Editing Olaf Tryggvason (section)

{{short description|King of Norway from 995 to 1000}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Olaf Tryggvason
| image        = Olav Tryggvasson mynt.jpg
| caption      = Only known type of coin of Olaf Tryggvason, in four known specimens. Imitation of the Crux-type coin of [[Æthelred the Unready]].<ref>[[Kolbjørn Skaare|Skaare, Kolbjørn]] (1995). ''Norges mynthistorie''. Universitetsforlaget. pp. 38–41.</ref>
| succession   = [[List of Norwegian monarchs|King of Norway]]
| reign        = 995–1000
| predecessor  = [[Harald Bluetooth]] (as king)<br>[[Haakon Sigurdsson]] (as regent)
| successor    = [[Sweyn Forkbeard]]
| spouses      = {{plainlist|
*[[Geira|Geira of Wendland]]
*[[Gyða|Gyda of Dublin]]
*Gudrun Skeggesdatter
*[[Tyra of Denmark]]}}
| issue        = [[Tryggvi the Pretender]] (possibly)
| father       = [[Tryggve Olafsson]]
| mother       = [[Astrid Eiriksdatter]]
| birth_date   = 960s
| birth_place  = [[Norway]]
| death_date   = 9 September 1000
| death_place  = [[Battle of Svolder|Svolder]], Norway
}}

'''Olaf Tryggvason''' (960s – 9 September 1000) was [[King of Norway]] from 995 to 1000. He was the son of [[Tryggvi Olafsson]], king of [[Viken, Norway|Viken]] ([[Vingulmark]], and [[Rånrike]]), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of [[Harald Fairhair]], first King of Norway. He is numbered as '''Olaf I'''.

Olaf was important in the conversion of the [[Norsemen|Norse]] to Christianity, but he did so forcibly within his own kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.katolsk.no/biografi/olav/eng_07.htm |title=Saint Olav – King of Norway – VII. Olav and the work of Christianisation |access-date=9 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205084352/http://www.katolsk.no/biografi/olav/eng_07.htm |archive-date=5 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shadowdrake.com/religion.html|title=Viking Religion|website=www.shadowdrake.com|access-date=9 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709200218/http://www.shadowdrake.com/religion.html|archive-date=9 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>''Heimskringla'', King Olaf Trygvason's Saga, section 52</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Olaf Tryggvason |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-Tryggvason |access-date=17 August 2023 |publisher=Britannica |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629153520/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-Tryggvason |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He is said to have built the first Christian church in Norway in 995, and to have founded the city of [[Trondheim]] in 997. A [[Olav Tryggvason (statue)|statue dedicated to him]] is located in the city's central plaza.

Historical information on Olaf is sparse. He is mentioned in some contemporary English sources,<ref>E. g. [http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.prl?b=15956&s=n&str= Diplomatarium Norvegicum XIX, nr. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326211214/https://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.prl?b=15956&s=n&str= |date=26 March 2019 }}</ref> and some [[skald]]ic poems. The oldest narrative source mentioning him briefly is [[Adam of Bremen]]'s ''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum]]'' of ''circa'' 1070.

In the 1190s, two [[Latin]] versions of ''"[[Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar]]"'' were written in [[Iceland]], by [[Oddr Snorrason]] and [[Gunnlaugr Leifsson]] – these are now lost, but are thought to form the basis of later Norse versions. [[Snorri Sturluson]] gives an extensive account of Olaf in the ''[[Heimskringla]]'' saga of ''circa'' 1230, using Oddr Snorrason's saga as his primary source. Modern historians do not assume that these late sources are accurate, and their credibility is debated.<ref>[[Sverre Bagge]], ''Helgen, helt og statsbygger – Olav Tryggvason i norsk historieskrivning gjennom 700 år'', in [[Steinar Supphellen]] (ed.), ''Kongsmenn og Krossmenn – Festskrift til Grethe Authén Blom'' (Trondheim, 1992)</ref> The most detailed account is named ''[[Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta]]'' ("Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason") and is recorded in the ''[[Flateyjarbók]]'', and in the early 15th-century  ''[[Bergsbók]]''.