Thorir Hund Thorir Hund ( Old Norse : Þórir hundr , Modern Norwegian : " Tore Hund " ) ( born ca . 990 ) was one of the greatest chiefs in Hålogaland . Tore Hund was one of the leaders of the Stiklestad peasant faction opposing Norwegian King Olaf II of Norway , later named St . Olaf . He was reported to have been among the chieftains who killed the king in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 . He also served in the forces of King Canute the Great on several occasions . Background . Thorir Hund was born at the beginning of the Christian era in Norway . He was both strongly independent and a devout pagan . Christianization of the country was not only a question of faith . Christianity was also a powerful political tool to subject the old chiefs and in the case of Hålogaland to establish rule by a king from the south . Thorir was an influential man in the area of Hålogaland , his home being the island of Bjarkøy in Troms . He belonged to the upper echelon among the Norwegian coastal chiefs . He was a member of the , one of the more powerful families in Northern Norway during the Viking Age . He was an accomplished viking , leading several expeditions towards Russia and the White Sea . He traded in Bjarmaland , today the area of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia . The family of Thorir Hund formed alliances with the most powerful chiefs in Norway . His sister was married to Olve Grjotgardsson of Egge . His brother , was also an important chief in Trondenes . He was married to Sigrid Skjalgsdatter , a sister of the powerful nobleman Erling Skjalgsson of Sola in Rogaland . Thorir Hund was married to a woman named Ranveig , about whose background little is known . They had a son called Sigurd Toresson , who later served as a sheriff during the reign of Harald Hardrada . Career . Thorir opposed King Olaf ' s attempts to unify and Christianize Norway . He also held personal grudges against the king , after one of the king ' s reeves , Asmundr Grànkelsson , murdered his nephew Asbjørn Selsbane . Thorir later avenged his nephew , but was sentenced to pay a heavy fine by the king , further contributing to his grudge against the king . When Erling Skjalgsson was killed in 1028 , Tore assumed leadership of the anti - Olaf faction together with Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalv Arnesson , the brother of Finn Arnesson . In 1026 , he joined Canute ' s forces when they drove out Olaf and was named Canute ' s representative in Norway along with . According to Snorri Sturluson ' s " Heimskringla " , when Olaf returned to Norway in the summer of 1030 , Thorir was among those rallying against him . He and his men led the line against the king ' s army at the Battle of Stiklestad . The battle site was Stiklestad , a farm in the lower part of the valley of Verdal , north of the city of Trondheim . According to saga sources , Thorir was among those who gave Olaf his lethal wounds , together with Kalv Arnesson and from Rovde in Sunnmøre . While earlier reports do not name the man who actually killed the king , the " Heimskringla " specifies Thorir , using a spear tipped with the javelin point that killed his nephew to thrust up below the king ' s mail shirt and into his abdomen . After the battle , turning political tides soon went against Thorir . As Olaf ' s son Magnus , backed by some of Thorir ' s former allies , seized power , Thorir became a marginalized figure . According to Snorri , he may have left Norway for the Holy Lands , or he may have died . He never returned to Bjarkøy . Legacy . The " Tore Hund Monument " , by Norwegian artist Svein Haavardsholm , was erected in 1980 beside the road to the church on Bjarkøy . The memorial honors both thorir Hund and the Bjarkøy clan , who had their seat on Bjarkøy .