On this day, King Olaf of Norway was defeated by an alliance of rival northern kings in the Battle of Svolder, a large naval battle in the western Baltic Sea. Olaf was either leaving for or coming home from an expedition to Wendland when he was ambushed by Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson, Jarl of Lade. Although heavily outnumbered in terms of ships, Olaf chose to hold his ground, lashing his ships together to form a defensive fortress around his own legendary ship the ‘Long Serpent’, a questionable tactic which left his ships unable to manoeuvre. His men eventually fell to the enemy forces and Olaf himself is said to have chosen death by drowning. Olaf’s defeat put a provisional end to the unity of Norway and a temporary setback to the spreading of Christianity, as the kingdom was quickly divided among the victors and paganism was once again tolerated.
Read Bob Lynn’s enthralling narration
“Ambush at Svolder” HERE