Olaf II, Haraldsson, King of NORWAY, saint. – Known as Olaf the Strong or Olaf the Saint, he was born in 995 and died in 1030. Son of Harald of Norway, he spent his youth as a Viking, both in England and in Normandy; he is found in Rouen in 1013–14.
While King Canute of Denmark, around 1015, was occupied in England and had summoned the Prince of Norway, Eric, to his aid, Olaf took the opportunity to return to his homeland, succeeding in being recognized as king at Nidaros (Trondheim), which he made his capital and where he built a church. With deeply rooted Christian convictions, he worked to eradicate paganism, particularly through laws against superstition, summoning many priests and bishops from England; these also spread, under his influence, into Sweden and the Gia, acknowledging the metropolitan supremacy of Bremen.
In ten years of peace, he governed and wisely reorganized the kingdom; but his zeal, perhaps excessive, in eradicating paganism and the absolutism of his rule alienated the minds of many subjects, including powerful chieftains such as Thor and Herek, whom Canute exploited in his attempts, repeatedly, to reclaim sovereignty over Norway. At the Battle of Helge (1026), however, Canute failed to prevail; he returned in 1028 and managed to take Nidaros, while Olaf fled to Sweden, soon returning in 1030 to attempt to regain the kingdom. But at the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030, he met his death.
He was celebrated as the hero of national independence and venerated as a martyr, fallen in the zeal for the propagation of the faith. His cult, which began immediately after his death and was officially recognized by Bishop Grimkell as early as 1031, spread widely in the Nordic regions, and his name is included in the Martyrology.