Co stało się z Olafem Tryggvasonem po bitwie w Oresundzie czyli (krypto)historia pewnej pogłoski

Abstract

The battle which took place on Øresund’s waters in the year 1000 quickly gathered a substantial body of legends in medieval Scandinavian tradition. The description and reception of this event are connected to a certain (crypto)history, the functioning of which is the focus of the present text. The conflict between the king of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason, and the king of Denmark, Swein Forkbeard, supported by his allies, resulted in the death of the former. King Olaf is likely to have drowned in the Baltic strait, but several Scandinavian accounts noted rumours suggesting that the king survived the battle and found refuge among Slavs or in the Holy Land. One of the skaldic poems depicting the battle and the death of King Olaf points out that the rumours began spreading the day after the battle as a direct response to the unclear fate of the king. The manner in which a poet contemporary to the battle as well as later saga authors reacted to these tales allows for an interesting insight into two perspectives: the political atmosphere in Norway immediately after the battle and the status of the skald as a witness of the life and achievements of the missionary king in medieval Scandinavian tradition. Both these perspectives may be straightforwardly described as a (crypto)history behind the legend of the martyred king’s death.