Tore Hund (Thorir Hundr, meaning “Thorir the Hound”) was born around 990 and rose to become one of the greatest chiefs in Hålogaland, the northernmost part of Norway. He hailed from the powerful Bjarkøy clan and made his home on the island of Bjarkøy in Troms. In the sagas he is described as “the most powerful man in the North”, a leader of immense influence whose authority spanned the coastal communities of northern Norway. Tore Hund was a prosperous Viking in his own right – he led trading and raiding expeditions eastward to the White Sea and Bjarmaland (in modern-day Russia), amassing wealth and renown far beyond his homeland. Through strategic marriages and alliances, Tore’s family was connected to other prominent Norwegian nobles. His relatives included chieftains in Trøndelag and even the legendary Erling Skjalgsson of Sola, which placed Tore at the nexus of Norway’s elite networks. This illustrious lineage and his success as a seafarer gave Tore Hund a stature equal to any southern lord, and he guarded his autonomy fiercely.
Devoted to the Norse Faith and Traditions:
Culturally and spiritually, Tore Hund stood for the old ways – forn sidr. He was a devout Heathen who worshipped the Norse gods, and he was strongly independent in temperament. At the time, King Olaf Haraldsson (later known as St. Olaf) was attempting to unify Norway under his rule and impose Christianity across the land. To Tore Hund and other chieftains, Olaf’s Christianization drive was not just a matter of religion – it was seen as a political weapon. As one account notes, the spread of Christianity “was also a powerful political tool to subject the old chiefs and in the case of Hålogaland to establish rule by a king from the south”. In other words, accepting the new faith meant accepting the distant king’s sovereignty. Tore Hund’s identity as a leader of the north was deeply tied to Norse Heathen traditions and local self-rule. From the outset, he was inclined to resist any foreign-imposed rule that threatened his people’s way of life.
Grievances Against King Olaf Haraldsson
Tore Hund’s relationship with King Olaf II Haraldsson began cordially but soured dramatically in the 1020s. Initially, Tore had supported or at least acknowledged Olaf’s claim to kingship around 1015. However, a series of personal and political conflicts quickly turned the chieftain into one of the king’s fiercest enemies. These conflicts stemmed from Olaf’s harsh governance in the north – including punitive economic measures and violations of the traditional code of honor – which fueled Tore Hund’s sense of injustice. The Barley Embargo and Blood Feud: A turning point came when a famine struck Hålogaland around 1020, leading to a grain shortage in the north. King Olaf, distrustful of the northern farmers’ loyalty, imposed a royal embargo to prevent them from buying grain from the south. This decree caused great hardship. Tore’s own nephew, Asbjørn Selsbane (Asbjørn “Sel’s Bane”), took it upon himself to secure food for his people despite the king’s order. Asbjørn traveled to Olaf’s seat at Avaldsnes to purchase barley. There, Olaf’s local representative, Tore Sel, enforced the embargo and intimidated merchants from selling to Asbjørn. Desperate and angered by this obstruction, Asbjørn ended up killing the royal official Tore Sel in the dispute. The king’s response was swift and unforgiving: by 1024, one of Olaf’s men (the king’s reeve, Asmundr Grankelsson) hunted down Asbjørn and killed him in cold blood while he was traveling in Lofoten. Olaf had effectively sanctioned the slaying of Tore Hund’s kin, over what began as an attempt to feed hungry northerners. The killing of Asbjørn ignited a blood feud. In Viking society, familial honor demanded vengeance for such a death. Tore Hund’s sister Sigrid (Asbjørn’s mother) dramatically presented Tore with the bloodied sword that had been used to kill her son, urging her brother to exact revenge. Failing to avenge a kinsman’s murder would have been seen as shameful; thus Tore was honor-bound to respond. The proud chieftain confronted King Olaf’s henchman Asmundr and took his vengeance by slaying him, avenging Asbjørn’s death. By doing so, however, Tore directly defied the king’s justice. Olaf Haraldsson, who was trying to enforce the rule of law (as defined by his royal authority), declared Tore Hund a criminal for killing the king’s man. The king showed no sympathy for Tore’s loss or the northern suffering – instead, Olaf punished Tore Hund by imposing a heavy fine on him for the homicide. This royal verdict was taken as an insult on top of injury. Not only had Olaf’s policies caused the chain of bloodshed, but he also denied Tore the right to uphold his family’s honor. The exorbitant fine further fueled Tore Hund’s resentment and sense that Olaf was a tyrant overstepping traditional bounds.
