Raud The Strong
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Raud the Strong was a Norse chieftain,
blót (Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
practitioner and seafaring warrior, who resisted conversion to Christianity in the late 10th century AD, described in
Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...
.
Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ...
was King of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
from 995 to 1000 AD. He played an important part in the conversion of the
Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9 ...
to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. According to the Sagas, Olaf traveled to the parts of Norway that had been under the rule of the King of Denmark. He demanded that the citizenry be baptized, and most reluctantly agreed. Those that did not were
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d or killed. Despite King Olaf's persuasive efforts, many of the Vikings were reluctant to renounce their Gods and adopt
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. New and increasingly painful tortures and executions were devised by Olaf and his men. One of the most famous incidents of recalcitrance to Olaf's attempts at coerced conversion to Christianity, according to the Sagas, is that of Raud the Strong. Raud the Strong was a large landowner, described as an eager practitioner of the Norse pagan sacrifice ritual ''
blót (Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
'', and a sea-farer. Raud was known for his beautiful
longship Longships, a type of specialised Viking ship, Scandinavian warships, have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by th ...
, a boat larger than any of Olaf's, with a dragon's head carved into the bow. The ship was called “The Dragon” or “The Serpent.” Raud the Strong, who also had the reputation of being a wizard, was defeated by Olaf in a sea battle. He escaped on his vessel, using the technique of sailing against the wind, which was a sailing technique unusual in northern European waters at that time. Raud outran Olaf and escaped to his settlement in Gylling and Haering, a part of the Godey Isles. After the weather calmed, Olaf sailed under cover of darkness to Godey and seized Raud from his bed. Then the king told Raud that if he accepted Christian baptism, he could keep his lands and ship and the king would be his friend. But Raud refused, saying he would never believe in Christ, and mocked Olaf's religion and deity. Olaf became incensed and said Raud should die a horrible death. The king ordered him to be bound to a beam of wood, with his face pointed upward, and a round pin of wood put between his teeth to force his mouth open. The king then ordered a snake to be put into Raud's mouth, but the snake would not go in. Olaf then ordered either the hollow stalk of an
angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 90 species of tall Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous, herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as ...
or his
drinking horn A drinking horn is the horn (anatomy), horn of a bovid used as a cup. Drinking horns are known from Classical Antiquity, especially the Balkans. They remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period ...
to be put into Raud's mouth, and forced the serpent to go in by holding a red-hot iron at the opening of the horn. As a result, the snake crept into Raud's mouth and down his throat, and gnawed its way out his side and Raud died. Olaf seized Raud's gold and silver, weapons and many valuable artifacts. All the men who were with Raud were baptized, or, if they refused, were killed or tortured. The king also took the dragonship that Raud had owned, and steered it himself since it was much larger than any ship that he had. Using that as a model, he is said to have built his bigger famed ship '' Ormrinn langi,'' which he was using at the
Battle of Svolder The Battle of Svolder (''Svold'' or ''Swold'') was a large naval battle during the Viking age, fought in September 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between King Olaf of Norway and an alliance of the Kings of Denmark and Sweden and Olaf's enemies ...
where he was defeated and by many sources presumed to have died. According to legend, this is how the famous Viking ships got their distinctive shape.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...
dealt with the story of King Olaf and Raud the Strong in his ''
Tales of a Wayside Inn ''Tales of a Wayside Inn'' is a collection of poems by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The book, published in 1863, depicts a group of people at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, as each tells a story in the form of a poem. Th ...
'' (1863), ''Part First, The Musician's Tale;
The Saga of King Olaf "The Saga of King Olaf" is a poetic sequence by United States, American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1863 as part of his book ''Tales of a Wayside Inn''. Overview "The Saga of King Olaf" is written in twenty-two parts and follow ...
X. Raud the Strong''.


See also

*
Norse paganism Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is a branch of Germanic paganism, Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse language, Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into Germanic peoples, distinc ...


References

* Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth (author) and Keary, Charles Francis (contributor), A History of Norway: from the Earliest Times. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 1900, (reprinted) 2007. ; . * Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni, The Viking Age. London: John Murray, 1889 (reprinted 2001). *
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
,
Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...
(The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) (c. 1230), English translation by Samuel Laing. London, 1844. {{DEFAULTSORT:Raud The Strong 10th-century clergy Year of death unknown Viking warriors Year of birth unknown 10th-century Norwegian people 10th-century executions People from Bodø Pagan martyrs 10th-century Vikings