As was the Norwegian custom, Hakon, son of the aged Harald Fairhair, was fostered to England's king, Athelstan. Across the North Sea, Hakon not only took on English customs but also its Christian God.

When his father died, the 15-year-old Hakon sailed for Norway to claim his kingdom and bring his Christianity to Norway, 45 years before Olaf Trygvesson. When his rival (and brother) Erik Bloodaxe was killed by the English in 954, the Christian youth took Norway's throne.

"King Hakon was a good Christian when he came to Norway," writes Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla (c. 1220). "But as the whole country was heathen, with much heathenish sacrifice … he resolved to practice his Christianity in private … It was his intent, as soon as he had set himself fast in the land and had subjected the whole to his power, to introduce Christianity." But that time never came, and when he did try to encourage Christianity, local chiefs complained that he was trying ...

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