After these successes Olaf began the work of legal reformation. The laws which Hako the Good had introduced were often neglected; some of them were no longer applicable, and new ones were demanded by the necessities of the people. The manner in which he proceeded in this object evinces his good sense. At a certain hour he met the wisest of his people as well as the noblest,—the low as well as the high,—clergy and laity,—all in whose judgment he could place any confidence. He then caused one of Hako’s laws to be recited, and asked their opinion of its justice no less than its fitness. Sometimes it was rejected; but generally some improvements were made in it by common consent. At other times he propounded new ones; but it may be doubted whether any of them were obligatory until they had received the formal sanction of the Thing. Ecclesiastical matters next occupied the royal attention. Such portions of the canon law as were applicable to the circumstances of a barbarous, half-pagan kingdom were gradually introduced. His great object was to abolish what yet remained of paganism—a religion which had been considerably observed since the death of Olaf Trygveson. He would not tolerate it; wherever his jurisdiction extended he caused the temples to be destroyed, and rude wooden churches to be built on their ruins. Nor was he regardless of the spiritual wants of the Orkneys, Iceland, and other dependencies of his kingdom. To them he despatched missionaries, and inculcated on all the necessity of zeal, of perseverance, of unwearied industry. His own conduct was, in this respect, a lesson to his people. He rose early, heard matins and mass before he entered on public business or broke his fast. It was his regular attendance on public worship which, more than any other cause, led to his subsequent canonisation. He was, indeed, the first of the Norwegian kings that punctually observed the ordinances of religion. Hako the Good was as well disposed; but Hako, as we have shown, was compelled to revert into idolatry. Olaf, the son of Trygve, was too fond of the mead cup, and of continuing his potations into the silence of night, to attend early prayers. The present Olaf was, therefore, the first whom the clergy could decently canonise. Not that he was without his faults. He was vindictive, hasty, intemperate, exacting the severest vengeance from those who disputed his commands, and not sparing of human blood. Yet he was affable, indulgent to his dependents, and liberal to such as he had reason to esteem.[238] [Sidenote: 1016.]