The Day Before Stiklestad
by Sabrina Ramet
Cast of characters:
King Olav Haraldsson, a ruler of high intelligence
General Tormud the Great, a practical thinker
General Finn Greenbeard, the singer
General Harald the Valiant, a knight who wants more out of life
General Åsgeirr the Fair, a knight who wants to defy fate
It is 28 July 1030. King Olav Haraldsson is dining with his four generals.
KING OLAV: It is good to be with you, my generals. (raising his chalice) I propose a toast to all of you, my closest comrades, men in arms, brave men.
They all raise their chalices and drink.
GENERAL TORMUD THE GREAT: We are honored, Your Majesty, but now I raise my chalice in Your honor. For King and country, for the Glory of God, we face any enemy!
They again raise their chalices and drink.
KING OLAV: Men, I had a dream last night.
GENERAL FINN GREENBEARD: Was it a good dream, Your Majesty?
KING OLAV: Yes and no. I was at the gate of heaven. I was climbing up a golden ladder to reach heaven.
His generals murmur, not sure what to make of this.
GENERAL HARALD THE VALIANT: This seems a good omen to me. It means that you are a saint, that God considers you a saintly man.
KING OLAV: There was more. An angel appeared and told me that I am fated to die on 29 July in this year A.D. 1030.
GENERAL TORMUD: That’s tomorrow. But I don’t see any enemy army around us.
KING OLAV: An enemy or even two will appear tomorrow, the angel said, and my death is written in the Book of Fate.
GENERAL ÅSGEIRR THE FAIR: If there is such a book, then it can be revised. The future cannot be already written.
KING OLAV: We make our own fate, for sure, but God and His angels can know how we shall make it. God knows all things, does He not?
GENERAL TORMUD: I hesitate to deny the omniscience of God, but we are fighting in His honor, we are fighting for God. If we are God’s vanguard, how can we lose?
KING OLAV: The angel did not say that we had a choice. You and I will all die here at Stiklestad tomorrow.
GENERAL ÅSGEIRR: What if we take our army to another place, pull out of Stiklestad? We can defy fate, can we not?
KING OLAV: We will die tomorrow wherever we go. Stiklestad is as good a place as any to die. We will die in battle.
GENERAL HARALD: So this is life, then? Fight hard our entire life only to be cut down in our prime?! What have we accomplished?
KING OLAV: Perhaps we will leave a legacy. Perhaps tales will be told about us, and songs sung about our glory.
GENERAL HARALD.: That is not enough for me. I want more.
GENERAL TORMUD: What precisely do you want?
GENERAL HARALD: I’m not sure, but I want to feel like my life has meant something. That is not just one short chapter in the history of our land.
GENERAL ÅSGEIRR: This fated army that is coming. From which direction will it come? From the direction of the fjord or from the rolling hills to the east? I suppose the angel did not provide any clue.
GENERAL TORMUD: Perhaps it is not more than a dream. We all have dreams. I dreamt last night that I was going to raid London again.
KING OLAV: Perhaps you will. But I am certain that I shall die in battle tomorrow and that most of you will die with me.
GENERAL HARALD.: If that is so, how should we spend our last evening on Earth? Should we pray, confess our sins, perhaps sing hymns? Or perhaps get drunk and sing some rowdy songs? Or perhaps eat well and get plenty of rest? What do people do when they are about to face death?
GENERAL TORMUD: I feel as if my whole life has been a preparation for this point in time, this great battle.
GENERAL FINN: I want my wife.
GENERAL TORMUD: I have been faithful to my wife my entire life, even while bedding 8 women, albeit one at a time.
They all laugh at this jest.
GENERAL FINN: We would all like to have your skills, Tormud.
They laugh again.
KING OLAV: We should pray to God now.
GENERAL HARALD: For what? To die quickly?
KING OLAV: No, we should pray that we fight bravely and that, when we die, we die with honor.
GENERAL ÅSGEIRR: And after killing as many of the enemy as we can.
GENERAL TORMUD: What if there is no God? No one to hear our prayer!
GENERAL HARALD: Who do you think has been punishing us with so many epidemics?
GENERAL TORMUD: And if He has been orchestrating these pestilences which have afflicted us and torn some of our mistresses from us, what is the point of praying to Him?
GENERAL FINN: We can pray that He does not afflict us with disease tomorrow, as we go into battle and that He punishes our enemies with disease.
GENERAL HARALD: I am not ready to die yet. First, I want to write a great epic poem about our adventures and about our country.
GENERAL TORMUD: I did not know that you were literate.
GENERAL HARALD: I’m not. But I can learn to read and write and then can write my great epic poem.
GENERAL TORMUD: I’d like to raid London again. Rape, plunder, and arson. All for the glory of God.
KING OLAV: Ah, yes, the good old days. But, Tormud, you remember that we burned down London Bridge so many times that the Londoners now sing a song, “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.” And more to the point, the English knaves have been paying us an annual tribute for several years so that we don’t raid London anymore.
GENERAL TORMUD: We can find some other city to raid, I suppose, where the men are confused and the women are limber.
GENERAL FINN: I’d like to be the lead singer in a great festival of song.
GENERAL ÅSGEIRR: I’d like to defeat our enemy tomorrow and win a dozen more battles in my life.
KING OLAV: I would like to dedicate what is left of my life to God and to die with honor. Come, men, let us pray.
They all get down on their knees.
KING OLAV (continuing): God on high, You who know everything and who are overflowing with kindness, give us strength for tomorrow’s contest, so that we may die with honor. At the end of one’s life, surely nothing else matters as much as honor. And, Lord God, we pray that future generations may remember us as men of honor. Amen.
Copyright © 2026 by Sabrina Ramet
