Battle of Svolder
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Svolder was a naval battle fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea
between King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway
and an alliance of his enemies. The backdrop of the battle was the unification of Norway into a single state, long-standing Danish efforts to gain control of the country, and the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia
.
King Olaf was sailing home after an expedition to Wendland (Pomerania
), when he was ambushed by an alliance of Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olof Skötkonung (also known as Olaf Eiríksson), King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson
, Jarl of Lade. Olaf had only 11 warships in the battle against a fleet of at least 70. His ships were captured one by one, last of all the Ormen Lange
, which Jarl Eirik captured as Olaf threw himself into the sea. After the battle, Norway was ruled by the Jarls of Lade
as a fief of Denmark and Sweden.
The most detailed sources on the battle, the kings' sagas
, were written approximately two centuries after it took place. Historically unreliable, they offer an extended literary account describing the battle and the events leading up to it in vivid detail. The sagas ascribe the causes of the battle to Olaf Tryggvason's ill-fated marriage proposal to Sigrid the Haughty
and his problematic marriage to Thyri, sister of Svein Forkbeard. As the battle starts Olaf is shown dismissing the Danish and Swedish fleets with ethnic insults and bravado while admitting that Eirik Hákonarson and his men are dangerous because "they are Norwegians like us". The best known episode in the battle is the breaking of Einarr Þambarskelfir's bow, which heralds Olaf's defeat.
In later centuries, the saga descriptions of the battle, especially that in Snorri Sturluson
's Heimskringla
, have inspired a number of ballads and other works of literature.
was divided into a number of small and sometimes warring petty kingdom
s with weak central authority. In traditional historiography the rise of Harald Fairhair in the 9th century started the process of unification of the country and the consolidation of royal power. Harald's descendants
, and other claimants to the throne, had to contend with strong regional leaders such as the Jarls of Lade
in the north and the rulers of Vingulmark
in the east, while the kings of Denmark claimed regions in the south and were eager to acquire Norwegian vassals to increase their influence. The spread of Christianity
also became an increasingly important political issue in the late 10th century.
In the 970s, Haakon Sigurdsson
, Jarl of Lade, became the most powerful man in Norway, at first supported by Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and paying tribute to him—though the two later fell out over religious matters. Harald had converted to Christianity and was eager to Christianise Norway, while Haakon remained a staunch pagan
. In 995 Haakon was deposed and the young Christian leader Olaf Tryggvason came to the throne.
While rejecting Danish authority, Olaf made it his mission to convert Norway and the Norse colonies in the west as quickly and as completely as possible. Proceeding with threats, torture and executions, Olaf broke down pagan resistance and within a few years Norway was, at least nominally, a Christian country. But King Olaf had acquired several enemies during his meteoric rise to power. The most prominent were Eirik Jarl, son of Haakon Jarl, and Svein Forkbeard, king of Denmark, both of whom felt that Olaf had deprived them of their share of Norway.
The same interests which clashed in the Battle of Svolder were to divide Norway for decades to come, leading to further major engagements, including the Battle of Nesjar
and the Battle of Stiklestad
. The resolution came in 1035 with the accession of the Norwegian Magnus the Good to the throne of an independent and Christian Norway.
The Battle of Svolder is mentioned in a number of historical sources. The earliest written work is by Adam of Bremen
(ca. 1080), who wrote from a Danish point of view as his source was King Svein II of Denmark. The later Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus
made use of and expanded Adam of Bremen's account in his Gesta Danorum
(ca. 1200).
In Norway the three synoptic histories, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium, Historia Norwegie and Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum
(ca. 1190), all give a short account of the battle. The Icelandic kings' sagas
offer a much more extensive treatment, starting with Oddr Snorrason
's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (ca. 1190). Working from skaldic poetry, oral history, learned European examples and an uninhibited imagination, Oddr constructed an elaborate account of the battle. This was taken up by the later Icelandic sagas, Fagrskinna
and Heimskringla
(ca. 1220), both of which add quotations of skaldic verse. Three Icelandic poems from around 1200 also have some historical interest: Nóregs konungatal
, Rekstefja and Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar. The immense Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
(ca. 1300) combines several of the above sources to form the last, longest and least reliable saga account.
Contemporary skaldic poetry which refers to the battle includes a work by Hallfreðr the Troublesome Poet
, who was in Olaf Tryggvason's service. Hallfreðr was not present at the battle but gathered information about it afterwards for a eulogy on Olaf. On Jarl Eirik's side, a number of stanzas are preserved by Halldórr the Unchristian, who speaks of the battle as happening "last year" and dwells on the scene of Eirik capturing the Long Serpent. Some verses on the battle are also preserved in Þórðr Kolbeinsson
's elegy on Eirik, probably composed around 1015. Finally, Skúli Þórsteinsson
fought with Eirik in the battle and spoke of it in verse in his old age.
While historians value contemporary skaldic poetry highly as the most accurate source available, it must be remembered that the poems are not preserved independently but as quotations in the kings' sagas. After two centuries of oral preservation, there is often doubt that a verse was accurately remembered and correctly attributed. Furthermore, skaldic poetry did not primarily aim at giving information but at artistically rendering facts already known to the hearers. Historians frequently fall back on the less reliable but more detailed accounts of the sagas.
Nothing can be gleaned from the contemporary skaldic poems on the causes of the battle. Adam of Bremen states that Olaf Tryggvason's Danish wife, Thyri, egged him on to make war against Denmark. When Olaf heard that Svein Forkbeard and Olaf the Swede had formed an alliance, he was angered and decided the time had come for an attack. Ágrip and Historia Norwegie have a similar account. Thyri was the sister of Svein Forkbeard, and when Olaf Tryggvason married her, Svein refused to pay her promised dowry. Angered, Olaf launched an expedition to attack Denmark, but he was too impatient to wait for a fleet to assemble from all of Norway, and he set sail for the south with only 11 ships, expecting the rest to follow. When that hope was not realized, he set out for Wendland (Pomerania
) to seek allies and on the way was ambushed by Svein and his allies. These accounts are contradicted by a contemporary verse of Halldórr the Unchristian which states that Olaf Tryggvason was travelling from the south when he came to the battle.
