Page:Bedford-Jones--The Cross and the Hammer.djvu/83

 " I believe that there is no man in Norway who by legal right and descent has so much right to the crown as I. But I must be made King by you, the Assembly of the People, and if you do so I will protect you and rule you according to the ancient laws of Norway."

The tale of his exile and sufferings greatly moved the people, who were already predisposed in his favor. As he sat down, half the delegates leaped to their feet.

"Skoal! Olaf Triggveson, skoal! We will have you to be our King, and none other! Skoal!"

A blare of horns mingled with shouts rent the air, and Sigurd, behind Olaf, set his great standard flapping in the breeze. A silence fell over the people as they saw the Cross, but only for a moment; again the shout arose, pealing across the town and the bay and echoing back from hill to hill behind them:

"Skoal to King Olaf! Skoal!"

HUS was Olaf Triggveson chosen by the General Assembly to be King over all Norway, and the rule of the land was made over to him in accordance with the old laws, by the officers of the people. The bonders swore to be faithful to him, to support him while he won the whole kingdom, and to help him to hold it; Olaf on his part promised to observe the laws and rights of the people, and to defend it from all invaders.

These ceremonies occupied the better part of the day, and it was sunset before Sigurd and Astrid, who had watched the ceremony, returned to the hall. They saw nothing of Olaf for several days, for he was very busy with the various leaders who flocked to his banner, and he was raising men and sending messages to all quarters of Norway with news of his election.

Soon, however, news arrived that the levies were not needed, for Jarl Eirik and his brother Svein had fled to Sweden as soon as the news of their father's death arrived. The whole country yielded to Olaf's rule, glad once more to have a king of the royal line of rulers, and glad to get rid of Hakon, who to this day is known as "Hakon the Bad."

King Olaf was eager to preach the gospel to his people, but Sigurd, his namesake the Bishop, and the other chiefs saw that Olaf must first make his hold on the country firmer, for they foresaw that when the people found that Olaf was intending to overturn the old faith, there would be tumults and revolts. The King, however, yielded only in part to them; and refusing to dwell in Thrandheim, where the great temple of Thor was situated, began the building of a second town, Nidaros, a few miles distant. So the autumn and early winter passed.

Nevertheless, the news spread that Olaf was no follower of the old gods, and grave disturbances took place throughout the country, for the bonders drew away from the new King when they found that he was preaching a new faith to them. Then one day came the news that at many of the larger temples great meetings of the bonders had taken place, with sacrifices to the old gods, and there the bonders had solemnly vowed that they would not allow Olaf to preach the "White Christ" in Norway.

Now all agreed that it was indeed time to act, unless the kingdom was to be endangered. The heart of the country was the district around Thrandheim, where the land was most thickly populated, and where the capital lay; so Olaf realized that if he once established Christianity here, it would not be long before the rest of Norway gave in.

With this object he called another