Raud the Strong was a Norse

blót (Old Norse) and or (Old English) are terms for " blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism respectively. A comparanda can also be reconstructed for wider Germanic paganism. A ' could be dedicated to any of the Germanic god ...

priest and seafaring warrior, who resisted conversion to Christianity in the late 10th century AD.

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 of N ...

was King of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

from 995 to 1000 AD. He played an important part in the conversion of the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 se ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. 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 such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d or killed. Despite King Olaf's persuasive efforts, many of the Vikings were reluctant to renounce their Gods and adopt

. 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 is that of Raud the Strong. Raud the Strong was a large landowner, a leader-priest of

("blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism), and a sea-farer. Raud was known for his beautiful

longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that 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 the Nors ...

, 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 a

drinking horn A drinking horn is the horn of a bovid used as a drinking vessel. Drinking horns are known from Classical Antiquity, especially the Balkans, and remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period in ...

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 a much larger than any ship that he had. 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 "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

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 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 follows the adventur ...

X. Raud the Strong''.

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 the ...

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, derived ...

(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 Viking Age clergy Year of birth unknown 10th-century Norwegian people 10th-century executions People from Bodø Pagan martyrs 10th-century Vikings

See also

References