Oddr Snorrason
has an elaborate account of the problems arising from Thyri's marriages. He tells us that she was betrothed and married to the Wendish king Bolesław the Brave, who received a large dowry for her; but she did not want to be his wife and starved herself after their wedding, so Bolesław sent her back to Denmark. She then arranged to have herself married to Olaf Tryggvason, to the displeasure of her brother Svein. Svein's queen, Sigrid the Haughty
, a staunch opponent of Olaf, egged Svein to make war on him. Svein then conspired with Jarl Sigvaldi
and King Olaf of Sweden to lure Olaf Tryggvason into a trap. Olaf Tryggvason travelled to Wendland to collect Thyri's dowry from King Bolesław and while there heard rumours of a planned ambush; but Sigvaldi arrived to tell him these rumours were false. Believing Sigvaldi, Olaf sent most of his fleet home, as his men were impatient. He therefore had only a small fleet left when he was ambushed near Svolder.
Fagrskinna
and Heimskringla
largely follow Oddr's account but simplify it and diverge from it in some respects. According to Heimskringla, Sigvaldi sailed from Wendland with Olaf and a fleet of Wendish ships and led him into the ambush.
Whether the above details are accurate or not, it is clear that Svein, Olaf the Swede and Eirik had ample reason to oppose Olaf Tryggvason. Olaf had taken control of Viken
in south Norway, an area long under Danish overlordship. Olaf and Svein had been in England together, but Olaf had made peace while Svein kept campaigning. Svein was on friendly terms with Olaf the Swede and connected to him by marriage, so the two were natural allies. Finally, Jarl Eirik had been driven from his patrimony by Olaf Tryggvason, as arguably had his father, Jarl Hakon, whom he may have wished to avenge.
From the conflicting accounts of the sources, historians have tried to reconstruct the most likely sequence of events leading up to the battle. It is probable that Olaf Tryggvason was indeed sailing from Wendland to Norway when he was ambushed, though the kings' sagas probably play up the importance of Thyri and her marriages. While it is possible that Olaf was collecting dowry, it seems more probable that he was expecting war and seeking allies in Wendland, but met with little success. The character of Sigvaldi remains enigmatic, though there is evidence from skaldic poetry that he did indeed betray Olaf.
All sources which date the battle agree that it took place in 1000. The oldest source to date it is the meticulous Íslendingabók
, written around 1128, which specifies that it took place in the summer. Oddr Snorrason says further that the battle is "memorialized for the fallen men on the Third or Fourth Ides of September
", (10 or 11 September). Mesta
states that the battle occurred on 9 September, and other sources agree with either date. Since some medieval writers reckoned the end of the year in September, it is possible that the year referred to is in fact the one we know as 999.
The location of the battle cannot be identified with any certainty. According to Adam of Bremen, it took place in Oresund
. Ágrip and Historia Norwegie also place it off Zealand. Theodoricus says it took place "beside the island which is called Svöldr; and it lies near Slavia". Fagrskinna speaks of "an island off the coast of Vinðland... [t]his island is called Svölðr." Oddr Snorrason and Heimskringla agree on the island's name but do not specify its location. A stanza by Skúli Þórsteinsson
speaks of "the mouth of Svolder", suggesting that Svolder was originally the name of a river which Norse unfamiliarity with Wendish geography turned into an island. The Danish Annales Ryenses are unique in placing the battle in the Schlei
. Modern historians are divided, some locating the confrontation near the German island of Rügen
while others prefer Oresund.
Though the sagas agree that Olaf Tryggvason had only 11 ships in the battle, some of them quote a verse by Halldórr the Unchristian saying that Olaf had 71 ships when he sailed from the south. The sagas explain the discrepancy by saying that some of the 71 ships belonged to Jarl Sigvaldi, who deserted Olaf, and that others sailed past the trap at Svolder before it was sprung.
The sagas describe three of the ships in Olaf Tryggvason's fleet. According to Heimskringla, the Crane was a large swift-sailing warship with thirty rowers' benches, high in stem and stern. It was commissioned by King Olaf and used as his flagship for some time.
Olaf confiscated the second of his great ships from a pagan he had tortured to death for refusing to convert to Christianity. King Olaf "steered it himself, because it was a much larger and finer ship than the Crane. Its stem had a dragon's head on it, and on its stern, a crook shaped like a tail; and both sides of the neck and all the stern were gilded. That ship the king called the Serpent, because when the sail was hoisted it was to look like the wing of
a dragon. That was the finest ship in all Norway."
Olaf's third flagship, the Long Serpent, was a legendary vessel mentioned in several anecdotes in the sagas.
The only allied ship described is Jarl Eirik's Iron Ram. According to Fagrskinna it was "the biggest of all ships". Heimskringla gives more detail:
Olaf Tryggvason's ships pass the anchorage of his allied enemies in a long column without order, as no attack is expected. Conveniently placed to observe the fleet, Jarl Eirik and the two kings remark upon the passing vessels. Svein and Olaf are eager to join battle, but Eirik is portrayed as more cautious and familiar with the Norwegian forces.
As progressively larger vessels appear, the Danes and Swedes think each one is the Long Serpent and want to attack straight away, but Eirik holds them off with informed comments:
As Eirik finally consents to attack, King Svein boasts that he will command the Long Serpent "before the sun sets". Eirik makes a remark "so that few men heard him" saying that "with only the Danish army at his disposal, King Sveinn would never command this ship". As the allies set out to attack Olaf Tryggvason, the point of view shifts to the Norwegian fleet.
