Bjørn Stallare (died July 1030) was an 11th-century Norwegian diplomat and civil servant during the reign of King

Olaf II of Norway Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...

. Bjørn Stallare was involved in the negotiations in behalf of King Olaf, for his marriage to Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden. In 1018, King Olof's cousin,

Ragnvald Ulfsson Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.Winroth 1995–1997:616 Biography According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf T ...

, the earl of Västergötland, and the King Olaf's emissaries Björn Stallare and

Hjalti Skeggiason Hjalti Skeggiason (Old Norse and Modern Icelandic: ; O.N. pronunciation: ; M.I. pron.: ) was an Icelandic chieftain who supported Gizurr the White for the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, on the Althing in 1000. Later he spent time with ...

arrived at the thing of

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

in an attempt to sway the Swedish king to accept peace and as a warrant marry his daughter Ingegerd Olofsdotter to the king of Norway. However, King Olof would not allow the marriage of his daughter to occur. Ingegerd later became the consort of

Yaroslav I the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...

of Kiev.''Astrid Olavsdatter – utdypning'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> King Olaf of Norway and King Olof Skötkonung later agreed to a peace treaty at

Kungahälla Kungahälla ( no, Konghelle, on, Konungahella) was a medieval settlement in southern Bohuslän at a site which is located in Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County in Sweden. It is the site of the former fortification at Ragnhilds ...

ca 1020. King Olof was forced to accept a settlement with King Olaf, who already had been married with King Olof's daughter,

Astrid Olofsdotter Astrid Olofsdotter (Norwegian: ''Astrid Olavsdatter''; English: ''Aestrith'') (died 1035) was the queen consort of King Olaf II of Norway. Biography Astrid was born to King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden and his Obotritian mistress Edla. She was th ...

, through the efforts of Ragnvald Ulfsson. Ragnvald had delivered Astrid at

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

in Norway and she married King Olaf after Christmas of 1019. Bjørn Stallare was long one of King Olaf's closest adviser. However, in 1026 King Olaf lost the

Battle of the Helgeå A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, and the Norwegian nobles rallied round the invading King

Cnut the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

of Denmark, forcing King Olaf to flee the country. Björn subsequently entered into an alliance with the King Canute. Later Björn was reconciled with King Olaf. Reportedly Björn supported King Olaf's return to Norway and is believed to have died with him in 1030 at the

Battle of Stiklestad The Battle of Stiklestad ( no, Slaget på Stiklestad, non, Stiklarstaðir) in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway () was killed. During the pontificate of Pope Alexander III, ...

(''slaget på Stiklestad''). During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Arne Skouen Arne Skouen (18 October 1913 – 24 May 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, author, film director and film producer. Biography Arne Skouen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Peder Nikolai Skouen (1883-1978) and Jenny ...

adopted ''Bjørn Stallare'' as a pseudonym writing about occupied

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

Sources

King Olaf's betrothal to Ingegerd is described in both ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian ...

'' and in ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorn Stallare Vikings killed in battle 11th-century Norwegian people 1030 deaths Year of birth unknown