One day Olaf was in the market-place, where a great many people were assembled. There he saw and recognized Klerkon, who had killed his foster-father, Thorolf Lusarskeg, on the journey from Sweden. Olaf had a little axe in his hand, and with it he clove Klerkon's skull, and then he ran home and told his uncle Sigurd what he had done. Sigurd immediately took Olaf to Queen Allogia, told her what had happened, and begged her to protect the boy. The queen took a liking to the boy, paid the fine for the manslaughter he had committed, and induced King Valdemar to admit him to his court, where he was brought up as a king's son. Olaf remained with King Valdemar nine years (973-981). At the age of eighteen Olaf was given ships by King Valdemar and set out on viking cruises. After a plundering visit to the island of Bornholm he came to Vendland (Pomerania), where he married Queen Geira, the daughter of King Burislav, and subdued the countries which had formerly belonged to her dominions, but had lately failed to pay her taxes. Every summer he made viking cruises, and in the winter he stayed with Queen Geira. Olaf had been three years in Vendland when Geira was taken sick and died. His grief was so great that he could not afterward stay in Vendland. He then provided himself with warships and made viking cruises to Denmark, England, Northumberland, Scotland, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, and western France. On returning from France he was driven by a storm to the Scilly Isles, where he and all his men were baptized in the Christian faith. Afterward Olaf came to England, and married Princess Gyda, a daughter of the Irish king Olaf Kvaran. The English annals contain many references to Olaf Trygvason, and name him as chief of a fleet of nearly 400 ships which, in the year 991, harried the east coast of England and won a great battle, after which the Englishmen were compelled to pay him 10,000 pounds in silver. Three years later he again attacked the coast of England, and the English king, Ethelred, had to beg for peace and promise to pay him 16,000 pounds in silver. Olaf and his army went into winter quarters in Southampton. Soon afterward King Ethelred invited him to his home; Olaf accepted the invitation, and the two became good friends. During his stay with the king, Olaf was confirmed, and King Ethelred himself became his sponsor and gave him many precious gifts. Olaf, for his part, made a solemn vow that he would never again attack the coasts of England, a promise which he appears to have kept. Early in the year 995 Olaf proceeded to Norway, and arrived at Throndhjem just when the peasants had risen against Earl Haakon. They made him their chief, and when the earl was dead, and his sons had fled, Olaf Trygvason became king of Norway. CHAPTER XI _Olaf Trygvason_ (995-1000)