According To Tradition, King Olaf I Of Norway Was Enslaved As A Child

Tryggvi Olafsson was a grandson of the first King of all Norway, Harald Finehair (ruled approximately 860-940). Tryggvi’s cousins, the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe (r. 940-945), conquered Norway around 961, after they dealt a mortal wound to King Hákon the Good (r. 946-961). Yet, even though the sons of Eirik were proven warriors and had royal blood in their veins, Tryggvi and other nobles worked together to resist the brothers. Jarl Hákon Sigurdsson of the Trondheim region led an open rebellion against the sons of Eirik after his father was assassinated in 963 and Tryggvi was one of the Norwegian chieftains that lent the rebels his support. Unfortunately, supporting Jarl Hákon put a target on Tryggvi’s back and he was ultimately assassinated by the sons of Eirik around 968. According to tradition, Tryggvi’s wife, Astrid, was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death. When the grim news arrived, she immediately fled from Norway. Her son, Olaf Tryggvason, was reportedly born while she was on the run.

As told in the sagas, Astrid and her newborn child escaped to Sweden, where they stayed until young Olaf was three years old. Yet, when agents of the sons of Eirik came looking for them, Astrid decided to relocate to Novgorod or Kiev, where Vladimir the Great (prince of Novgorod r. 970-972 and Grand Prince of Kiev 980-1015) was ascending to power. With this in mind, Astrid and her young son boarded a merchant ship and set sail for the lands of the Kievan Rus. Nevertheless, according to legend, the merchant ship never reached its destination.

Astrid and Olaf were reportedly thrown into chaos even before they reached mainland Europe. As the story goes, Vikings or raiders attacked the merchant ship somewhere in the Baltic Sea. The traders were overpowered and the assailants boarded the ship, seizing the cargo and passengers, alike. According to the sagas, Olaf Tryggvason and his mother were captured and separated. Astrid was hauled away to some unknown grisly fate, while young Olaf was shipped over to Estonia, where he was sold into slavery. The pirates apparently bartered him in exchange for a goat and then he was supposedly traded once more for a good cloak. According to the tale, Olaf Tryggvason remained a slave in Estonia for about six years, mainly working as an enslaved farmhand. Thankfully, Olaf was apparently discovered and freed by his uncle, Sigurd Eiriksson, who fulfilled Astrid’s wishes by bringing Olaf to the domain of Vladimir the Great.

Whether or not this is truly how Olaf Tryggvason spent his childhood, the real historical figure certainly lived his early years in exile from Norway and eventually became quite the adventurer. Anglo-Saxon accounts of Olaf’s Viking raids in Britain are some of the first definitive accounts of his burgeoning military career. He somehow became a companion of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark and accompanied the Danish king on great Viking expeditions against England in 991 and 994. Finally, in 995, Olaf Tryggvason returned to Norway and usurped power from Jarl Hákon Sigurdsson (who had by then defeated the sons of Eirik with the help of the Danes).  King Olaf Tryggvason ruled Norway from 995 until his death in 1000. As for Olaf's mother, Astrid, the sagas claim she was eventually found in an Estonian slave market by a certain Lothin of Vik, who bought her freedom and brought Astrid back to Norway, eventually making her his bride.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A depiction of a scene from the saga of Olaf, by Halfdan Egedius (1877–1899), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018.
• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by Benjamin Thorpe in 1861 and republished by Cambridge University Press, 2012. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-Tryggvason 
• http://avaldsnes.info/en/informasjon/olav-tryggvason/ 
• http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/anglo-saxon/maldon/olaftryggvason.html 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-II-Eiriksson 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Norway 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Haakon-I-Adalsteinsfostre 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Haakon-Sigurdsson 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-I  

The English Navy Fiasco Of 992

The reaction of King Æthelred the Unready (r. 978-1016) to Danish invasions of England perfectly matched his lackluster name. In his reign, a new wave of Scandinavian raids and invasions hit the British Isles with a ferocity that had not been seen since the days of King Alfred the Great a century earlier. Unfortunately for England, King Æthelred the Unready was no Alfred the Great, and his reign would be a long, painful story of disappointment and incompetence.

By the year 980, various Viking crews were rampaging in Britain. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported that in England, alone, the regions of Thanet, Cheshire, Padstow, Devonshire, Dorsetshire (and Portland), London, Hampshire (especially Southampton) and Sussex were all ravaged by Vikings between the years 980 and 982. For around a decade, Viking activity seemed more like widespread solitary raids instead of a coordinated invasion by multiple groups, but by 991 the scale of Viking attacks increased dramatically. That year, Æthelred the Unready had the misfortune of facing Olaf Tryggvason of Norway and King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark, who had launched a joint raid of England with over ninety ships. Up to this point, King Æthelred the Unready had apparently taken no personal action against the Vikings, instead deferring the defense of England to the noble ealdormen who administered the regions that were under attack. Therefore, Olaf and Sweyn received fairly light resistance as they raided in Staines, Ipswitch and Maldon.

Ealdorman Brihtnoth attempted to defend Maldon from the Vikings, but he was slain in the ensuing battle. Not long after the ealdorman was defeated, Æthelred the Unready organized his first national response to the Vikings. Yet, it was not a military campaign—instead, Æthelred decided to pay the Vikings monetary tribute. The payment did, however, seem to buy Æthelred a little time, and he spent this period gathering the sea power of England.

With his English navy, King Æthelred the Unready hoped to be able to fight back against the ships mustered by Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason, or at least to hunt down and deter smaller crews of Viking raiders. At the head of the English fleet, Æthelred placed a trusted ealdorman named Ælfric. Unfortunately, Ælfric would turn out not to be worth Æthelred’s trust.

According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the English fleet was able to track down one of the large Viking fleets, and the Englishmen planned to attack the next day. Yet, Ealdorman Ælfric was apparently not confident in the strength of the English navy and doubted that King Æthelred could overcome the Vikings. Instead of leading the English fleet into battle, Ealdorman Ælfric reportedly deserted during the night and defected to the side of the Vikings.

With Ælfric’s help, the Viking fleet was able to evade the English navy and escape. Frustrated both figuratively and literally, the English fleet evidently disbanded and the different ships began sailing back to their home regions. Adding insult to injury, before the year 992 ended, the Vikings ambushed the isolated branch of the English navy that had been mustered from the regions of East Anglia and London, inflicting a great slaughter on the Englishmen.

The naval defeat in 992, combined with more horrific raids in 993 (in Lindsey and Northumbria), as well as the reappearance of Svein Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason in 994, compelled King Æthelred the Unready to revert to his previous tactic—monetary tribute. The payment sated Olaf Tryggvason, who went on to become king of Norway in 995 and reportedly never returned to England. Yet, the money was not a long-term solution to King Sweyn of Denmark. In fact, by 1013, Sweyn would force Æthelred to flee to Normandy, leaving England to be overrun by the Danes.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Ethelred the Unready Embarking for Normandy, Illustration By Ernest Prater, c. 1920, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by Benjamin Thorpe in 1861 and republished by Cambridge University Press, 2012.
• Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018. 
• https://books.google.com/books?id=f8B4NAl2r48C&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=anglo+saxon+chronicle+992&source=bl&ots=zzboc8pNlw&sig=ACfU3U3iUdla55DExLPhRzmcj8tzhf1gMA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivwP2nv_PfAhVimuAKHfB1AL4Q6AEwD3oECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=anglo%20saxon%20chronicle%20992&f=false 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-Tryggvason 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sweyn-I