The last time we were in our category entitled “The Story,” I offered you the award–winning post of January 29, 2008… “Vi–king: (n.) a sea–roving bandit; pirate.”

Okay, it hasn’t actually won any awards quite yet.  Patience…

But now — as promised — let’s take a further peek into how the gospel brought an end to the Age of the Vikings.  Note well that what I’m about to report is certainly not commendable or praiseworthy in all of its particulars. 

Yet this is also part of the story of the church… God sovereignly working good — not only through the wickedness of the church’s enemies (as we saw last time) — but the story of God even working good through the misguided foolishness of the church itself.

Meet Olaf Trygvesson.  Olaf was a Viking’s Viking.  It was said that he could out–swim, out–climb, out–leap, and out–fight anyone.  He could juggle five daggers in the air, always catching them by the handle.  In all measures of Viking–ness, he was unmatched.

He was a far–traveling warrior, terrorizing Holland, France, Jutland, England, Northumberland, Scotland, the Hebrides, other Vikings on the Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, etc.  History records that everywhere he went, he would leave “in his wake a great harvest for the ravens and wolves.” People fled at his name.  He was infamous for slaughtering his victims with a savage cruelty, “sparing neither the women nor children of tender age.”

On one occasion he returned to England, “burning villages, laying waste the lands, putting numbers of people to death by fire and sword, without regard to sex, and sweeping off an immense booty.”

But after an interesting encounter with a fortuneteller who claimed to have the gift of prophecy from the Christian God, Olaf was baptized… promising never again to visit war upon England.

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