After spotting the enemy, Olaf might have used sail and oar to outrun the ambush and escape, but he refuses to flee and turns to give battle with the eleven ships immediately about him. Seeing the Danish fleet arrayed against him, he comments: "The forest goats will not overcome us, for the Danes have the courage of goats. We will not fear that force because the Danes have never carried off the victory if they fought on ships." Similarly, Olaf writes off the Swedes with a reference to their pagan customs:
It is only when Olaf Tryggvason sights Eirik Hákonarson's contingent that he realises he is in for a hard battle, because "they are Norwegians like us". The sagas' emphasis of Eirik's contribution stands in marked contrast to the Danish accounts of Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, who portray the battle as a Danish victory over Norwegians, with no mention of Jarl Eirik or his men.
The disposition adopted in the battle was one which recurs in many sea-fights of the Middle Ages where a fleet had to fight on the defensive. Olaf lashed his ships side to side, with his own, the Long Serpent, in the middle of the line, where her bows projected beyond the others. The advantages of this arrangement were that it left all hands free to fight, that a barrier could be formed with the oars and yards, and that it limited the enemy’s ability to make its superior numbers count. The Long Serpent was the longest ship and so also the tallest—another advantage to the defenders, who could rain down arrows, javelins and other missiles while the enemy would have to shoot upwards. Olaf, in effect, turned his eleven ships into a floating fort.
The sagas give all the credit to the Norwegians, praising Eirik Hákonarson for any intelligence and for most of the valour shown by Olaf Tryggvason’s opponents. The Danes and Swedes rush at the front of Olaf's line and are repulsed, suffering heavy casualties and loss of ships. Jarl Eirik attacks the flank and forces his vessel, the Iron Ram, up against the last ship of Olaf's line, which he clears with a fierce attack and then proceeds onto the next ship. In this way, Olaf's ships were cleared one by one, till the Long Serpent alone was left.
One of the best known episodes from the battle involves Einarr Þambarskelfir, an archer in King Olaf's fleet who later became a cunning politician. Heimskringla describes his attempt at killing Jarl Eirik and saving the day for Olaf:
The same story is found in Gesta Danorum, though there Einarr is aiming at Svein, rather than Eirik.
At last, the Long Serpent is overpowered and Olaf Tryggvason defeated. The Danish sources report that when all was lost he committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea, "the end befitting his life", according to Adam of Bremen. Saxo Grammaticus says that Olaf preferred suicide to death at the hands of the enemy and jumped overboard in full armour rather than see his foes victorious. The Norwegian and Icelandic accounts are more complex and more favourable to Olaf. Hallfreðr's memorial poem for his lord had already alluded to rumours that Olaf escaped death at Svolder. The sagas offer a variety of possibilities. Ágrip reports:
Other sagas suggest that one way or another Olaf made his way to the shore; perhaps by swimming, perhaps with the help of angels, most likely rescued by one of the Wendish ships present. After his escape, Olaf supposedly sought salvation for his soul abroad, perhaps joining a monastery. Mesta describes a series of "sightings" of him in the Holy Land, the last in the 1040s.
King Olaf, like Charlemagne
, Frederick Barbarossa and Sebastian of Portugal, is one of those legendary heroic figures whose return was looked for by the people, their deaths never completely accepted. (See King in the mountain
.)
as well as Møre
, Romsdal
and Ranrike
. He gave these to Jarl Svein Hákonarson, his son in law, to hold as a vassal. Svein Forkbeard gained possession of the Viken district, where Danish influence had long been strong. The rest of Norway was ruled by Eirik Hákonarson as Svein's vassal. Fagrskinna, in contrast, says that the Swedish part consisted of Oppland
and a part of Trondheim. Other sources are less specific.
The Jarls Eirik and Svein proved strong, competent rulers, and their reign was prosperous. Most sources say that they adopted Christianity but allowed the people religious freedom, leading to a backlash against Christianity which undid much of Olaf Tryggvason's missionary work.
. In Norwegian-Icelandic historiography, King Olaf Tryggvason was held in high regard as the man who brought Christianity to the North. His colourful end in a battle against overwhelming odds therefore makes a fitting narrative. Jarl Eirik’s court poets also ensured their lord a fair share of the glory. Mesta says:
In Iceland, where the kings' sagas continued to be copied and studied, the battle exercised the imagination of several poets. A 15th century rímur
cycle, Svöldrar rímur, chronicles the battle in verse, largely following the account of Oddr Snorrason. Two more rímur cycles on the same topic were composed in the 18th century, one of which is preserved. In the 19th century, the popular poet Sigurður Breiðfjörð
composed yet another rímur cycle on the battle, based on the account in Mesta.
With the 19th century rise of nationalism and romanticism and the growing number of translations of the sagas, interest in the battle of Svolder increased outside of Iceland. Around 1830, the Faroese poet Jens Christian Djurhuus
composed a ballad on the battle titled Ormurin langi
, following Snorri's account. The ballad was well received and remains among the most popular and well-known Faroese ballads. In 2002, a heavy metal version by the band Týr
gained some following abroad.
In Norway, Johan Nordahl Brun
's rousing patriotic play Einar Tambarskjelve, written in 1772, is considered a milestone in Norwegian literature
. Later Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
wrote a well-known short poem, Olav Trygvason, on the fall of the king. Bjørnson also collaborated with Edward Grieg on an opera about Olaf Tryggvason, but the two fell out before the work was finished. Ragnar Søderlind
has now completed the opera, which premiered in September 2000, 1000 years after the Battle of Svolder. Søderlind introduced fate motifs from Wagner, Beethoven and Liszt in the battle scene.
The battle has also inspired art outside of Scandinavia, including a manga
volume by the Japanese artist Ryō Azumi
. The best known English-language work is probably Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
's cycle "The Saga of King Olaf
" (from his 1863 collection of poems Tales of a Wayside Inn
), much of which is dedicated to the Battle of Svolder, and which includes the verse:
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
between King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and an alliance of his enemies. The backdrop of the battle was the unification of Norway into a single state, long-standing Danish efforts to gain control of the country, and the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia
Christianization of Scandinavia
The Christianization of Scandinavia took place between the 8th and the 12th century. The realms of Scandinavia proper, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly to the Pope, in 1104, 1154 and 1164, respectively...
