THE English king permitted King Harald Sigurdson’s son Olaf to leave the country with the men he had left. Olaf proceeded to the Orkney Isles, where he remained during the winter (1066-67). The next summer he returned to Norway, where he was proclaimed king along with his brother, Magnus taking the northern and Olaf the eastern part of the country.

Shortly after the two brothers had assumed the government, the Danish king, Svein Estridson, gave notice that the peace between the Northmen and the Danes was at an end. The brothers hurriedly collected armies to defend the country, and Svein set out from the south with a Danish force. He met King Olaf on the coast of Halland, where an indecisive battle was fought. Soon afterward Magnus arrived with reinforcements from the north, but then negotiations were opened, and peace was concluded on the old conditions at Konungahella. The agreement here made was confirmed by Olaf taking King Svein’s daughter Ingerid in marriage.

The following year King Magnus died at Nidaros, April 28, 1069, after being ill for some time. His son, Haakon, who was fostered by Thorer of Steig in Gudbrandsdal, being only an infant child, Olaf now became sole king of Norway.

After the short conflict with Denmark, Olaf had no wars. A long period of peace was something new in the history of the country, and the people therefore gave King Olaf the surname Kyrre, i.e., the Quiet. He preserved law and order with firmness, and did a great deal to promote commerce and the prosperity of the towns. Before his time there were three towns in Viken (Tunsberg, Oslo, and Sarpsborg), and one in Throndhjem (Nidaros). King Olaf founded the merchant town of Bergen (then BjÖrgvin), where many wealthy people settled down, and the place was soon regularly frequented by merchants from foreign countries. The other towns also made good progress.

In King Olaf’s time there were held a greater number of general entertainments and hand-in-hand feasts than formerly. Already, during the heathen time, the Northmen used to arrange feasts by clubbing together. After the introduction of Christianity they were continued, but naturally changed their character. These feasts, which from the time of Olaf Kyrre were called guilds, had a partly religious character, and appear to have been regular meetings of fraternities, whose members were pledged to defend and help each other. The members were called guild-brethren and guild-sisters, and each guild was under the protection of a saint. The members were governed by strict laws, and in order to insure good and peaceful behavior, men of dignity, both clergymen and laymen, were present at the meetings. King Olaf built several guild-halls in different parts of the country, among them the great guild-hall in Nidaros. The guild-brethren built Margaret’s church in Nidaros.

There are many stories of King Olaf’s good works. Once when he sat in the great guild-hall in Nidaros, one of his men said to him: “It pleases us, king, to see you so happy.” He answered: “Why should I not be happy when I see my subjects sitting happy and free in a guild consecrated to my uncle, the sainted King Olaf. In the days of my father these people were subjected to much terror and fear; the most of them concealed their gold and their precious things, but now I see glittering on his person what each one owns, and your freedom is my gladness.”

At the Things, King Olaf did not speak much, preferring to let others speak for him. One who was often intrusted with this duty was his foster-brother Skule, who was a son of Earl Toste, and was usually called the king’s foster-son. Skule, who had come over with him from England, was made commander of King Olaf’s court-men and was given the king’s cousin Gudrun in marriage. He was a dear friend of the king, who gave him fine estates near Konungahella, Oslo, and Nidaros. The principal one of these estates was Reine in Rissen, which became the seat of this afterward powerful family. Skule was the ancestor of King Inge Baardson and Duke Skule.

King Olaf made several changes in the rooms on the king’s estates. The king had formerly had his high-seat on the middle of one of two long benches at the long walls of the house; but Olaf had the high-seat removed to a cross-bench at the short wall facing the entrance. Formerly the fire was in the middle of the floor between the long benches; but Olaf had the fireplace removed to one corner of the room, where he had a kind of a chimney-place built. He had the floors, which had formerly been without covering, covered with stone and strewed with juniper-tops. He introduced table-cups instead of the deer-horns out of which they formerly used to drink. Much unusual splendor and foreign fashions in the cut of clothes were also introduced. King Olaf doubled the number of attendants, so that he had one hundred and twenty courtmen-at-arms (hird-men), sixty “guests,”9 and sixty house servants. He used the fashion, which was introduced from the courts of foreign kings, of letting his grand butler stand at the end of the table, and fill the cups for himself and the other distinguished guests who sat at the table. He had also torch-bearers, who held as many torches at the table as there were guests of distinction present.

King Olaf Kyrre was a devout Christian. A better order was introduced in the affairs of the church, and the country was divided into three bishoprics. Many churches were built, among the largest of which were the Christ Church in Bergen and the Christ Church in Nidaros.

King Olaf died on his estate, Haukby, in Ranrike, September 22, 1098. His body was brought north to Nidaros and buried in Christ Church. The saga says of King Olaf: “He was the most amiable king of his time, and Norway was much improved in riches and cultivation during his reign.”