Patron saint of
Oslo,
Norway. Oslo has Hallvard in its
coat of arms.
Born approximately year 1020, Hallvard was only child of the farmer Vebjørn in Lier and his wife Torny who was Sacred Olav's cousin. Little is known about Hallvard's life, only his death. The story goes like this:
On May 15, 1043, the young man was about to go rowing. A woman, probably a trell, came running and asked to be taken across the fjord. She was being followed by three men, who accused her of theft. She feared her life.
Hallvard believed her innocent, and let her into his boat. The pursuers caught up with them in another boat, and one of them shot Hallvard in the neck with his bow. Then they killed the woman, who was buried near the sea. Hallvard was tied to a millstone and sunk in the fjord. But his body floated back up.
After he was properly buried, Hallvard was worshipped as a saint and martyr, for defending an innocent with his life.