In addition to this personal feud, Tore Hund opposed Olaf Haraldsson on ideological grounds. Olaf’s push for Christian conversion was often ruthless: local heathen temples were destroyed and those resisting baptism faced brutal penalties. For chieftains like Tore, who were attached to the Norse gods and the old customs, Olaf’s campaign felt like an assault on their identity. Tore Hund “was both strongly independent and a devout pagan,” and he viewed Olaf’s missionary zeal with hostility. The conflict was as much cultural as it was political – Olaf represented a centralizing, Christian kingship largely influenced by continental ideas, whereas Tore Hund stood for local autonomy and Norse tradition. As Snorri Sturluson recounts, family feuds, power struggles, and even disputes over trading rights all contributed to driving a wedge between the two men. By the late 1020s, Tore Hund had ample motivation to oppose King Olaf: the king had harmed his family, threatened his authority, and attacked his way of life.
Leader of the Resistance Coalition
King Olaf’s hold on Norway began to weaken as discontent spread among the aristocracy. Many chiefs in various regions chafed under Olaf’s rigid rule. One such powerful lord was Erling Skjalgsson of Sola, the magnate of southwestern Norway, who had long fought for regional independence. Erling was married to Olaf’s sister-in-law but nonetheless rebelled against Olaf’s consolidation of power. In 1028, Olaf tricked and killed Erling Skjalgsson during a skirmish – an event that sent shockwaves through Norway’s noble families. Erling’s death left a leadership void in the opposition, and Tore Hund stepped in to fill it. Already renowned in the north, Tore now emerged as one of the principal figures rallying disaffected chiefs across the country. Together with Erling’s son-in-law Einar Thambarskelfir (a prominent nobleman in Trøndelag) and Kalv Arnesson (another influential lord who had been an advisor to Olaf), Tore Hund forged an alliance against the king.
These men shared the goal of restoring their own authority and halting Olaf’s aggressive reforms. They found an eager partner in King Cnut (Canute) the Great of Denmark and England. Canute sought to extend his dominion to Norway and saw Olaf’s enemies as natural allies. In 1028, Canute sent a fleet to Norway, and many Norwegian chieftains, Tore Hund included, joined forces with him to oust Olaf. Facing overwhelming opposition, Olaf Haraldsson was forced to flee Norway and go into exile. Canute the Great was recognized as overlord, ruling Norway through regents, while men like Tore Hund effectively controlled their home regions without Olaf’s interference. For a brief period, Tore Hund enjoyed vindication. He had driven out the king who had wronged him, and in Olaf’s absence the old pagan and regional practices saw a resurgence. Tore was even named a representative of Canute’s rule in Norway (though Canute largely left the north to govern itself). By 1029, the Halogaland chieftain was at the height of his power – he had avenged his kin, protected his people from the king’s persecution, and helped dismantle Olaf’s regime. Yet the saga of Tore Hund and Olaf Haraldsson was not over. In exile, Olaf plotted his return, and fate would pit the two against each other one final time in a climactic battle.
The Battle of Stiklestad (1030): Tore Hund vs. Olaf Haraldsson
In the summer of 1030, Olaf Haraldsson returned from exile in Russia, determined to reclaim his throne. He gathered a band of loyalists and headed north into Trøndelag. As word spread of Olaf’s comeback, the coalition of chieftains moved to stop him. Tore Hund, Einar Thambarskelfir, Kalv Arnesson, and other leaders swiftly mobilized a peasant army to intercept the king before he could rally more supporters. The two forces met at Stiklestad, a farm site in the Verdal valley of Trøndelag, on July 29, 1030. The Battle of Stiklestad that ensued is among the most famous battles in Norwegian history – remembered not only for its political outcome but also for the legendary heroism and drama that unfolded. Tore Hund took a front-line position in the battle. He and his men formed part of the farmer army’s vanguard, standing face-to-face with King Olaf’s hardened warriors. Despite Olaf’s reputation as a fearsome fighter, Tore Hund was unafraid; he had superior numbers and home ground advantage. According to Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla (the saga of the Norwegian kings), Tore Hund also had a secret weapon. The saga claims that during his travels in the wilderness, Tore had acquired a special suit of reindeer-hide armor from the shamanistic Finns (Sami people). This armor – described as “twelve cloaks of reindeer skin charged with so much witchcraft that no weapon could penetrate them, less even than a coat of chain mail” – rendered Tore Hund virtually invulnerable on the battlefield. Clad in this enchanted attire of exceptionally crafted leather, Tore cut an imposing figure. Contemporary observers were said to be awestruck by the sight of the chieftain in his fur-armored glory, and it fueled the legend that he could not be harmed by iron. Thus protected, Tore Hund marched at the forefront, emboldening the farmers with his presence. As the battle raged, Tore Hund sought out King Olaf amid the chaos. The two ultimately clashed in single combat, coming “hand-to-hand” in the press