Today Melhus is grain fields and commuter housing 15 kilometres south of Trondheim, but a thousand years ago this was the stage for one of the sagas' most treacherous murders. In 995, Jarl Haakon Sigurdsson, the last pagan ruler of Norway, was on the run. The Trønders had turned against him just as Olav Tryggvason arrived to claim the throne. Haakon hid in a pig sty at the farm Rimul, together with his slave Tormod Kark. Through the walls, both men heard Olav promise a reward to anyone who brought him Haakon's head.
According to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, Kark had four dreams that night: escaping by boat, Haakon's son dying, their own deaths, and finally Olav rewarding him. When Haakon fell asleep, Kark cut his master's throat and brought the head to Olav. The reward he received was not what he expected: Olav had him beheaded for betraying his lord. Both heads were mounted on stakes. Melhus was also home to Einar Tambarskjelve, the famous 11th-century archer who married Haakon's daughter and features in the municipal coat of arms to this day.
According to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, Kark had four dreams that night: escaping by boat, Haakon's son dying, their own deaths, and finally Olav rewarding him. When Haakon fell asleep, Kark cut his master's throat and brought the head to Olav. The reward he received was not what he expected: Olav had him beheaded for betraying his lord. Both heads were mounted on stakes. Melhus was also home to Einar Tambarskjelve, the famous 11th-century archer who married Haakon's daughter and features in the municipal coat of arms to this day.