Olof Skötkonung

According to Snorri, Olof Skötkonung led a Viking expedition to Wendland early in his reign. He captured Edla, the daughter of a Wendish chieftain, and kept her as mistress. She gave him the son Emund (who was to become king of Sweden), and the daughters Astrid (later wife of Olaf II of Norway) and Holmfrid (married to Sven Jarl of Norway).[9] He later married Estrid of the Obotrites, and she bore him the son Anund Jacob and the daughter Ingegerd Olofsdotter.[10]

While Adam of Bremen praises Olof as a good Christian, Icelandic authors paint an unfavourable picture of the king who was haughty and prickly. Olof is said to have preferred royal sports to war, which may explain the ease with which Sweyn Forkbeard retook the Danish lands his father Eric had conquered.[11] Olof may also have lost the right to tribute which his predecessors had preserved in what is now Estonia and Latvia.

In 1000, he joined forces with Sweyn Forkbeard and with the Norwegian Jarls Eric and Sven, against the Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvason. The circumstances have been much debated in modern historical research, but a contemporary poem confirms that Eric Jarl gathered auxiliaries in Sweden: "The belligent jarl / gathered much manpower / in Svithiod, the chief went / southward to the battle."[12] Olaf Tryggvason was attacked by the allied fleets in the Battle of Svolder, the location of which is uncertain. It may have been either in Öresund or Pomerania. Olaf Tryggvason disappeared in the battle and Norway was appropriated by the allied lords. The bulk of the conquests went to Sweyn Forkbeark while Olof gained a part of Trøndelag as well as modern Bohuslän. These lands were placed under Sven Jarl, son-in-law of the king.[13]

When the Norwegian kingdom was reestablished by Olaf II of Norway (Olaf the Saint) in 1015, a new war erupted between Norway and Sweden. There is a circumstantial account of this in Snorri Sturluson's work. As he writes, many men in both Sweden and Norway tried to reconcile the kings. In 1018, Olof's cousin, the earl of Västergötland, Ragnvald Ulfsson and the Norwegian king's emissaries Björn Stallare and Hjalti Skeggiason had arrived at the thing of Uppsala in an attempt to sway the Swedish king to accept peace and as a warrant marry his daughter Ingegerd Olofsdotter to the king of Norway. The Swedish king was greatly angered and threatened to banish Ragnvald from his kingdom, but Ragnvald was supported by his foster-father Thorgny the Lawspeaker

Thorgny delivered a powerful speech in which he reminded the king of the great Viking expeditions in the East that predecessors such as Erik Anundsson and Björn had undertaken, without having the hubris not to listen to their men's advice. Thorgny, himself, had taken part in many successful pillaging expeditions with Olof's father Eric the Victorious and even Eric had listened to his men. The present king wanted nothing but Norway, which no Swedish king before him had desired. This displeased the Swedish people, who were eager to follow the king on new ventures in the East to win back the kingdoms that paid tribute to his ancestors, but it was the wish of the people that the king make peace with the king of Norway and give him his daughter Ingegerd as queen.

Thorgny finished his speech by saying: "if you do not desire to do so, we shall assault you and kill you and not brook any more of your warmongering and obstinacy. Our ancestors have done so, who at Mula thing threw five kings in a well, kings who were too arrogant as you are against us."[14] Upon hearing this, King Olof complied with the demands of the peasantry for the time being.

However, far from keeping his promise Olof married his daughter Ingegerd-Irene to Yaroslav I the Wise instead. When Olaf of Norway heard about the arrangement he was furious and intent on attacking Olof Skötkonung. However, the Geatish jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson, colluding with Olaf II's skald Sigvat Thordarson, managed to avert the impending war. Olof's other daughter Astrid stayed with Ragnvald at the time, and it was agreed that she would take Ingegerd's place. Unbeknownst to Olof, she traveled to Norway and married Olaf II. Olof Skötkonung was highly upset, but soon ran into trouble at home. Both the Swedes and Geats were displeased with the self-willed rule of the king. The lawspeaker of Västergötland, Emund, traveled to Gamla Uppsala and spoke to Olof's councilors, and a settlement was made. Olof agreed to share his power with his son Anund Jacob who was 10 or 12 years at the time. Olof was also forced to accept a settlement with Olaf II of Norway at Kungahälla.[15] The veracity of Snorri Sturluson's account of Olof Skötkonung, written more than two centuries later, is difficult to assess; however, he quotes several probably genuine scaldic verses which allude to some of the related events.