.
King Olaf was sailing home after an expedition to Wendland (Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
), when he was ambushed by an alliance of Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olof Skötkonung (also known as Olaf Eiríksson), King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson
Eiríkr Hákonarson
Eiríkr Hákonarson or Eric of Norway or Eric of Hlathir was earl of Lade, ruler of Norway and earl of Northumbria.-Background:...
, Jarl of Lade. Olaf had only 11 warships in the battle against a fleet of at least 70. His ships were captured one by one, last of all the Ormen Lange
Ormen Lange (longship)
Ormen Lange was one of the most famous of the Viking longships. It was built for the Norwegian King Olav Tryggvason, and was the largest and most powerful longship of its day. In the late 990s King Olav was on a "Crusade" around the country to bring Christianity to Norway...
, which Jarl Eirik captured as Olaf threw himself into the sea. After the battle, Norway was ruled by the Jarls of Lade
Lade, Trondheim
Lade is a community in Trondheim, Norway. It is located on a peninsula north-east of the city centre, north of the community of Lademoen. It was the site of the historic Lade farm.-History:...
as a fief of Denmark and Sweden.
The most detailed sources on the battle, the kings' sagas
Kings' sagas
The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....
, were written approximately two centuries after it took place. Historically unreliable, they offer an extended literary account describing the battle and the events leading up to it in vivid detail. The sagas ascribe the causes of the battle to Olaf Tryggvason's ill-fated marriage proposal to Sigrid the Haughty
Sigrid the Haughty
Sigrid the Haughty, also known as Sigríð Storråda, is a queen appearing in Norse sagas as wife, first of Eric the Victorious of Sweden, then Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. While given the Nordic ancestry in sagas, she has been hypothesized to be identical to historically attested Polish or Pomeranian...
and his problematic marriage to Thyri, sister of Svein Forkbeard. As the battle starts Olaf is shown dismissing the Danish and Swedish fleets with ethnic insults and bravado while admitting that Eirik Hákonarson and his men are dangerous because "they are Norwegians like us". The best known episode in the battle is the breaking of Einarr Þambarskelfir's bow, which heralds Olaf's defeat.
In later centuries, the saga descriptions of the battle, especially that in Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, have inspired a number of ballads and other works of literature.
Context
In earliest recorded history, NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
was divided into a number of small and sometimes warring petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
s with weak central authority. In traditional historiography the rise of Harald Fairhair in the 9th century started the process of unification of the country and the consolidation of royal power. Harald's descendants
Fairhair dynasty
The Fairhair dynasty was a family of kings founded by Harald I of Norway which ruled Norway with few interruptions from 800 to 1387 , or through only three generations of kings , in the 10th century CE....
, and other claimants to the throne, had to contend with strong regional leaders such as the Jarls of Lade
Jarls of Lade
The Jarls of Lade or Old Norse Hlaðir were a dynasty of Norwegian rulers, who ruled Trøndelag and Hålogaland from the 9th century to the 11th century. -Lade Gaard:...
in the north and the rulers of Vingulmark
Vingulmark
Vingulmark is the old name for the area in Norway which today makes up the counties of Østfold, western parts of Akershus , and eastern parts of Buskerud , and includes the site of Norway's capital, Oslo...
in the east, while the kings of Denmark claimed regions in the south and were eager to acquire Norwegian vassals to increase their influence. The spread of Christianity
Germanic Christianity
The Germanic people underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 8th century, England and the Frankish Empire were Christian, and by AD 1100 Germanic paganism had also ceased to have political influence in Scandinavia.-History:In the 4th...
also became an increasingly important political issue in the late 10th century.
Haakon Sigurdsson
Haakon Sigurdarsson was the de facto ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995.-Background:Haakon was the son of Sigurd Haakonsson, Jarl of Lade and ruler of Trøndelag and Hålogaland. His mother was Bergljot Toresdatter, daughter of Tore Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Møre...
, Jarl of Lade, became the most powerful man in Norway, at first supported by Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and paying tribute to him—though the two later fell out over religious matters. Harald had converted to Christianity and was eager to Christianise Norway, while Haakon remained a staunch pagan
Norse paganism
Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...
. In 995 Haakon was deposed and the young Christian leader Olaf Tryggvason came to the throne.
While rejecting Danish authority, Olaf made it his mission to convert Norway and the Norse colonies in the west as quickly and as completely as possible. Proceeding with threats, torture and executions, Olaf broke down pagan resistance and within a few years Norway was, at least nominally, a Christian country. But King Olaf had acquired several enemies during his meteoric rise to power. The most prominent were Eirik Jarl, son of Haakon Jarl, and Svein Forkbeard, king of Denmark, both of whom felt that Olaf had deprived them of their share of Norway.
The same interests which clashed in the Battle of Svolder were to divide Norway for decades to come, leading to further major engagements, including the Battle of Nesjar
Battle of Nesjar
Battle of Nesjar was a sea battle off the coast of Norway in 1016. It was a primary event in the reign of King Olav Haraldsson . Sigvatr Þórðarson composed the poem Nesjavísur in memory of the battle....
and the Battle of Stiklestad
Battle of Stiklestad
The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed. He was later canonized...
. The resolution came in 1035 with the accession of the Norwegian Magnus the Good to the throne of an independent and Christian Norway.
Sources
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
(ca. 1080), who wrote from a Danish point of view as his source was King Svein II of Denmark. The later Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
made use of and expanded Adam of Bremen's account in his Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
(ca. 1200).
In Norway the three synoptic histories, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium, Historia Norwegie and Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum
Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum
Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum or Ágrip is a synoptic history of the kings of Norway, written in Old Norse. The preserved text starts with the death of Hálfdan svarti and ends with the accession of Ingi krókhryggr but the original is thought to have covered a longer period, probably up to the reign of...
