Saint Olaf II
![[Saint Olaf Haraldson]](ncd06083.jpg "??kb jpg New Catholic Dictionary illustration of Saint Olaf Haraldson; please do not write to ask about the image")
- Also known as
-
Olaf Haraldson;
Olaf Haraldsson;
Olaf of Norway;
Olaus;
Olav II;
Olav of Norway;
Olav the Thick;
Olavs;
Tola
- Memorial
- 29 July
- Profile
- Son of King Harald of Norway.
Viking pirate.
Convert, baptised in 1010.
Helped Ethelred of England against pagan Danes.
King of Norway from 1015 to 1028.
Brought missionaries to Norway to evangelize his people.
Tried to force Christianity on them, but they revolted in 1029, and drove him to Russia.
There he gathered his forces, and in 1030 tried to re-take his throne; killed in battle.
Regarded by Norwegians as the great champion of national independence.
Martyr.
- Born
- 995
- Died
- killed in battle at Stiklestadt on 29 July 1030 while trying to recover his throne;
buried at the Trondheim Cathedral;
miracles reported at his tomb, and it became a noted place of pilgrimage for Scandanavians
- Canonized
- 1164 by Pope Alexander III
- Patronage
-
carvers;
difficult marriages;
kings;
Norway
- Representation
- king, crowned and in armour with his weapons and a symbol of charity (food basket, etc.);
the arms of Norway are a lion with the battle-axe of Saint Olaf in the forepaws
- Additional Information
-
Catholic Encyclopedia
New Catholic Dictionary
- Print References
- The Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Translate
-
español | français | deutsch | italiano | português
