Saint Olav - King of Norway

III. As a guest of duke Richard II in Normandy

Olav sailed northwards and came to Rouen, where he spent the winter as a guest of duke Richard II of Normandy (1013-1014).4 Rouen was the capital of Normandy, in north-west France. Norwegian and Danish Vikings had conquered this territory in 881 (hence the name of «Normans»). At first they were in conflict with the king of the French, but later they were allowed to keep Normandy, on condition that they defended the country against hostile powers. The Vikings accepted Christianity, not only in name but also in fact. This was also true of duke Richard, who was an able statesman and a zealous Christian. There was time for long conversations in the long winter nights between the young Olav and the duke. Olav certainly made good use of his time in other ways too. He no doubt visited the wonderful cathedral in Rouen, somewhat curious. To begin with, he would not have understood much of the liturgy of the Mass, but the Gregorian chant that flowed through the church with its mild melody must have softened his hard Viking mentality. Perhaps he had the chance to speak with the reform-minded Archbishop Robert of Rouen. Perhaps he visited the many monasteries and monastic schools in Rouen and the neighbourhood of the city. Perhaps he discussed the Christian faith with the monks he met there. He certainly did not undergo an abrupt conversion (of the kind so fashionable in our days). A spiritual development, which may have begun when he raided the Christian England, now received new impulses. In this connection, it is important to remember that Olav spent all of his youth abroad, and this means that he never had the opportunity of practising his pagan faith in all these years, for Norse paganism was so dependant on definite places in one's native land. The cult of the gods of Norse religion was linked to the temple («hov»), and the cult of the ancestors took place in the family farm. The gods became distant when the Vikings went on their journeys - with the exception of the many-sided traveller, Odin. We know that Harald Hårfagre had a good relationship to him. Did Olav too worship this one-sided god of war when he was out in foreign parts? Or did he put his confidence in black magic? Our Catholic author Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) suspects the latter.

Olav had time when he was in Rouen to compare the gods of Norse religion with the White Christ and his hosts of angels. A very decisive question for the rough Viking must have been which of them was the most powerful - the gods of Norse religion or the White Christ. He knew from the pagan faith of his childhood that the gods in Valhalla had come into being within time and that they would all perish in Ragnarokk (Ragnarokk was the final fierce battleground): thus they were not eternal. And even if they could help the farmer to have good harvests and the warrior to win victories on the field of battle, they were not all-powerful either. For not only human beings, but even gods and goddesses were subordinate to another, superior power, that of destiny, which no one could escape. Both gods and human beings were pieces moved around in destiny's capricious game. The Norseman could win the gods' favour through bloody sacrifice, but no one could appease destiny. It was an impersonal evil power who never asked questions about a person's worth. Destiny could award victory and good harvests to a man of violence. Destiny could lead a friendly and happy man into conflicts that ended in his death.

Here in Rouen, Olav must have pondered the powerlessness of the gods and the omnipotence of the White Christ - for his Christian friends could tell him that the White Christ was uncreated. He existed from all eternity. Nor would he perish in Ragnarokk. The heavenly king would live forever in heavenly glory. He was also told that the White Christ had created a court of angels, and that all human beings had come into existence through his word.

In this connection, Olav certainly also pondered death and life after death. It would be naive to believe that Vikings possessed a human nature different from that of the rest of us. The human person has always longed for perfect truth, goodness and beauty. This longing lies deep in our nature and instinct, an irresistible urge. Even the pagan Olav was seized by this longing for the infinite and the absolute. He had learned as a child that warriors who fell on the field of battle came into Odin's hall. But the life in Valhalla is rather monotonous. They live there as if in a training camp. They meet every day on Odin's courtyard to practise fighting. Those who fall in the fight return to full life. In the evening, the bold warriors sit at the table in friendship in Odin's hall and eat pork from the boar Særimne and drink mead from the goat Heidrun. Next day they take up the game of war anew. They are preparing themselves for the great fight between wicked giants and good divinities when the world's account are settled (Ragnarokk). It was not possible for the yearning for a true paradise, something so native to a man, a paradise of unending happiness, to be quenched by such stolid ideas. Besides this, Valhalla would separate Olav from the woman he loved, for Odin's castle did not admit women. After death, women crossed over into the terrible sad shadow-life of Helheim.5

The Christians in Rouen could tell Olav of a heavenly paradise in stark contrast to the heathen ideas. They told of a universal heaven to which all had access - even women, slaves and humble people. The condition was that they should make the correct choices while they still lived here on earth. And live with the Father of all was something more than the dark room of Helheim, something more than the victorious warriors' life of battle in Odin's castle. There were shining landscapes in heaven, beautiful plains and hills with flowers and a glorious fragrance. In heaven, together with the hosts of angels, they would see God as he truly is in bliss, and be filled with love for him and for all that deserves to be loved. Such ideas liberated the forces in Olav's soul that yearned for infinite truth, love and beauty. Olav heard and indeed experienced that Christianity was not something floating in a void like a theory. He was told that the White Christ continued to live his invisible life in a very visible society that was called the Catholic Church. And he also understood that those who belonged to this society were zealous in bringing the Christian faith to pagan countries. He was told that the greatest chief in Christ's army was the pope in Rome. His commissioners round in the various countries were the bishops and the priests. Through the sacraments and preaching, they were to recruit new warriors for Christ's army. Olav himself now wanted to belong to this army. He accepted the Christian faith and was baptised in Rouen.6