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Stiklestad Battlefield in North-Trondelag, Verdal
Tourist in Norway, illustration photo. Copyright NG.
Location: Verdal Municipality, Norway.
Text by Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter.
In 1030, the king returned from Russia to win back the kingdom. The last of the Lade earls had drowned the previous autumn, and the country was considered leaderless. With a small army provided by the Swedish king, he headed north.
We are not sure why the king headed for Trondelag and Verdal, but we do know that his opponents assembled a large army against him. This agrarian army was said to have been twice the size of the king's army. These farmer-soldiers mostly came from Trondelag, especially the Inn-Trondelag region in the north. The army also included chieftains from Western and Northern Norway, though it is unlikely that these contributed any large numbers of men.
Why did the farmers rebel against the king?
The answer to this question, is uncertain. But some clues are chronicled: King Olav could be brutal to his enemies, so many had reason to seek revenge. King Canute of Denmark and England had bought the loyalty of Norwegian chieftains with money and gold.
In addition, Trondelag law decreed that if a king who had committed acts of violence against the farmers ever tried to return, then it was the duty of all to rise up in arms.
What actually happened in the battle and how it progressed is also uncertain. But it seems that the king arrived first, and could choose his position. He positioned his army on a hill, allowing him to attack from the higher vantage point. peasant army was on a flat area, which must be where Stiklestad church is located today. The landscape here has changed completely because of subsequent landslides.
Tradition has it that the king died from three wounds. First, a man by the name of Torstein Knarresmed, inflicted a serious injury with his axe. The king then leaned against a rock and threw his sword away, understanding that death was imminent. The altar in the church is supposedly on the site of the rock. The other two wounds were inflicted by the chieftains in the farmer's army, Tore Hund and Kalv Arneson, with a spear and an axe. It is not difficult to see that this story has legendary undertones.
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