of fighting. Olaf was a stout and skilled fighter – later accounts even credit him with nearly supernatural prowess – but Tore Hund was his equal in strength and far better protected. After a fierce struggle, the moment of reckoning arrived. Saga sources record that Tore Hund struck Olaf Haraldsson with a spear, delivering the fatal blow. In a poignant act of vengeance and symbolism, Tore’s spear was tipped with the same javelin head that had been used to kill his nephew Asbjørn. He thrust the spear upward under Olaf’s mail shirt, piercing the king’s abdomen. Another rebel leader, Kalv Arnesson, simultaneously cut Olaf with his sword, and a third man, Thorstein Knarresmed, also struck at the king. King Olaf fell under this storm of wounds. According to Heimskringla, it was Tore Hund’s spear thrust that decisively brought down the king. On that day at Stiklestad, the rebel chieftain from the north helped slay the man who would soon become a saint. Olaf’s army was overwhelmed by the peasants; many of the king’s loyal nobles died beside him. Tore Hund emerged from the battle virtually unscathed – a fact later attributed to his spellbound armor. The sagas say that no weapon could bite Tore that day, and he walked away with only a small wound on his hand. In contrast, Olaf Haraldsson’s body lay lifeless on the field. The Battle of Stiklestad was a victory for Tore Hund and the traditionalist chieftains. They had definitively crushed the king’s attempt to reclaim power. In that triumphant moment, Tore Hund had every reason to be satisfied: his enemies were vanquished, his honor was restored, and the cause of local freedom had prevailed.
Aftermath: The Fate of Tore Hund
While the Battle of Stiklestad was a military success for Tore Hund and his allies, its aftermath took an unexpected turn. The death of King Olaf II Haraldsson became the stuff of legend almost immediately. Christians used propaganda and strange occurrences were reported: a solar eclipse allegedly darkened the sky during the battle, and miraculous healings were soon attributed to the fallen king’s blood. Olaf’s supporters began to hail him as a martyr and saint in the months following his death. The church and many common folk lionized Olaf’s memory, claiming he fought for the true faith. By the next year, 1031, Olaf’s grave was said to be a site of miracles, and the Church declared him a saint. This swift canonization of Olaf dramatically altered the political landscape. Suddenly, those who had stood against Olaf were painted as the villains in popular memory, and sympathy swung toward the cause for which Olaf had died. Tore Hund, as Olaf’s chief antagonist, inevitably saw fortunes reverse despite his battlefield win. Many of the nobles who had fought with him began to make peace with the idea of Olaf as a saint and rallied to support Olaf’s young son, Magnus Olafsson.
With King Canute’s rule in Norway growing tenuous after 1030, Magnus was invited back from exile to assume the kingship. Magnus I (nicknamed “the Good”) ascended the throne in 1035 with backing from some who had been at Stiklestad on the opposite side. The turning of the political tide left Tore Hund isolated. He had been the hero of the old order, but the new Christian order – bolstered by the cult of St. Olaf – had no place for him except as a convenient scapegoat. Recognizing that his position was now perilous, Tore chose not to challenge the rising veneration of Olaf. Instead, he faded from the scene. According to Snorri Sturluson’s account, Tore Hund never returned to his ancestral seat at Bjarkøy after Stiklestad. One story holds that he decided to embark on a pilgrimage or long voyage, possibly inspired by the religious awakening following Olaf’s canonization. It is said that Tore sailed away on a journey toward the Holy Land (Jerusalem) and that he died abroad, never coming home to Norway. Another version simply notes that he “did not live long after” the battle, implying he passed away a few years later under uncertain circumstances. In either case, by the mid-1030s Tore Hund vanishes from the record. It is a somewhat enigmatic end for a man who had been so dominant – almost as if the mists of history closed around him once his role in destiny was fulfilled. The irony is rich: Tore Hund defeated Olaf in life, only to see Olaf’s influence grow even larger in death. One poignant saga anecdote illustrates Tore Hund’s complex feelings in the aftermath.
After the battle, more Church propaganda arose saying Tore supposedly searched the field for King Olaf’s corpse. Finding the fallen king, Tore did something unexpected – he reached out and touched Olaf’s blood. The legends say that Tore’s hand had been cut during the fight, and when the king’s blood coated his fingers, the wound miraculously healed. Tore Hund, hardened warrior and pagan that he was, allegedly witnessed a miracle and openly acknowledged it. He became “the first among the men of influence who had been the king’s opponents to witness to his sanctity” by attesting that Olaf’s holy blood cured him. This pious invention, this story suggests that Tore Hund gained a measure of respect for the dying king’s bravery and perhaps for the power of the new religion. In saga lore, this marks the final chapter of Tore Hund’s narrative: not as a gloating conqueror, but as a reflective figure who quietly slips away after seeing the wheel of fortune turn.