(ca. 1190), all give a short account of the battle. The Icelandic kings' sagas
Kings' sagas
The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....
offer a much more extensive treatment, starting with Oddr Snorrason
Oddr Snorrason
The Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar of Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a Latin royal biography attributed to a 12th century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyrar monastery ....
's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (ca. 1190). Working from skaldic poetry, oral history, learned European examples and an uninhibited imagination, Oddr constructed an elaborate account of the battle. This was taken up by the later Icelandic sagas, Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed by fire, but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved...
and Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
(ca. 1220), both of which add quotations of skaldic verse. Three Icelandic poems from around 1200 also have some historical interest: Nóregs konungatal
Nóregs konungatal
Nóregs konungatal is an Icelandic skaldic poem. Composed around 1190 the poem is preserved in the 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript. It is based on the lost historical work of Sæmundr fróði and is the best extant testimony on the scope of Sæmundr's work...
, Rekstefja and Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar. The immense Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta or The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvasonis one of the kings' sagas, an extended biography of King Óláfr Tryggvason....
(ca. 1300) combines several of the above sources to form the last, longest and least reliable saga account.
Contemporary skaldic poetry which refers to the battle includes a work by Hallfreðr the Troublesome Poet
Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld
Hallfreðr Óttarsson or Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld was an Icelandic skald. He is the protagonist of Hallfreðar saga according to which he was the court poet first of Hákon Sigurðarson, then of Óláfr Tryggvason and finally of Eiríkr Hákonarson...
, who was in Olaf Tryggvason's service. Hallfreðr was not present at the battle but gathered information about it afterwards for a eulogy on Olaf. On Jarl Eirik's side, a number of stanzas are preserved by Halldórr the Unchristian, who speaks of the battle as happening "last year" and dwells on the scene of Eirik capturing the Long Serpent. Some verses on the battle are also preserved in Þórðr Kolbeinsson
Þórðr Kolbeinsson
Þórðr Kolbeinsson was an 11th century Icelandic skald, or poet. He was the court poet of Eiríkr Hákonarson and some 17 stanzas of his poetry on the earl are preserved in the kings' sagas...
's elegy on Eirik, probably composed around 1015. Finally, Skúli Þórsteinsson
Skúli Þórsteinsson
Skúli Þórsteinsson was an 11th century Icelandic poet and warrior. He was the grandson of Egill Skallagrímsson and a courtier of Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson...
fought with Eirik in the battle and spoke of it in verse in his old age.
While historians value contemporary skaldic poetry highly as the most accurate source available, it must be remembered that the poems are not preserved independently but as quotations in the kings' sagas. After two centuries of oral preservation, there is often doubt that a verse was accurately remembered and correctly attributed. Furthermore, skaldic poetry did not primarily aim at giving information but at artistically rendering facts already known to the hearers. Historians frequently fall back on the less reliable but more detailed accounts of the sagas.
Events leading up to the battle
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
) to seek allies and on the way was ambushed by Svein and his allies. These accounts are contradicted by a contemporary verse of Halldórr the Unchristian which states that Olaf Tryggvason was travelling from the south when he came to the battle.
Oddr Snorrason
The Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar of Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a Latin royal biography attributed to a 12th century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyrar monastery ....
has an elaborate account of the problems arising from Thyri's marriages. He tells us that she was betrothed and married to the Wendish king Bolesław the Brave, who received a large dowry for her; but she did not want to be his wife and starved herself after their wedding, so Bolesław sent her back to Denmark. She then arranged to have herself married to Olaf Tryggvason, to the displeasure of her brother Svein. Svein's queen, Sigrid the Haughty
Sigrid the Haughty
Sigrid the Haughty, also known as Sigríð Storråda, is a queen appearing in Norse sagas as wife, first of Eric the Victorious of Sweden, then Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. While given the Nordic ancestry in sagas, she has been hypothesized to be identical to historically attested Polish or Pomeranian...
, a staunch opponent of Olaf, egged Svein to make war on him. Svein then conspired with Jarl Sigvaldi
Jarl Sigvaldi
Jarl Sigvaldi was the son of Strut-Harald the Jarl of Skåne and the brother of Thorkell the Tall . He succeeded Palnatoke as the chieftain of the Jomsvikings, but he proved more wise than brave....
and King Olaf of Sweden to lure Olaf Tryggvason into a trap. Olaf Tryggvason travelled to Wendland to collect Thyri's dowry from King Bolesław and while there heard rumours of a planned ambush; but Sigvaldi arrived to tell him these rumours were false. Believing Sigvaldi, Olaf sent most of his fleet home, as his men were impatient. He therefore had only a small fleet left when he was ambushed near Svolder.
Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed by fire, but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved...
and Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
largely follow Oddr's account but simplify it and diverge from it in some respects. According to Heimskringla, Sigvaldi sailed from Wendland with Olaf and a fleet of Wendish ships and led him into the ambush.
Whether the above details are accurate or not, it is clear that Svein, Olaf the Swede and Eirik had ample reason to oppose Olaf Tryggvason. Olaf had taken control of Viken
Viken
Viken was the historical name for the district in southeastern Norway, including the area surrounding the Oslofjord and Skagerrak, the strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark.-History:...
in south Norway, an area long under Danish overlordship. Olaf and Svein had been in England together, but Olaf had made peace while Svein kept campaigning. Svein was on friendly terms with Olaf the Swede and connected to him by marriage, so the two were natural allies. Finally, Jarl Eirik had been driven from his patrimony by Olaf Tryggvason, as arguably had his father, Jarl Hakon, whom he may have wished to avenge.
From the conflicting accounts of the sources, historians have tried to reconstruct the most likely sequence of events leading up to the battle. It is probable that Olaf Tryggvason was indeed sailing from Wendland to Norway when he was ambushed, though the kings' sagas probably play up the importance of Thyri and her marriages. While it is possible that Olaf was collecting dowry, it seems more probable that he was expecting war and seeking allies in Wendland, but met with little success. The character of Sigvaldi remains enigmatic, though there is evidence from skaldic poetry that he did indeed betray Olaf.
