romantic than that of any other ruler of Norway
which is generally known. Born a prince, he barely escaped assassination
in childhood at the hands of the usurper of his rights, by fleeing from
the country in charge of his mother. They were captured at sea by
pirates, separated, and sold into slavery. Then followed a period of
deprivation and hardship; but at a comparatively early age Olaf was
discovered and ransomed by a relative who had never ceased to search for
the missing youth. He soon after became a distinguished sea-king, of
that class whom we call pirates. His career in this field of adventure
is represented to have been one of daring and reckless hardihood,
characterized by merciless aggression and great success. Finally Olaf
married an Irish princess, embraced Christianity, and fought his way to
the throne of Norway, assuming the crown in the year of our Lord 991.
From this time he became a zealous missionary, propagating his faith by
the sword, and like many other religious zealots he was guilty of
outrageous cruelty. Seven years subsequent to the last-named date he
destroyed the Pagan temples of Thor and Odin at Troendhjem. Upon the
site of this temple he built a Christian church, making the city his
seat of government, and so it remained the capital down to the union
with Denmark. Olaf was slain in battle while fighting for his throne,
and was declared a saint by the Church, his tomb at Troendhjem being a
Mecca for pious pilgrims from all parts of Europe for centuries. In such
veneration were the memory and services of this reformed pirate held by
a certain class of religionists, that churches were erected in his name
at Constantinople and elsewhere. His ashes lie entombed beneath the
present cathedral of Troendhjem.

A short walk from the town brings one to Hlade, where stands the castle
of the infamous Jarl Hakon, whence, in the olden time, he ruled over the
surrounding country with an iron hand. He was a savage heathen,
believing in and practising human sacrifices, evidences of which are
still extant. About a mile from the town, in the fjord, is the island of
Munkholm, once the site of a Benedictine monastery, as its name
indicates, and which was erected in 1028. The mouldering and moss-grown
base of one of its towers is all that now remains. Victor Hugo gives a
graphic description of this spot in his book entitled "Han d'Islande."
Here the famous minister of Christian V., Griffenfeldt by name, was
confi