OLAF, the saint, one of the most revered of the early Norwegian kings, was born in 995; and after having distinguished himself by his gallant exploits, and made his name a terror in several warlike expeditions on the coasts of Normandy and England, suc ceeded, in 1015, in wresting the throne of Norway from Eric and Svend Jul. The cruel severity with which he endeavored to exterminate paganism by fire and sworld, alienated the affection of his subjects; many of whom sought security from his persecution in the territories of limit or Canute the great, king of Denmark; and it was only through the powerful aid of his brother-in-law, the Swedish Anund Jacob, that his authority could be upheld. Olaf's hot-headed zeal, however, after a time exhausted the patience of the people, who hastened to tender their allegiance to Knut, on his in Norway in 1028, when Olaf fled to the court of his brother-in-law, Jaroslav of Russia: who gave him a band of 4,000 men, at the head of whom he returned in 1030, and gave Knut battle at Stiklestad, where Olaf was defeated by the aid of his bwn subjects, and slain. The
body of the king, which had been left on the field of battle, and buried on the spot by a peasant, having begun to work miracles, his remains were carefully removed to the cathedral of Trondhjern, where the fame of their miraculous power spread far and wide, t attracting pilgrims front all parts of the Scandinavian peninsula. Olaf was solemnly proclaiincd patron saint of Norway in the succeeding ceniury ; and from that period till the reformation he continued to gather round him a rich heritage of mythical legendi and popular sagas, the memory of which still lingers in the folk-lore of Norway. In 1847 the order ofOlaf was created, in honor of the saint, by king Oscar I. of Sweden and Norway.