One result of the hostilities between Olof Skötkonung and Olaf of Norway was, according to Snorri Sturluson, that the people of Jämtland and Hälsingland came under the Swedish rather than Norwegian king. Previously the Jämtlanders and part of the Hälsinglanders had adhered to Norway since the days of Hakon the Good.[16] The veracity of this is not known, but the medieval provincial laws of Jämtland show Swedish influences, and there are indications that Christianity arrived from Central Sweden in the 11th century.[17] Jämtland reverted to the Norwegian king in 1111, while Hälsingland was henceforth under Sweden.[18]

Olof's ally Sweyn Forkbeard occupied England in 1013, but died shortly afterwards, and the Anglo-Saxon ruler Æthelred the Unready was able to return. According to Adam of Bremen, "the son of the king, Cnut, returned home with the army and prepared a new war against the English. Olav [II], whom the Norwegians had chosen as their commander, now separated from the Danish kingdom. Cnut, who felt threatened from two directions, then entered an alliance with his brother Olof Eriksson who ruled in Sweden, and planned to take power in England, and then in Norway, with his assistance. Equipped with a thousand large ships, Cnut thus traversed the British Sea".[19] From Swedish rune stones it also appears that many people joined the Danish Viking expeditions of the early 11th century. After Cnut the Great became King of England in 1016, he sent the two sons of the deceased King Edmund Ironside to Olof (who was either Canute's half-brother or stepbrother), supposedly with instructions to have the children murdered. Instead of having them killed, the two boys were secretly sent either to Kiev,[20] where Olof's daughter Ingigerd was the Queen, or to Poland, where Canute's uncle Bolesław I Chrobry was duke.[21]

Included in the Westrogothic law from c. 1240 is the first brief Swedish chronicle, which begins with Olof Skötkonung. It relates that Olof was baptized in Husaby in Västergötland by the missionary Sigfrid, and made generous donations on spot.[22] At Husaby parish church, there is a sign commemorating his baptism; nearby is a well thought to be the same sacred spring where Olof was baptized.

He was the first Swedish king to remain a Christian until his death. However, the circumstances about his baptism are not clear. A document from 1008 says that a certain bishop, dispatched by Archbishop Bruno of Querfurt, visited the Suigi tribe and managed to baptize the king, whose queen was already Christian. 1,000 people and seven communities followed his example. The Suigi have sometimes been identified as the Swedes, though this has been rejected by several other scholars.[23] On the other hand, Olof's coinage (see below) indicates that he was a Christian already at the time of his accession in c. 995.[24]

According to Adam of Bremen, Olof planned to tear down the Uppsala temple, which was allegedly an important cult centre.[25] The fact that a large part of the Swedes were still pagan forced him to abandon this aim. The pagans, weary of his plans, made an agreement with Olof to the effect that he, if he wished to be a Christian, must exercise his royal authority in a province of his choice. If he founded a church, he was not supposed to force anyone to convert. Olof was content with this and installed a bishopric in the province of Västergötland, closer to Denmark and Norway. On the wishes of Olof, the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen anointed Thurgot as the first Bishop in Skara. This Thurgot was successful in disseminating Christianity among the West Geats and east Geats.[26]

The legend of St. Sigfrid, known since the 13th century, relates that the still pagan Olof called in the English Archbishop of York, Sigfrid, to teach the new faith in his realm. On his way, Sigfrid and his three nephews came to Värend in southern Småland where the twelve local tribes endorsed Christianity at a Thing. Sigfrid left his nephews to tend matters in Värend and proceeded to Olof's court where the king and his family were baptised. In the meanwhile a heathen reaction in Värend cost the lives of the nephews, whose heads were sunk in the Växjö Lake. Hearing about this, Sigfrid returned to Värend where the heads were discovered through a miracle. King Olof then appeared in Värend with a force, punished the murderers, and forced the locals to yield properties to the Church. Whether the legend reflects the expansion of Olof's realm to the south is unsure. The account seems to incorporate various elements in order to legitimise the establishment of the Bishopric of Växjö in c. 1170.[27] It is nevertheless known from Adam of Bremen that an English missionary called Sigfrid preached among the Swedes and Geats in the first half of the 11th century.[28]