Ásta Guðbrandsdóttir

Asta is St Olaf's mother — the woman who launched the saint-king on his first warship. When the boy Olaf was twelve, it was Asta who fitted out a ship of war for him and got the seasoned warrior Hrane, 'the foster-father of kings', to command it and take the boy under his charge — and the moment Olaf had a ship and crew, the men gave him the king's title, as custom allowed for those of royal race. So the future patron saint of Norway began his life of war and rule on a vessel his mother provided. Asta is the saga's image of the mother who sets a king's course — the practical, ambitious woman who equipped her young son for the viking life that would make him, and put him on the deck where he first was hailed as king. The hand behind St Olaf's first command.