Olaf II Haraldsson, St Olaf c.995-1030
King of Norway

He was the half-brother of King Harald III Sigurdsson (Hardraade). He became a Viking mercenary in the Baltic and attacked England, Frisia and Spain. In England (1010) he took part in an attack on London when London Bridge was torn down by grappling irons ('London Bridge is falling down'). He was converted to Christianity in Normandy (1013), and returned to Norway (1014), where he seized the throne (1015) and tried to complete the conversion of Norway begun by Olaf I Tryggvason. In 1028 he fled to Russia from Danish-inspired rebellion, but returned in 1030, when he was defeated and killed at Stiklestad. Within 12 months he was regarded as a national hero and he was declared the patron saint of Norway in 1164. His feast day is 29 July.