Wednesday, April 29, 2009

OLAF 1, KING NO. 2


Olaf 1 posing in the library



So my world yesterday was puking queens, today we have murdering Viking Kings. Never a dull moment here is there. Well actually there are plenty but it looks like the past, those historical footsteps around Ramsey were jam packed lively ones. So who is this Olaf 1 guy then? No he's not a rapper with a name like that. Here we go then, Olaf1 complete with Babooshkaisms.


Olaf, was a minor(child not digging coal) when King Magnus Barefoot( great name) raided the island and the Hebrides. Known too as Olaf Klining(no not Klingon) or Bitling. Why? Due to his teeny, tiny stature or maybe his rosy complexion. No I don't know if that was down to the local brew. He reigned for 50 years we think( who's we?) and kept everything hunky dory, peaceful keeping on good terms with the Kings of Norway, Scotland, England and Ireland. He married Ingibiorg, daughter of Earl Hakon of Orkney and had one son, Godred the Black.( Now that sounds very middle earth.)It's also rumoured and documented somewhere(I'm not an historian, but a storyteller) that he married Elfrica, daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galloway. Randy Olaf had several illegitimate sons and daughters, one of whom, Ragnhildis (Raghnaid), married Somerled MacGhillebrighde, regulus of Argyle(don't you just love these names?) and Daddy of the great Clan Donald. He bacame Lord of the Isles don't ya know too. Olaf Bitling sailed to Norway at the end of his reign to pay his 'scat' of 10 marks of gold.Pays his dues, he was crowned at Trondheim and left his son Godred to be educated in Norway. On his return to Man, he found that the sons of his deceased brother Harold were conspiring to overthrow him. Royalty eh! Bloodthirsty backstabbers. On the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul( sitting on a wall) 1153, Olaf arranged a meeting with the conspirators to consider their claims. Unfortunately Reginald, son of Harold, took advantage of the opportunity to dispatch(polite way of saying hack to pieces) his uncle with an axe. He was slain with said axe in Ramsey. Well of course we didn't have "CSI Ramsey"(please let me write the script) so we can't actually prove a murder most foul took place can we? In fact who says any of this really happened, it is the Isle of Man afterall.





Do you think Kingons were based on Vikings? Discuss!


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41 comments:

Pat - Arkansas said...

You are SO clever and funny! I love your script! More, more!

EG CameraGirl said...

Klingons based on Vikings? Might be!

You make history interesting, Babooshka!

david mcmahon said...

Olaf looks deep in thought....

Cezar and Léia said...

Congratulations for so beautiful shot!
Thanks for all informations, very interesting
Léia

Stan said...

I don't care how true it is or the Queen Victoria being sick one, it's just hilarious.

mannanan said...

Great photo and excellent narrative again. I love this sculpture and have tried on numerous occasions to get a decent photograph all to no avail.

Virginia said...

I think this closeup is a shot I wouldn't have thought of. MIght come in handy in Paris. Thanks B. You're always out there and handing us tips to try.
V

Gaelyn said...

I think you should definitely write the CSI Ramsey script. Poor Olaf.

Klingons, LOL.

Sylvia K said...

Great story as always! and I agree with Gaelyn, write the CSI Ramsey script! Love the shot of Olaf!

Hilda said...

True or not, I just love these violent, backstabbing historical stories!

Olaf looks like he's peacefully sleeping. Maybe he should never have!

Tumblewords: said...

Love it - you are so clever...

gogouci said...

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading today's blog. Great story.

Lynette said...

Something about his profile reminds me of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Neat post, QB.

Marie Reed said...

History à la Babooshka is a joy to read! Olaf looks like he's in pain!

Elisabeth's bright side said...

Babooshka, very interesting! I would like to read more about the history of Man after the Norwegian rulers had to back off. I have so much on my plate for the time beeing that I have to postpone this. This winter I was actually reading Snorre Sturlasons "Kongesagaer". The prehistory may be read there in the "Ynglingesaga". To get on track, correct me if I'm wrong, the Norwegian name of your Harold the Black would be Halvdan Svarte? It's 6 in the morning so my brain needs more coffee and sugar. But maybe I'll rent a house on Man for the winter and do some painting to. Nice thought, time will show.

Have great day and thanks for the post!

Olivier said...

belle statue, le portrait est magnifique.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Babooshka interesting story about this Olaf, but he was not one of my Olavs. They lived before him. My Olav Tryggvason (Olav I of Norway) lived from 960 to 1000 and was king of Norway from 965 to 1000. Then came Olav Haroldsson or ST Olav. So your Viking must have been younger.Thanks anyway!

Reader Wil said...

Correction :he was king from 995 to 1000.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, interesting post! Loved it. I recognised some of the names - in Strangford we have a Magnus Barefoot Festival (although he goes by the names "barelegs" over here). Ever read "The Sea Kingdom's" by Alastair Moffat?

Rune Eide said...

No wonder much of what you write seems familiar - we even share names and almost kings! Thank you for updating my knowledge of history.

PS Thank you for you kind comment - yes, it is a debate, but any debate is better than total negation.

Pat said...

Appreciate this post all the more because I am a big fan of William the Conqueror, who descended from Rollo the Viking, and was on the scene a bit before Olaf. Interesting and fun post!

magiceye said...

olaf so well captured by babooshka!!
and the story hilariously intriguing!

Eleanor said...

I wandered over from My World and enjoyed the mixture of murderous Vikings and staid Queen Victoria on your two postings!

Jilly said...

So love the patina on bronze. You've captured it beautifully and thanks for the link. I missed the chess game last year. Super sculpture. Great story you told us too.

Miss_Yves said...

Amazing photo of a stunning sculpture !
Vikings are important in Normandy's history,we can find tracks of them in family names and local names .
I wrote a post about this subject : "D" is for "drakar"'

Rose said...

Having just read Reader Wil's history of King Olaf, it's good to get a different perspective:) I had always heard that he became a saint for converting Norway to Christianity, but that he did so by threatening to behead anyone who didn't. That's one way to change a person's mind:)

Bradley Hsi said...

Just read about King Olav from Reader Wil's blog then read about the story of King Olaf of Isle of Man, both fascinating read. Thanks for sharing.

gaz said...

interesting post. they don't teach you that is school do they?

mine’s here

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

Great post today.

Your post was the first time I have seen a reference to the Hebrides islands. My father spent much of World War II on an island in the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, so I heard many stories about the New Hebrides, but I had never given any thought to the fact that if there were islands called the New Hebrides, there must be original Hebrides islands.

Tanya Breese said...

Very cool and interesting!

naturglede/Randi Lind said...

Interesting post today. Love the sculpture:)Have a fun abc:)

Gordon said...

You certainly have a colourful history there; and so well told!

Lilli & Nevada said...

he has a lot of character in his facial pose Nice history as well

Mo said...

I'm still stuck on trying to pronounce the names

Tom said...

I only read something about him last week... I was looking for some other info and my eye caught Olaf 1.. love the picture and of course the sculpture.

Hope this finds all well on the IOM

jay said...

I always knew the IOM had a dark and murky history! LOL!

Unknown said...

Great and very interesting post.

Mojo said...

He looks like such a nice fella too. Who'd have guessed?

Anonymous said...

I think your King Olaf somewhat resembles FDR, don't you? Maybe it's the angle, but when I first saw your photo, that's who I thought it was! Thanks for the history lesson too - you make it so much more interesting than I remember school being!

Anonymous said...

I was just reading a book about Vikings and how they navigated around.

Thanks for passing by and Greetings from Santiago, Chile.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Babooshka: Interesting photo of the statue.

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