The New International Encyclopædia/Olaf II.

OLAF II., surnamed the Saint or the Great (c.995-1030). King of Norway from about 1015 to 1028. He was a son of Harald Gränske, and at the age of fifteen he began his marauding expeditions, which extended to the coasts of Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain. At the age of about twenty he made himself master of Norway, where he completed the establishment of Christianity. (See Norway.) In 1028 he was driven out by Canute (q.v.) and fled to Russia. He was killed in 1030, in an attempt to recover his kingdom. Because of his zeal for Christianity, he was canonized in 1164 and became the patron saint of Norway.