Time and location
Íslendingabók
Íslendingabók, Libellus Islandorum or The Book of Icelanders is an historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally existed in two different versions but only the younger one has come...
, written around 1128, which specifies that it took place in the summer. Oddr Snorrason says further that the battle is "memorialized for the fallen men on the Third or Fourth Ides of September
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
", (10 or 11 September). Mesta
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta or The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvasonis one of the kings' sagas, an extended biography of King Óláfr Tryggvason....
states that the battle occurred on 9 September, and other sources agree with either date. Since some medieval writers reckoned the end of the year in September, it is possible that the year referred to is in fact the one we know as 999.
The location of the battle cannot be identified with any certainty. According to Adam of Bremen, it took place in Oresund
Oresund
The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
. Ágrip and Historia Norwegie also place it off Zealand. Theodoricus says it took place "beside the island which is called Svöldr; and it lies near Slavia". Fagrskinna speaks of "an island off the coast of Vinðland... [t]his island is called Svölðr." Oddr Snorrason and Heimskringla agree on the island's name but do not specify its location. A stanza by Skúli Þórsteinsson
Skúli Þórsteinsson
Skúli Þórsteinsson was an 11th century Icelandic poet and warrior. He was the grandson of Egill Skallagrímsson and a courtier of Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson...
speaks of "the mouth of Svolder", suggesting that Svolder was originally the name of a river which Norse unfamiliarity with Wendish geography turned into an island. The Danish Annales Ryenses are unique in placing the battle in the Schlei
Schlei
The Schlei is a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It stretches for approximately 20 miles from the Baltic near Kappeln and Arnis to the city of Schleswig. Along the Schlei are many small bays and swamps...
. Modern historians are divided, some locating the confrontation near the German island of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
while others prefer Oresund.
Composition of the fleets
The Norse sources agree that Olaf Tryggvason fought against overwhelming odds in the battle. Fagrskinna, for example, says that he had "only a small force", and that the sea around him was "carpeted with warships" The sources which specify the number of warships all agree that Olaf Tryggvason had 11 vessels but they give various numbers for the allied fleets.| Source | Olaf Tryggvason | Olaf the Swede | Eirik | Svein | Allied total | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oddr Snorrason | 11 | 60 | 19 | 60 | 139 | |
| Ágrip | 11 | 30 | 22 | 30 | 82 | |
| Historia Norwegie | 11 | 30 | 11 | 30 | 71 | |
| Theodoricus monachus | 11 | - | - | - | 70 | |
| Rekstefja | 11 | 15 | 5 | 60 | 80 |
Though the sagas agree that Olaf Tryggvason had only 11 ships in the battle, some of them quote a verse by Halldórr the Unchristian saying that Olaf had 71 ships when he sailed from the south. The sagas explain the discrepancy by saying that some of the 71 ships belonged to Jarl Sigvaldi, who deserted Olaf, and that others sailed past the trap at Svolder before it was sprung.
The sagas describe three of the ships in Olaf Tryggvason's fleet. According to Heimskringla, the Crane was a large swift-sailing warship with thirty rowers' benches, high in stem and stern. It was commissioned by King Olaf and used as his flagship for some time.
Olaf confiscated the second of his great ships from a pagan he had tortured to death for refusing to convert to Christianity. King Olaf "steered it himself, because it was a much larger and finer ship than the Crane. Its stem had a dragon's head on it, and on its stern, a crook shaped like a tail; and both sides of the neck and all the stern were gilded. That ship the king called the Serpent, because when the sail was hoisted it was to look like the wing of
a dragon. That was the finest ship in all Norway."
The only allied ship described is Jarl Eirik's Iron Ram. According to Fagrskinna it was "the biggest of all ships". Heimskringla gives more detail:
The leaders assess their opponents
It is unlikely that the saga writers had accurate information on details of the battle beyond the sparse accounts in the surviving poems. Nevertheless, starting with Oddr Snorrason, they present an elaborate literary account, depicting the main participants through their words and deeds.Olaf Tryggvason's ships pass the anchorage of his allied enemies in a long column without order, as no attack is expected. Conveniently placed to observe the fleet, Jarl Eirik and the two kings remark upon the passing vessels. Svein and Olaf are eager to join battle, but Eirik is portrayed as more cautious and familiar with the Norwegian forces.
As Eirik finally consents to attack, King Svein boasts that he will command the Long Serpent "before the sun sets". Eirik makes a remark "so that few men heard him" saying that "with only the Danish army at his disposal, King Sveinn would never command this ship". As the allies set out to attack Olaf Tryggvason, the point of view shifts to the Norwegian fleet.
After spotting the enemy, Olaf might have used sail and oar to outrun the ambush and escape, but he refuses to flee and turns to give battle with the eleven ships immediately about him. Seeing the Danish fleet arrayed against him, he comments: "The forest goats will not overcome us, for the Danes have the courage of goats. We will not fear that force because the Danes have never carried off the victory if they fought on ships." Similarly, Olaf writes off the Swedes with a reference to their pagan customs:
It is only when Olaf Tryggvason sights Eirik Hákonarson's contingent that he realises he is in for a hard battle, because "they are Norwegians like us". The sagas' emphasis of Eirik's contribution stands in marked contrast to the Danish accounts of Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, who portray the battle as a Danish victory over Norwegians, with no mention of Jarl Eirik or his men.
The battle is joined
The disposition adopted in the battle was one which recurs in many sea-fights of the Middle Ages where a fleet had to fight on the defensive. Olaf lashed his ships side to side, with his own, the Long Serpent, in the middle of the line, where her bows projected beyond the others. The advantages of this arrangement were that it left all hands free to fight, that a barrier could be formed with the oars and yards, and that it limited the enemy’s ability to make its superior numbers count. The Long Serpent was the longest ship and so also the tallest—another advantage to the defenders, who could rain down arrows, javelins and other missiles while the enemy would have to shoot upwards. Olaf, in effect, turned his eleven ships into a floating fort.
