han ble i stor grad Olavs forbilde som konge. Olavs sønn fikk navnet Magnus av Sigvat Skald, oppkalt etter Karla-Magnus.
På vei mot Norge dro Olav innom England. I år 1014 hjalp han anglo-sakserkongen Adalred II med å gjenvinne London fra danene, og rev i den anledning ned London bro. Den engelske barnereglen «London Bridge is falling down» kan ha sin rot i denne hendelsen. Olav ble rikt belønnet av Adalred for hjelpen. Han la igjen langskipene her, og reiste videre med handelsskip. Dette var høsten 1015.
Tilbake til Norge [rediger]Olav kom da til et politisk og religiøst splittet Norge. Etter Olav Tryggvasons død ved slaget ved Svolder ble landet delt mellom seierherrene: danskekongen, svenskekongen og ladejarlene. I tillegg var Norge i stor grad et ættesamfunn. Man tjente da først og fremst familien, som ble styrt av familiens mannlige overhode. Blodhevn var også vanlig. Det var lite som lignet på et samlet rike, og det var lite grobunn for innføringen av kristendommen. Imidlertid var ættesamfunnet noe på tilbakegang da Olav kom til Norge, og det hadde vokst fram bygdesamfunn og småriker, med høvdinger og småkonger. Herredsting og lagting var også etablert. Likevel skulle det bli en vanskelig jobb å kristne og samle et slikt rike, der selv jarlene og høvdinger som Erling Skjalgsson, Kalv Arneson, Hårek på Tjøtta og Tore Hund først og fremst tenkte på ættens fremgang.
Noe av det første Olav gjorde, var å ta Eirik Jarl (963 - 1024) sin sønn, Håkon til fange, og ga han grid mot at han forlot landet og reiste til sin far, Eirik jarl, i England. Etter dette begynte han arbeidet med å bygge seg opp makt, først ved å bli småkonge i Opplandene, der han kom fra. Kristningen ventet han med. Etter slaget mot Svein Jarl i Langesundfjorden ble han konge over Viken og Agder. Deretter tok han turen til Trøndelag, der han ble hyllet til konge, og senere også i Inntrøndelag. På vei sørover derfra ble han også kronet i ting etter ting. Dermed var han snart konge over hele Midt- og Sør-Norge.
Etter dette sluttet Olav fred med svenskekongen, og som en del av avtalen skulle han få gifte seg med datteren hans. Men innen bryllupet fant sted hadde svenskekongen giftet henne bort til fyrst Jaroslav i Novgorod. For å bøte på dette, rømte svenskekongens andre datter til Norge og giftet seg med Olav. Da dette var ordnet, dro Olav til Hålogaland og ble gjort til konge her også, og var i prinsippet konge over hele Norge.
Landet styrte Olav fra Borg, senere Sarpsborg, byen han selv grunnla i 1016. Etter å ha seilt opp Glomma nådde hans skip fossen Sarpr, idag kjent som Sarpsfossen. Fossen kunne ikke passeres, og kongen gikk derfor i land, og slo seg til slutt ned på oversiden av den. Byen Borg ble Norges hovedstad, og kongen lot bygge en voll rundt hele byen. Deler av vollen finnes den dag i dag. Da Olav giftet seg med svenske Astrid, var kongehus i en rekke land representert. Olav var også vert for andre bryllup og feiringer hjemme i Borg.
Kristningen av Norge [rediger]Kristendommen hadde på denne tiden begynt å få fotfeste i Norge, med ganske spredd, og mange var kristne i navnet, men fulgte ikke den kristne tro så nøye. Det var besluttet på lagtingene rundt i Norge at kristendommen skulle innføres. Noen steder var det problematisk å kristne folket, mens de fleste steder gikk det greit. Snorre Sturlason forteller historier om folk som ble drept eller lemlestet når de nektet å oppta den nye troen. Olav hadde også tatt med seg 4 biskoper fra England. Den viktigste av disse var bisp Grimkjell. Han var Olavs nærmeste i kirkesaker.
Ca. 1023 ble det avholdt et kirkemøte på Moster, med biskopene og kongens menn, der kristenretten skulle vedtas på Mostratinget; det vil si Kirkens lover. På dette tinget ble kirken knyttet til kongen, som en statskirke. Den nye loven omtales som «Det store sedskifte». Loven (1024) begynte slik: «Det første i vår lov er at vi skal bøye oss mot aust og be til Kvite Krist om godt år og fred, at vi må halde landet vårt bygd og drotten vår ved helse. Han være vår ven og vi hans vener og Gud være ven åt oss alle.»
Her ble det blant annet forbud mot å sette ut barn og treller skulle kjøpes fri. Flerkoneri blir forbudt. Nyfødte barn skal få leve og ikke settes ut i skog eller mark. Det blir satt strenge straffer for voldtekt og kvinneran. Kjøttmat blir forbudt på fredager. Det skal fastes hele syv uker før påske. Det blir nedlagt forbud mot å gifte seg med slektninger inntil syvende ledd. Nyfødte barn skal føres til kirken for å døpes. Det blir forbudt å gravlegge de døde i hauger eller røyser som i hedensk tid. Liket skal føres til kirken og begraves i hellig jord. Begravelse i vigslet jord blir nektet udådsmenn, kongesvikere, mordere, tyver og selvmordere. Kirker skal bygges i hvert fylke. Biskopen rår over dem og skal tilsette prester. Menn innenfor fylkesgrensene har ansvar for kirkenes vedlikehold og prestenes underhold.
