an if any one whom the king might appoint should beat
him in diving, in archery, and in sword-play. Olave himself undertook
the match, and got the better of Endrid in all the trials; and then
Endrid gave in, and allowed himself to be converted and baptized. These
were strange ways of spreading the Gospel; but they seem to have had
their effect on the rough men of the North.

At last, Olave was attacked by some of his heathen neighbours, and was
beaten in a great sea-fight (A.D. 1000). It was generally believed that
he had perished in the sea; but there is a story of a Norwegian pilgrim
who, nearly fifty years later, lost his way among the sands of Egypt,
and lighted on a lonely monastery, with an old man of his own country as
its abbot. The abbot put many questions to him, and asked him to carry
home a girdle and a sword, and to give them with a message to a warrior
who had fought bravely beside King Olave in his last battle; and on
receiving them the old warrior was assured that the Egyptian abbot could
be no other than his royal master, who had been so long supposed to be
dead.

Somewhat later than Olave the son of Tryggve (A.D. 1015) Norway had
another king Olave, who was very zealous for the spreading of the Gospel
among his people, and, like the elder Olave, was willing to do so by
force if he could not manage the matter otherwise. On his visiting a
place called Dalen, a bishop named Grimkil, who accompanied him, set
forth the Christian doctrine; but the heathens answered that their own
god was better than the God of the Christians, because he could be seen.
The king spent the greater part of the night in prayer, and next morning
at daybreak the idol of the northern god Thor was brought forward by his
worshippers. Olave pointed to the rising sun, as being a witness to the
glory of its Maker; and, while the heathens were gazing on its
brightness, a tall soldier, to whom the king had given his orders
beforehand, lifted up his club and dashed the idol to pieces. A swarm of
loathsome creatures, which had lived within the idol's huge body, and
had fattened on the food and drink which were offered to it, rushed
forth, as in the case of the image of Serapis, hundreds of years
before;[67] whereupon the men of Dalen were convinced of the falsehood
of their old religion, and consented to be baptized. King Olave was at
length killed in battle against his heathen subjects (A.D. 1030), and
his memory is regarded as that of a s