The sagas give all the credit to the Norwegians, praising Eirik Hákonarson for any intelligence and for most of the valour shown by Olaf Tryggvason’s opponents. The Danes and Swedes rush at the front of Olaf's line and are repulsed, suffering heavy casualties and loss of ships. Jarl Eirik attacks the flank and forces his vessel, the Iron Ram, up against the last ship of Olaf's line, which he clears with a fierce attack and then proceeds onto the next ship. In this way, Olaf's ships were cleared one by one, till the Long Serpent alone was left.
Einarr Þambarskelfir
The same story is found in Gesta Danorum, though there Einarr is aiming at Svein, rather than Eirik.
King Olaf's death
Other sagas suggest that one way or another Olaf made his way to the shore; perhaps by swimming, perhaps with the help of angels, most likely rescued by one of the Wendish ships present. After his escape, Olaf supposedly sought salvation for his soul abroad, perhaps joining a monastery. Mesta describes a series of "sightings" of him in the Holy Land, the last in the 1040s.
King Olaf, like Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, Frederick Barbarossa and Sebastian of Portugal, is one of those legendary heroic figures whose return was looked for by the people, their deaths never completely accepted. (See King in the mountain
King in the mountain
A king in the mountain, king under the mountain or sleeping hero is a prominent motif in folklore and mythology that is found in many folktales and legends...
.)
Aftermath
After the Battle of Svolder, the victorious leaders split Norway into areas of control. Heimskringla gives the most detailed account of the division, describing it as threefold. Olaf the Swede received four districts in TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
as well as Møre
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...
, Romsdal
Romsdal
Romsdal is the name of a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named for the valley of Romsdalen, which covers part of Rauma.The...
and Ranrike
Ranrike
Ranrike was the old name for a part of Viken, corresponding to southeast Norway and the northern half of the modern Swedish province of Bohuslän...
. He gave these to Jarl Svein Hákonarson, his son in law, to hold as a vassal. Svein Forkbeard gained possession of the Viken district, where Danish influence had long been strong. The rest of Norway was ruled by Eirik Hákonarson as Svein's vassal. Fagrskinna, in contrast, says that the Swedish part consisted of Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
and a part of Trondheim. Other sources are less specific.
The Jarls Eirik and Svein proved strong, competent rulers, and their reign was prosperous. Most sources say that they adopted Christianity but allowed the people religious freedom, leading to a backlash against Christianity which undid much of Olaf Tryggvason's missionary work.
Legacy
Several factors combined to make the Battle of Svolder one of the most famous battles of the Viking AgeViking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
. In Norwegian-Icelandic historiography, King Olaf Tryggvason was held in high regard as the man who brought Christianity to the North. His colourful end in a battle against overwhelming odds therefore makes a fitting narrative. Jarl Eirik’s court poets also ensured their lord a fair share of the glory. Mesta says:
Rímur
In Icelandic literature, a ríma is an epic poem written in any of the so-called rímnahættir . They are rhymed, they alliterate and consist of two to four lines per stanza...
cycle, Svöldrar rímur, chronicles the battle in verse, largely following the account of Oddr Snorrason. Two more rímur cycles on the same topic were composed in the 18th century, one of which is preserved. In the 19th century, the popular poet Sigurður Breiðfjörð
Sigurður Breiðfjörð
Sigurður Breiðfjörð was an Icelandic poet. He learned cooperage for four years in Copenhagen and worked as a cooper in Iceland and Greenland. He was a prolific and popular traditional poet, known for his rímur cycles. Núma rímur is his best known work.-References:* Neijmann, Daisy L....
composed yet another rímur cycle on the battle, based on the account in Mesta.
With the 19th century rise of nationalism and romanticism and the growing number of translations of the sagas, interest in the battle of Svolder increased outside of Iceland. Around 1830, the Faroese poet Jens Christian Djurhuus
Jens Christian Djurhuus
Jens Christian Djurhuus or Sjóvarbóndin was the first poet who wrote in Faroese. He composed several Faroese ballads in traditional style on historical themes. The best known is Ormurin langi...
composed a ballad on the battle titled Ormurin langi
Ormurin Langi
Ormurin Langi is a ballad type song in the Faroe Islands. It was written ca. 1830 by Jens Christian Djurhuus.The song has 86 verses and is in Faeroese, and deals with the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason...
, following Snorri's account. The ballad was well received and remains among the most popular and well-known Faroese ballads. In 2002, a heavy metal version by the band Týr
Týr (band)
Týr, , is a folk metal band from the Faroe Islands. Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around old Nordic lore, mythology, and history, taking their name from a Norse god of war. They signed a worldwide deal with Austria's Napalm Records in early 2006, while signed to the Faroese record...
gained some following abroad.
In Norway, Johan Nordahl Brun
Johan Nordahl Brun
Johan Nordahl Brun was the poet, dramatist, bishop in Bergen , and politician who contributed significantly to the growth of National Romanticism in Norway, contributing to the growing national consciousness.He traveled to Copenhagen in 1767, where he passed his theological examinations...
's rousing patriotic play Einar Tambarskjelve, written in 1772, is considered a milestone in Norwegian literature
Norwegian literature
Norwegian literature is literature composed in Norway or by Norwegian people. The history of Norwegian literature starts with the pagan Eddaic poems and skaldic verse of the 9th and 10th centuries with poets such as Bragi Boddason and Eyvindr Skáldaspillir...
. Later Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...
wrote a well-known short poem, Olav Trygvason, on the fall of the king. Bjørnson also collaborated with Edward Grieg on an opera about Olaf Tryggvason, but the two fell out before the work was finished. Ragnar Søderlind
Ragnar Søderlind
Ragnar Søderlind is a Norwegian composer. He has written ballets and operas, and for the concert hall, programmatic works based on poems.-Biography:...
has now completed the opera, which premiered in September 2000, 1000 years after the Battle of Svolder. Søderlind introduced fate motifs from Wagner, Beethoven and Liszt in the battle scene.
