THORFINN (died 1285) bishop (January 8)
and HALVARD (died 1043) patron of Oslo (May 15) (See Map 16 for both)
Here we have two short stories about Norwegians. I have a fondness for Norwegians, since that is mostly what I am myself, and because of my relatives and reading Kristin Lavransdatter, I know a little about they’re like. Maybe the first thing you need to know about Norwegians is that they were not all of them Vikings who sailed around the coasts of Europe during the Dark Ages killing off innocent monks and carrying off as many of the womenfolk and as much of the plunder as their snaky little ships could stagger along under. Not that all the Vikings were bad, and they actually bathed once a week and their ships really were fabulous. No, some Norwegians stayed home and were fine farmers and had upright characters, a generous nature, a strong sense of honor, and a grim but well-developed sense of humor. They also believed in trolls and elves long after they became Christianized (and the ones who went to Iceland still do), so there you are: a resolute sort of people.
Our Saint Thorfinn is described as having “resolute goodness,” the sort of goodness that is expressed with big bushy Norwegian eyebrows and a tight-set mouth. In fact, while he was Bishop of Hamar, Thorfinn had to leave dear old Norway along with some other bishops because they were so resolute with King Eric II about their rights to have freely-elected bishops without the king’s interference! King Eric II had some pretty strong objections to these bishops’ notions, so Thorfinn decided to visit Rome and then go settle down near Bruges, in Belgium, being “resolutely good” there for the rest of his life, and earning his sainthood.
Our Saint Halvard, on the other hand, didn’t have to leave Norway to become a saint, and he also didn’t have to wait around for years and years to become one, either. He became a saint in just a few minutes, because he, too, was “resolutely good.” It all happened very quickly: Halvard, who was a wealthy landowner’s son from Lier (called Lierbyen, today), was just getting into his trusty boat one day to cross the Drammen Fjörd (that’s a big sea inlet, like a broad river), not far from the capital city of Oslo. He had most of his gear in the boat and was about to untie the painter (that’s the rope) and shove off, when down the slope behind him this woman comes running, just as fast as her legs will carry her, and maybe a little faster, sobbing and calling to him to take her into his boat and row her across the fjord: there were evil men behind her who were out to kill her!
Well, naturally, he took her into the boat, and they were out on the water when, sure enough, a band of furious men came pelting down the path on the slope, all armed with swords and bows, and quivers full of long, dark arrows. They yelled that the woman was a thieving slave, and that he must return her at once, but Halvard could easily see that they would not wait for any court of law but meant to kill her right then without a hearing – and she swore to him that she was innocent – so he refused to return to shore. One of the men, in a fury (he must have been a real, old-time Viking type) picked up his bow and arrows and shot them both dead, right there in the boat! Later, when it was all sorted out, even most of the “evil men” had to agree that Halvard had acted in good faith, and had died innocent, in defense of what he believed was innocence. And the Norwegians admired his resolution so much that they voted him a saint (people could just decide like that about saints in those days) and made him patron of the capital city of Oslo, hoping that everyone (especially every judge) there would always assume that everyone was innocent until absolutely proved guilty, in honor of Saint Halvard!