Bear with me while I recount what I witnessed at the King’s Hall in 1023 – an insight into Norway at the time. It will explain how difficult were dealings with King Olaf. This is the background to the events.
A man named Asbjorn Sigurdson, although baptised, continued his father’s heathen practices when he inherited his rich farm at eighteen years of age. These involved feasting and sacrifices at harvest time, Yule and Easter with many people invited. Soon after taking over the farm, poor weather caused the corn harvests to fail. For the winter feast Asbjorn determined it should go ahead, and to make it possible, visited his friends, buying wheat from them wherever he could. In the spring, people had little seed for the ground and had to purchase the seed-corn. The summer of 1022 proved a