The battle has also inspired art outside of Scandinavia, including a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
volume by the Japanese artist Ryō Azumi
Ryo Azumi
is a Japanese manga artist whose works draw on Old Norse literature and other subjects from Northern Europe.Azumi published her first work in 1981 and made steady contributions to Wings and other magazines in the early 80's. In 1986 she published the first part of her magnum opus, The Scarlet Sword...
. The best known English-language work is probably Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
's cycle "The Saga of King Olaf
The Saga of King Olaf
"The Saga of King Olaf" is a poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1863, as the largest part of his work Tales of a Wayside Inn. The poem is written in twenty-two parts and follows the adventures of King Olaf of Norway, spurred to avenge his slain father and reclaim his...
" (from his 1863 collection of poems Tales of a Wayside Inn
Tales of a Wayside Inn
Tales of a Wayside Inn is a collection of poems by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.-Overview:The poems in the collection are told by a group of adults in the tavern of the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, 20 miles from Cambridge, and a favorite resort for parties from Harvard College...
), much of which is dedicated to the Battle of Svolder, and which includes the verse:
- Louder the war-horns growl and snarl,
- Sharper the dragons bite and sting!
- Eric the son of Hakon Jarl
- A death-drink salt as the sea
- Pledges to thee,
- Olaf the King!
See also
- Christianisation of Scandinavia
- Battle of StiklestadBattle of StiklestadThe Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed. He was later canonized...
Further reading
- Adam of BremenAdam of BremenAdam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
(translated by Francis Joseph Tschan and Timothy Reuter) (2002). History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12575-5 - Baetke, WalterWalter BaetkeWalter Hugo Hermann Baetke was a German professor of Scandinavian studies and religious studies. He was Professor of the History of Religion at the University of Leipzig.-Life and career:...
. Christliches Lehngut in der Sagareligion, Das Svoldr-Problem: Zwei Beiträge zur Sagakritik. Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig. Philologisch-historische Klasse 98.6. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. 1951. - Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (editor) (1941). Íslenzk fornrit XXVI : Heimskringla I. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag.
- Campbell, Alistair (editor and translator) and Simon Keynes (supplementary introduction) (1998). Encomium Emmae Reginae. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62655-2
- Driscoll, M. J. (editor) (1995). . Viking Society for Northern Research. ISBN 0-903521-27-X
- Ekrem, Inger (editor), Lars Boje Mortensen (editor) and Peter Fisher (translator) (2003). Historia Norwegie. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-813-5
- Finnur JónssonFinnur JónssonFinnur Jónsson was an Icelandic philologist who made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature.Finnur graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1878 and went to Denmark for further studies at the University of Copenhagen. He received a doctorate in philology in 1884 with a...
(1912–15). Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. København: Den arnamagnæanske kommission. - Finnur Jónsson (1923). Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie. København: G.E.C Gads forlag.
- Finnur Sigmundsson (1966). Rímnatal I. Reykjavík: Rímnafélagið.
- Finlay, Alison (editor and translator) (2004). Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-13172-8
- Kouri, E. I., Torkel Jansson and Knut Helle (2003). The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47299-7
- Levin, Mona (translated by Virginia Siger) (2002). Saga King Becomes Opera - at Last! Music Information Centre Norway. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
- Midgaard, John (1963). A Brief History of Norway. Oslo.
- Naess, Harald S. (1993). A History of Norwegian Literature. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3317-5
- Nicholson, Helen (2003). Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300–1500. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-76331-9
- Oddr Snorrason (translated by Theodore M. Andersson) (2003). The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4149-8
- Ólafía Einarsdóttir (translated by Helga Kress) (1967). "Árið 1000" in Skírnir.
- Ólafur Halldórsson (editor) (2006). Íslenzk fornrit XXV : Færeyinga saga, Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. ISBN 9979-893-25-7
- Sawyer, PeterPeter Hayes SawyerPeter Hayes Sawyer is a British historian of Medieval England who is known for his annotated catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters...
(2005). "Scandinavia in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries." In The New Cambridge Medieval History IV. David Luscombe and Jonathan Riley-SmithJonathan Riley-SmithJonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith, K.St.J., Ph.D. MA, Litt.D., FRHistS is an historian of the Crusades, and a former Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History...
(eds). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41411-3. - Saxo GrammaticusSaxo GrammaticusSaxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
(edited by J. Olrik and H. Ræder) (1931). Saxonis Gesta Danorum. Hauniæ: Munksgaard. - Sephton, J. (translator) (1895). The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason. London: David Nutt.
- Snorri SturlusonSnorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
(translated by Lee M. Hollander). (1991). Heimskringla : History of the Kings of Norway. University of Texas PressUniversity of Texas PressThe University of Texas Press is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texana, anthropology, U.S...
. ISBN 0-292-73061-6 - Snorri Sturluson (translated by Samuel LaingSamuel Laing (travel writer)Samuel Laing from Papdale in Orkney was a Scottish travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia and northern Germany and published descriptions of these countries....
and Rasmus Björn Anderson) (1907). Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings. London: Norroena Society. - Sverrir Jakobsson (2002). "Erindringen om en mægtig personlighed : den norsk-islandske historiske tradisjon om Harald Hårfagre i et kildekristisk perspektiv" in Historisk tidsskrift 2002, vol. 81, pp. 213-30. ISSN: 0018-263X
- Theodoricus monachus (translated and annotated by David and Ian McDougall with an introduction by Peter FootePeter FootePeter Godfrey Foote was a scholar of Old Norse literature and Scandinavian studies. He inaugurated the Department of Scandinavian Studies at University College London, and headed it for 20 years.-Early life and education:...
) (1998). The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings. Viking Society for Northern Research. ISBN 0-903521-40-7
External links
- Heimskringla account (Starting from 108. Conspiracy Against King Olaf)
- Mesta account