by the imposition of a levy which obliged the yeomen in the coast
districts f«shibreder») to eqnip and man war-ships. Haakon, who
was honoured by his people with the surname of t h e G o o d , fell
in 961, while defending his country against the sons of Erik Blod-
oks, who were assisted by the Danish king. After the brothers
had governed cruelly for 9 years, the eldest of them, Habat.u
G b a a f e l d , was assassinated in Denmark, whereupon the others were
obliged to yield to Earl H a a k o n , the chief of the Tronders. This
chieftain succeeded in liberating himself from the condition of
dependence on the Danish king, in which he had originally stood,
and defeated the renowned warriors, the Jomsvikings, whom that
king sent against him. Although Haakon had submitted, under
compulsion, to baptism, he was a fanatical heathen; and at last,
by his cruelty and licentiousness, he alienated the affections of his
people. They rose against him, and he was murdered, while fleeing,
by a thrall who accompanied him (995). Just at this time, O l a v
T b y g v e s s o n , a descendant of Harald Haarfagre, came to the
country, and was immediately chosen king by the Tranders. Olav
is one of the most brilliant figures in Norwegian history. After a
romantic boyhood, he had distinguished himself as leader of a
viking army that had ravaged England. Immediately before his
coming to Norway, he had embraced Christianity; and now, after
becoming king of the country, he began to enforce the adoption of
the Christian faith. In the course of a few years, he had, in true
viking fashion, brought the population of the entire coast, from.
Yiken up to the borders of Einmarken, under the dominion of «the
White Christ». ■ His proclamation of Christianity extended also to
the Norwegian settlers in the Orkney and Faroe Isles, to Iceland,
and to Greenland, then just discovered. When returning from an
expedition to Yenden, Olav was attacked by an army of superior
force, that had been gathered against him by Earl Haakon’s son
E b ik , the Swedish king Olav Skotkonung, and the Danish king
Svend Tjugeskeeg. After a most heroic defence, his men were nearly
all killed, and he himself, mortally wounded, sought a grave beneath
the waves (9th September, 1000)
Norway was now divided between the Danish atfd Swedish
kings and Earl Erik; but the kings gave up their shares to Erik
and his brother S v e i n , who governed them as their vassals. When
the Danish king, Knud den Store («the Great»), went to invade
England, he called upon Earl Erik to assist him. The Earl obeyed
the call, and never saw Norway again.
In the spring of 1015, O l a v H a b a l d s s o n , a descendant of
Harald Haarfagre, returned to Norway from a viking expedition,
determined to carry on the life-work of his kinsman, Olav
Trygvesson. With the aid of the Upland kings, he succeeded in
overthrowing the earls’ rule and the foreign dominion; and in Trond-
hjem, where «the chief power of all the land appeared to him to
dwell», homage was done to him as king of Norway. Olav brought
the little^ Upland kings under the Norwegian dominion,' and sought
in every way to place the long-inherited power of the great chieftains
under that of the king. He further strengthened his power
by the introduction of Christianity, and the laws were- adapted to
the requirements of the new doctrine. But by his hard-handed
policy, Olav Haraldssen soon aroused a strong opposition against
himself,. The rebels sought the aid of the Danish king, Knud the
Great, who came with an army to Norway in 1028, and received
homage at the Orething. Olav fled ,to Russia, and when, some
time after, he attempted to win back his kingdom, he was slain
by the chieftains at Stiklestad in Yeerdalen (29th July, 1030). Not
long after, he was regarded as a holy man. 'A rising of the
people overthrew the Danish dominion .in a short space of time,
and Olav’s saintly fame shed a radiance over the throne, and over
his kinsmen and successors. I t is not without reason that the
century which now followed, after Olav’s son M a g n u s had ascended
the throne in 1035, has been called the period of Norway’s greatness.
The kingdom was now, by the unity brought about between the
royal power and the aristocracy, enabled to extend its influence
to the world around.
Olav the Holy’s son Magnus (1035—1047) became also, by
inheritance, king'of Denmark. But after his death, that kingdom
passed into the hands of Svend: Estridsson, - although Magnus’s
successor, H a b a l d H a a b d b a a d e , brother to Olav the Holy, laid
claim to it by force of arms'. He subsequently tried to. conquer England,
but fell at Stanford Bridge, shortly before the Norman conquest
of the country-(1066). The efforts of his grandson, M a g n u s B a b f o d
(1093—1103), were directed towards the amalgamation of the Norwegian
settlements on the islands off the coast of Scotland, and
others, into one kingdom. Magnus fell during a descent upon Ire