Olav reiste mye rundt etter dette, for å holde ting med bøndene, og lese opp kristenretten. Her møtte han mye motstand, fordi disse lovene stred mot de skikkene som ble praktisert. Olav truet med både død og lemlestelse, og tap av eiendom. På denne måten skaffet han seg mange fiender. Han praktiserte likhet for loven, dvs at storfolk ble straffet på samme måte som bønder.
Knut den mektige erobrer Norge - Olav rømmer [rediger]I 1028 kom Knut den mektige til Norge med 50 krigsskip. Han var da konge over Danmark og England. Med sin enorme rikdom kjøpte han seg allierte blant stormennene, og de ble lovet stor makt og etterlengtet frihet fra Olavs harde styre dersom de støttet ham. Olav ble sviktet også av sine hærmenn, og måtte til slutt flykte. Biskop Grimkjell ble igjen for å styre kirken. Så drog han med sønnen Magnus og en håndfull trofaste menn til Gardarike (Russland). Han slo seg ned i Novgorod, hvor han ble vel mottatt av storfyrst Jaroslav og hans fyrstinne Ingegjerd av Sverige, som Olav i sin tid skulle hatt til ekte. Knut blir hyllet til konge på Øretinget, og gjorde Håkon Jarls sønnesønn Håkon Eiriksson til sin jarl i Norge
Jaroslav tilbyr Olav å bli konge i Volga-Bulgaria, noe han avslår. Olav vil bare ha tilbake sitt rike, Norge. Snorre Sturlason beskriver en drøm Olav har, der Olav Tryggvason åpenbarer seg for ham, og sier at han må følge Guds vilje og gjøre det som er rett. Han må la Gud bestemme om det skal bli seier eller tap. Olav får også høre at Håkon Jarl druknet i et skipsforlis, dette gjør at han bestemmer seg for å dra tilbake til Norge.
Olavs hjemkomst og slaget på Stiklestad [rediger]
Olav faller på slagmarken. Tegnet for den illustrerte Snorreutgaven av Halfdan Egedius. Torgils og Grim bærer Olavs lik bort fra slagmarken. Tegnet for Snorres Norge Kongesagaer. Heimskringla (1899) av Halfdan Egedius. Peter Nicolai Arbos romantiske maleri Olav den Helliges død fra 1859. Alterbilde fra Nidaros som viser Olavs død på Striklestad. Olav den helliges død. Miniatyrbilde.Olav reiser tilbake til Norge, og rir opp til Trøndelag. Like før slaget ved Stiklestad sover han litt, og drømmer at han klatrer oppover en stige som når helt opp i himmelen. Han lover sine menn at Gud vil gi dem større lønn enn gleden over verdslige verdier. De kjemper tappert, men Olav faller, og invasjonen blir stoppet. Olav gjorde kanskje en dårlig avgjørelse da han gikk for å ta Trøndelag, der han var minst populær, og møtte en hær mye større enn sin egen. Olav dør av hogg i halsen, magen og låret. Snorre hevder at det var Kalv Arnesson som hogg kongen i halsen, Tore Hund som stakk spydet i magen på kongen og Torstein Knarresmed som hogg kongen i låret. Dette var 29. juli 1030.
Snorres framstilling av kong Olavs død samsvarer med blant annet motivet på en portal fra den nedrevne Hemsedal stavkirke. Portalen, som har som tema kong Olavs martyrium og status som kristusliknende helgen, viser at den kraften og styrken som Sankt Olav ble tillagt som kristningshelgen, har basis i den framgangsmåten som de tre hedenske krigerne fulgte da de drepte kongen under slaget på Stiklestad, kombinert med kongens oppførsel i denne sammenhengen. I både Snorres beretning og middelalderens bildelige skildringer er drapet av kongen gitt et preg av hedensk kult innenfor en kristen, mytisk ramme. Dette preget av et hedensk kultdrap dannet i sin tid grunnlaget for Sankt Olavs mytologisk baserte virkekraft i hedenske samfunn, slik det framgår av at det hedenske Trøndelag kunne legges under kristen kongemakt uten væpnet kamp kort tid etter Sankt Olavs martyrium og opphøyelse til helgen.[1] Snorres beretning om kong Olav og hans død under slaget på Stiklestad er således først og fremst å betrakte som en gjengivelse av en formfullendt helgenlegende som hadde til hensikt å fremme og konsolidere kristendommen i både hedenske og kristne samfunn.
Helgenkongen [rediger]Mange angret på at de hadde gått i mot Olav, og folk begynte å tenke på ham som en hellig mann. Det ble fortalt underlige historier om ting som skjedde med Olavs lik. Etter slaget på Stiklestad hadde liket til Olav blitt lagt inn i et skur. En blind mann skal ha gått inn dit om natta og gnidd seg i øynene med Olav sitt blod slik at han fikk tilbake synet. Bonden på Stiklestad tok med seg liket og gravla det ved Nidaros.
Det påstås at liket ble gravd opp året etter og at negler, hår og skjegg skulle ha grodd. Denne påstanden fikk folk til å mene at det hadde skjedd et under, og Olav fikk tilnavnet «den hellige». Senere reiste mange pilegrimer til Nidaros for å få hjelp og trøst av Olav den hellige. Det ble reist ei praktfull kirke i Nidaros til ære for Olav, og etter sin død klarte han det han ikke klarte mens han levde; å samle et kristent Norge til ett rike under en konge. Sankt Olav ble periodevis også en viktig helgen i de andre nordiske landene i middelalderen, og St. Olavs skrin i Nidaros ble et betydningsfullt pilegrimsmål [2].
Den lutherske reformasjonen i Danmark-Norge i 1536-1537 satte en stopper for valfartene til St. Olavs skrin i Nidarosdomen.
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ca 995 - 1030 (~ 35 år)
