He had put his hand on the king's shoulder merely to feel if he wore armor. The would-be murderer was now seized, but though many urged him, Olaf refused to put him to death. Being, however, compelled to protect himself from his machinations, he sent Rörek to Iceland, where, a few years later, he died. All the shire-kings had now lost their power, and for the first time in the history of Norway, no one had royal title in all the country except the king. It was as the representatives of a narrow local patriotism, which was shared by a large number of the people, that these men had been formidable, and to weld all the scattered tribes into one nation would have been impossible, without first breaking their power. But as has already been observed, to break their power, as long as the Asa faith was the national religion, was out of the question; because the old tribal chieftainships embraced also the priesthoods, and the hereditary dignity of the local priest-kings was thus hallowed by all the religious as well as the political traditions of the tribe. King Olaf's zeal for the Christianization of the country had, therefore, its political as well as its religious aspect; and it was no mere coincidence that he directed his energy simultaneously against the old gods and the men who derived the chief benefit from their worship. During the years of peace from 1020-1026 he devoted himself with unflagging ardor to this task of eradicating every vestige of heathenism, and bringing the laws and institutions of the land into conformity with the religion of Christ. It was a noble task and, if we overlook a certain tendency to violence which was in the spirit of the age, nobly performed. To perform it completely would have been a superhuman labor. The ideals and sentiments of men, of which their institutions are but the expression, do not change radically in the course of one or two generations. There are traces of a gradual change of sentiment, even before the days of Olaf Haroldsson, in favor of gentler and more peaceful ideals. Not only by bloody deeds was honor acquired, but a man could by just and honorable conduct, and particularly by insight into the law, make for himself a respected position, even if he was reluctant to unsheath the sword. Instances of this kind are, however, rare, and to draw general inferences from them would be hazardous. War was the Norseman's occupation, and his gods were war-gods. A life full of warlike achievements, and after death an honorable fame, he had been taught to regard as the worthiest objects of aspiration. Asceticism and humility he looked upon with pitying disdain, and the sublimity of self-sacrificing suffering, as revealed in Christ, could scarcely appeal to him. A god who consented to be slain by his enemies must have appeared to him quite an incomprehensible being, whose feebleness contrasted strikingly with the grandeur of the thundering Thor. The joys of Valhalla, the _valkyrias_ with the mead-horns, the