VIII
TO FIND OLAF
Earl Haakon was sojourning at Hlade, in the Trondelag. Hlade was the chief residence of the earls of whom Haakon was the descendant, and his descent from the earls of Hlade was his sole title to the overlordship of Norway. For some time after the defeat of the Jomsvikings he had held his place in security, but there were fresh rumours of Olaf Tryggevesson, whom the Norsemen claimed as the true king. Earl Haakon presided at the magnificent temple of Thor. This was in Hlade, and was one of the finest and most beautiful of the temples of the old Asa faith. Here by right of his overlordship of Norway, and as chief of the earldom of Hlade, Haakon officiated as high-priest at the sacrifice. The earl valued his pagan priesthood, for the power it gave him among the Norsemen who still clung to the worship of Odin and Thor, and because he would not be governed by the laws of Christian morality. To kill his enemy at sight, and to change his wife as the whim seized him, were privileges too dear to his pagan heart.
One day, as Earl Haakon was returning from the temple, he saw his former steward, Thore Klakka,
