Olav's reputation reached far and wide. After he was named a saint (1031) the Olav culture quickly spread to the British Isles and the Hanseatic towns along the Baltic Sea, and also to the Netherlands, Normandy, and even Russia and Byzantium. The oldest surviving picture of Saint Olav was painted on a column in the Nativity Church in Bethlehem in the twelfth century.

Calling – to be KingOlav Haraldsson (b. 995) was of royal descent. When still in his teens he set out as a Viking, and served as an officer for noblemen in England and Normandy. He was baptized in Rouen in Normandy. It is said that he reached as far south as Gibraltar on his travels, and there he had a dream that he would return home and become King of Norway. In 1015, he left England to claim the royal throne of Norway. On board he brought a number of English bishops, a sign that he saw making Norway a Christian nation as his calling.

Clearly a highly intelligent man, he was sincere in his intentions, artistically gifted (he wrote poetry) and a skilled political and military strategist.

During the early years everything appeared to go his way. He became the first national king to effectively wield his power over the entire nation of Norway, gradually establishing an administrative network that made it possible to keep the country together. He went on a large number of missionary excursions into the regions that were not yet Christian. He provided a permanent base for Christianity by building churches and ordaining priests according to a national plan, and he introduced legal systems for both state and church ("Christian law") which then became the foundation on which the legal system was built.  The ideals of a family-based society slowly had to give way to the belief in the intrinsic value of the individual, the eminence of mercy and the duty to protect the weak.

He was least successful in forging alliances with the nobles, who felt threatened by the growing central power of the King. Among the peasants, there was a smouldering dissatisfaction with Olav's "harsh rule", not because his rule was harsher than others, but rather because he insisted on ruling. King Canute of the Danes, who resided in England (this was the golden age of the Danelaw!), plotted to conquer Norway – and to this aim bought the support of Norwegian noblemen with rich gifts.

Olav's power base eroded and he was forced to flee. His final year on earth was spent with his brother-in-law Grand Duke Jaroslav in Kiev, a town that had already become the spiritual centre in Eastern Europe, where theology and philosophy, monasteries and art flourished.

In 1030, Olav returned to Norway to reclaim the throne. The decisive battle was at Stiklestad in the county of Nord-Trøndelag on 29 July. However, outnumbered and overpowered by his opponents, the King fell in battle. His body was smuggled away, to be buried close to where Nidaros Cathedral now stands.

Soon, however, wondrous things began to take place. A solar eclipse was immediately linked to the battle, signifying that Stiklestad was under the shadow of Calvary (Golgatha), where there was “darkness in the middle of the day”. Rumours about many sudden healings abounded, for example, the wounded hand of one of the men who slew the King healed when a drop of the King's blood fell on it.

A little more than a year after the fall of the King his body was exhumed, and with the acclamation of the people the Bishop declared him a holy man. Canonisation was at this time a matter for the local church, but the sanctity Olav was also fully approved by the Pope in Rome.

Olav was sanctified as a martyr. His death under the sign of the cross was seen as indisputable proof that he was God’s instrument. He was also honoured as Norway's apostle for completing the long process of bringing Christianity to Norway.

The Battle of Stiklestad might have appeared as the definitive downfall of a failed King. However, the tables were turned: The two main objectives King Olav had been fighting for, uniting Norway and bringing Christianity to the country, gained their victory through his death as a martyr.

Popular saint Saint Olav was deeply loved by the people because he appealed to virtually all groups: He was the champion of peasants and sailors, the patron saint of travelling merchants and city dwellers, defender of the monarchy and protector of the needy. He was a knight of the faith as if springing from the imagery of the stories of the knights.

Over the centuries St. Olav remained the national symbol of Norway, and "St. Olav's law" was the foundation on which justice and fairness were built. Kings would regularly refer to him in their decrees and letters long after the introduction of the Reformation. 

In the conflict before Norway's full independence was established (1905), St. Olav was again used as the national symbol of unity. Since then, there has been a growing understanding of the Olav heritage on religious grounds. A festival in his name (29 July) is now celebrated across Norway, but with particular celebration in Trondheim and Stiklestad. Olav is also celebrated in Sweden, Åland and the Faeroes.

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Supplementary comment to the above illustration: Olav’s altar frontal from the 1300s.

The motifs show at the upper left Olav’s dream before the Battle of Stiklestad. At bottom left, Olav is paying a priest for masses for the souls of his opponents who are about to die in the battle. The lower right section shows Olav’s death during the Battle of Stiklestad, 29 July 1030. In the upper right section Olav is declared a saint and buried on 3 August 1031. Photograph by Nidaros Domkirkes Restaureringsarbeider