The sons of Earl Hakon, Eric and Sweyn, who ruled Norway for fifteen years after the fall of Olaf Trygvesson, were not aggressive rulers. They were not of the blood royal, they were vassals of alien kings, both seem by nature to have been of an easy-going disposition; hence they were not able to command obedience to the extent that a strong monarchy demanded. As a result, the Norwegian aristocracy arrogated to itself a great measure of independence. The peasantry resumed their old habits and practices; in many places the old worship was wholly restored, including the sacrificial festivals. The Earls were Christians, but did not interfere.
Of a different type was King Olaf Haroldsson. He was determined and forceful, equipped with a vigorous intellect and a will that could brook no opposition. Though his policies extended far beyond the religious field, his chief anxiety was to make Norway a Christian kingdom. His zeal was that of the convert, the passion of the devotee; but it was more than that: it was the purpose of the far-seeing statesman. In his viking adventures he had become acquainted with the advantages of the European political system. He wished to introduce this into his own kingdom, to Europeanise Norway. This was the great king-thought for which Saint Olaf lived and fell. But at the basis of the European system lay Christianity. In his proselyting endeavours, he met opposition from the very beginning; but for a time he was able to overcome all resistance. However, the spirit of rebellion was silenced only; after five years of missionary effort, King Olaf found that Christian progress was apparent rather than real. He also found that the devotees of the old worship were still determined and that a group of chiefs were organising an opposition that might overturn his throne.
The opposition was of two sorts: on the one hand the Christian was opposed by the partisan of the old gods; on the other hand Olaf's strong kingship was disliked by the chiefs who recalled the freedom that they had enjoyed in the days of the two earls. Distances were great in Norway; travel was difficult; the ocean was the best highway. But with sail and oar it took time to reach the settlements on the long coast line, and the King soon learned that promises to renounce the Anses were easily forgotten or broken. Then followed crop failures in the far North: it was clear that Frey was angry and wished to punish the apostacy of his people.[286]
In the aristocratic opposition five chieftains bear special prominence. At Soli on the wide plains of Jæderen in South-western Norway, not far from the modern city of Stavanger, lived Erling, the son of Skjalg. Erling had sailed with King Olaf to Wendland, but had had no part in the fight at Swald. Later the Earls found it advisable to make peace with the Soli family and gave Erling Skjalgsson a magnificent fief in the South-west. From the Naze to the Sogn Firth his was the ruling influence. Of all the Norwegian magnates Erling was unquestionably the most powerful; and though both Earl Eric and King Olaf had looked askance at his power, he maintained his position for a quarter of a century. Five active sons and a spirited daughter grew up in Erling's house. The lord of Soli never was an ideal subject; but after his nephew Asbjörn slew one of King Olaf's servants in the royal presence during the Easter festivities, a quarrel broke out that had fatal consequences.[287]
The island of Giski some distance north of Cape Stadt was the ancestral seat of the famous Arnung family, which for several generations held a prominent place in the councils of Norway. According to tradition the family was founded by one Finnvid who was found in an eagle's nest, and hence was known as Finnvid Found. The family took its name from Arne, a prominent chief in Saint Olaf's day and a good friend of the King. Seven sons and a daughter were born to Arne and his good wife Thora. The oldest of the sons married the only daughter of the mighty Erling. Arne's daughter became the wife of another prominent lord and enemy of Olaf, Harek of Tjotta. For a time all the sons of Arne supported the King and Kalf alone finally joined his enemies. Olvi of Egg, a wealthy Thronder, was found to have continued the old sacrificial practices in secret, and on the King's orders was slain. Kalf Arnesson married his widow, and from that day his loyalty was shaken.[288]
Far to the north lived two chiefs who were also counted among the King's opponents: Harek of Tjotta and Thor the Dog. Thor was the ill-fated Asbjörn's uncle and the brother-in-law of the slain Olvi. He lived on the Bark-isle beyond the Arctic Circle and was easily the most powerful man in those regions.[289] Harek lived on the isle of Tjotta, a little to the south of the Polar Circle. He seems to have had something of a monopoly of the Finnish trade and from this and other sources amassed great wealth. In the Norse nobility few stood higher than Harek: he counted among his kinsmen the reigning King as well as his predecessors the Earls.[290] In the rebellion that finally cost King Olaf his life, Thor and Harek were prominent leaders.
In the Throndelaw, some distance south of Nidaros, dwelt Einar Thongshaker. Einar, the strongest and most athletic Norseman of his day, the archer who could pierce a damp ox-hide with a blunt shaft, was also a man of great personal influence. Married to Earl Eric's sister, he was naturally in sympathy with the dynastic claims of the Earl's family. For some years after the defeat at the Nesses, he had lived in exile in Sweden; but finally he was reconciled to King Olaf and was permitted to return.[291]
It does not appear that any of these leaders had any enthusiasm for the old faith; Erling Skjalgsson and Einar Thongshaker seem to have been zealous Christians. But among their kinsmen were many who clung to the worship of Woden and Thor. Wherever the King found heathen rites celebrated in open or secret, harsh measures were employed—loss of property, of limb, and even of life. Thus the chiefs saw many a kinsman dishonoured or dead, and to their disinclination to obey the royal mandate was joined the motive of private revenge. Soon dissatisfaction was rife everywhere, and over the North Sea fled yearly a band of exiles who had resisted the royal will.
Among those who went west was Einar Thongshaker, though he went ostensibly as a pilgrim, not as a plotter. Soon after his return from Sweden he found it advisable to seek expiation at Rome for earlier sins, and in 1022 or 1023 he left for the Eternal City. It seems probable that his brother-in-law Eric joined him in this expedition or planned to do so, for the sagas persist in connecting Eric's death, which must have occurred about 1023, with a pilgrimage to Rome, at least projected and perhaps carried out. In England Einar is said to have visited young Earl Hakon, possibly in his earldom in the Severn Valley; he also had an interview with Canute "and was given great gifts."[292] Einar's visit was probably just after Canute's return from his expedition to the Slavic lands. Whether the pilgrimage was more than a mere pretext we do not know, though it probably was made in good faith. After his return to Norway he was not active in King Olaf's service, though he showed no open hostility.
Many magnates or sons of prominent franklins had fared to Canute on various errands; but all who came to King Canute were given their hands full of wealth. There one could see greater splendour than elsewhere, both as to the multitude of people in daily attendance and in the other arrangements on the manors that he possessed and occupied. Canute the Mighty gathered tribute from the lands that were the richest in the North; but in the same measure as he had more to receive than other kings, he also gave much more than any other king....
But many of those who came from Norway lamented the loss of their liberties and hinted to Earl Hakon and some to the King himself, that the men of Norway were now surely ready to renew their allegiance to King Canute and the Earl, and to receive their old liberties from them. These speeches suited the Earl's mind, and he suggested to Canute that Olaf be called on to surrender the kingdom to them, or to agree to divide it.[293]