Heroic Legacy of Tore Hund
Although medieval church chroniclers vilified Tore Hund for opposing “Saint Olaf,” in recent times his legacy has been reappraised, and he is remembered as a heroic defender of Norway’s old ways. Tore Hund’s life embodies the values of Viking-age society: loyalty to kin, courage in battle, and staunch independence. He stood up against a powerful king in defense of his family’s honor and his people’s freedom to follow their own gods. In the saga tradition (which often favored the Christian kings), Tore’s motives are still given their due — it is clear he fought not out of greed or malice, but out of a sense of justice and duty to his heritage. Modern historians note that Tore Hund’s rebellion was as much anti-autocracy as it was anti-Christian. He championed local autonomy at a time when Norway was being drawn into a centralized monarchy aligned with foreign (Christian) powers. In that light, Tore can be seen as a patriot of ancient Norway, striving to keep his region free from outside domination. Over the centuries, the figure of Saint Olaf loomed large in Norway’s national story, often overshadowing Tore Hund. Yet, especially in Northern Norway, Tore Hund was never forgotten. Folk tales and regional histories honored him as the slayer of a tyrant king – a man who would not bow to oppression. In Hålogaland, one might say Tore Hund achieved a kind of folk-hero status, remembered with a mixture of awe and local pride. This recognition is now etched in the landscape of his home island.
On Bjarkøy, a standing stone monument erected in 1980 commemorates Tore Hund and his clan. It bears an inscription honoring him and sits near the site of his historic farm, within sight of the local church. The memorial serves as a tangible reminder that Norway’s story has more than one hero – and that in 1030, it was Tore Hund’s spear that decisively altered the course of history. In Norwegian culture today, Tore Hund is often portrayed in a more sympathetic light, even in popular media. He appears as a character in novels and TV series about the Viking age, depicted as a proud warrior defending his beliefs. Tore Hund is a main character in the Norwegian HBO TV show “Beforeigners.”
Local celebrations and historical reconstructions in the north sometimes highlight Tore Hund’s saga. In fact, the year 2030 marked the thousand-year anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad. Where others submitted, Tore Hund held his ground. He forged alliances, led armies, and personally struck down a royal foe in battle. His success at Stiklestad showed that the old Norwegian spirit of freedom could not be easily extinguished. Though the tides of history eventually turned Norway into a Christian kingdom under Olaf’s descendants, Tore Hund’s stand became an enduring symbol of resistance. In the saga of a nation’s conversion and unification, Tore Hund represents the other side of the story – the side that fought valiantly for Norse traditions and local rights. Through that lens, he is indeed a heroic figure, worthy of honor for his courage and conviction. In his writings Snorri Sturluson remarked "Valiant men who exert a good influence are called drengr."
Building a good reputation is the way of the heathen warrior. A name that will live on and echo through history - that was the heathen warrior goal and - it is our goal. This concept is called orðstírr - which really means "word glory." It's so important a concept it is in the Havamal. Orðstírr guides our Tribe. The Norse not only wanted it, they wanted to be with those who had or also sought orðstírr.
Raise your horns to Tore Hund - a drengr whose orðstírr lives on a 1,000 years after his passing. He is waiting there with the Einherjar for he earned his place with the Allfather and he is ready for the next fight.
Footnotes (Historical References)
Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: Saga of St. Olaf, chapters 106, 192, 230 – describes Tore Hund as “the most powerful man in the North,” his enchanted reindeer-skin armor, and Olaf’s death.
Bjørgo, Narve et al., “Tore Hund,” Norsk Biografisk Leksikon – outlines Tore Hund’s lineage, expeditions, and role at Stiklestad.
Angell, Svein (2023). “The Viking Tore Hund from Bjarkøy…” Visit Northern Norway – retells the Asbjørn Selsbane episode and Tore Hund’s vengeance in a modern narrative.
Bagge, Sverre (2010). From Viking Stronghold to Christian Kingdom – provides context on the Christianization of Norway as a means of royal centralization.
Historian’s Hut (2022). “The Legend of Thorir the Hound…” – recounts post-battle legends including Olaf’s blood healing Tore’s wound and notes Tore Hund’s departure from Norway.
National Museum of Norway – Painting: Tore Hund by St. Olav’s Body (Olaf Isaachsen, 1881) – illustrates the aftermath at Stiklestad, reflecting Tore Hund’s lasting cultural impact.
Local Tradition – Memorial Bauta on Bjarkøy (1980) dedicated to Tore Hund, signifying continued respect for the chieftain in his home region.
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