Lore:Olaf One-Eye
| High King Olaf One-Eye | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Race | Nord | Gender | Male |
| Born | Unknown |
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| Died | 1E 452 |
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| Reign | 1E 420- 1E 452 |
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| Previous Ruler | Borgas | ||
| Resided in | Skyrim | ||
| Appears in | Skyrim | ||
King Olaf One-Eye was a First Era Nord Jarl of Whiterun (and later High King of Skyrim) famous for imprisoning the dragon Numinex within his palace, which was dubbed Dragonsreach in honor of this feat. Olaf purportedly confronted the dragon with some of his troops on top of Mount Anthor, where he used the thu'um to aid him in a duel which ended in Numinex's defeat. Olaf then conveyed the dragon back to Whiterun where he imprisoned it in his castle, dubbed Dragonsreach in honor of this task. Numinex was purportedly imprisoned there until his death.[1]
Due to his fame, Olaf was eventually named High King of Skyrim.[1] However, his reign, which started in 1E 420 and lasted 32 years,[2] saw its share of controversy. Notably, the bard Svaknir wrote a scathing verse decrying him as a fraud and a tyrant.[1][3] Olaf responded by imprisoning the bard and destroying every copy of the verse which could be found. Ancient bard texts, perhaps inspired by Svaknir, claimed that Olaf and his men came upon a weakened Numinex and captured the dragon without significant effort, and fabricated the orthodox tale to ensure his place as Jarl and possibly to aid in his bid to become High King.[1] An effigy of Olaf is ritually burned in Solitude as part of an annual festival known as "The Burning of King Olaf".[4][5] However, Olaf is still remembered in Skyrim for reuniting the province after the War of Succession and for conquering the Reach.[2]
In 4E 201, in an effort to recover King Olaf's Verse, a lost part of the Poetic Edda, agents from the Bards College plundered Olaf's tomb and purportedly fought the draugr that once was the High King of Skyrim.[5]
[edit] Gallery
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Olaf's corpse as an undead draugr
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Olaf's memorial plaque in Windhelm
[edit] See Also
- For game-specific information, see the Skyrim NPC article and the creature article.
[edit] Books
- Olaf and the Dragon by Adonato Leotelli — A historian ponders the legend of Olaf One-Eye and Numinex
- King Olaf's Verse — A lost part of the Poetic Edda, sung during the burning of Olaf's effigy in Solitude
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Olaf and the Dragon — Adonato Leotelli
- ^ a b The plaque commemorating Olaf outside the Palace of the Kings in Windhelm.
- ^ King Olaf's Verse
- ^ Walking the World, Volume XI: Solitude — Spatior Munius
- ^ a b Events of Skyrim.
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