OLAF I, Tryggvesson, king of NORWAY. - Great-grandson of King Harald I Haarfagre, founder of the kingdom of Norway, b. in 969.
He fought alongside Svend, king of Denmark, against the English, when the Vikings invaded England in 988. There he became acquainted with Christianity and was baptized. Meanwhile, a strong movement in Norway opposed King Haakon and supported O., who in 995, after making peace with Etefredo in England, returned to Norway and succeeded in having himself proclaimed king. He brought with him various English ecclesiastics, including several bishops, and endeavoured to spread the Gospel, perhaps with excessive harshness. Svend, taking advantage of the discontent of the pagans and of Haakon’s supporters, and allied with the Swedes, provoked a conflict, which was resolved in a great naval battle near Helsingborg, in which O. met his death, in the year 1000.