Olaf III of Norway
King of Norway
Olaf III or Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse: Óláfr Haraldsson, Norwegian: Olav Haraldsson; c. 1050 – 22 September 1093), known as Olaf the Peaceful (Old Norse: Óláfr kyrri, Norwegian: Olav Kyrre), was King of Norway from 1067 until his death in 1093.
He was present at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England in 1066 where his father, King Harald Hardrada, saw defeat and was killed in action, an event that directly preceded his kingship. During his rule, Olaf made peace with regard to earlier royal conflicts with the church, strengthened the power of the monarchy, and is traditionally credited with founding the city of Bergen circa 1070. Around 1225, Snorri Sturluson wrote Olav Kyrres saga about King Olaf in the Heimskringla.
Biography
Olaf was a son of King Harald Hardrada and Tora Torbergsdatter. Olaf joined his father during the invasion of England during 1066. However, he was only 16 years old during the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. He stayed guarding the ships at Riccall and did not participate in the fighting. After the Norwegian defeat, he sailed with the remains of the Norwegian strike force back to Orkney, where they wintered. The return journey to Norway took place in summer 1067.
The public source identifies “Olaf III of Norway” as king of Norway. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Olaf, Norway and King.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q316042. VIAF identifies the subject as 32943346. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1050, 1093, 1067 and 1066.
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This entry incorporates text from “Olaf III of Norway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.