The Listening Grove · Viking Tales
Chapter 3: Olaf's Farm
A Charlotte Mason history read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Viking Tales Chapter 3, Olaf's Farm, about?Parent review
Viking Tales Chapter 3, Olaf's Farm, is Olaf's own story, told to Harald. Olaf was once Olaf the Crafty, youngest of the ten sons of Gudbrand the Big, in a land across the water. When his father sent his sons off a-viking, fifteen-year-old Olaf built a twenty-oar dragon ship called Waverunner and vowed to harry Norway, win a farm, and winter there. With thirty men he raided the coast, then seized a farmer's house for the whole winter, setting guards but doing the household no harm, so the vikings and their host parted as friends with gifts. Sailing on, Olaf's ship met King Halfdan's three ships and was beaten, and Olaf was captured. The queen's mercy spared his life, and Halfdan had an iron collar welded onto him, making the bold young raider a thrall.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Viking Tales Chapter 2, The Tooth Thrall?Have a look
In Chapter 2, The Tooth Thrall, baby Harald cut his first tooth and received tooth-gifts, including a thrall named Olaf who wore a welded iron collar marked with runes. Olaf became Harald's companion and storyteller. Together they climbed to Aegir's Rock high above the fiord, where Harald looked over the great drop without fear. Olaf told of Thor breaking the hills, of Asgard and shining Valhalla with its roof of shields, and of the old warrior Aegir, who leaped from the rock into the water to win his place among the brave in Valhalla.
Read the previous lesson: The Tooth Thrall →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Viking Tales Chapter 3, Olaf's Farm?viking, prow, harry, stingyHave a look
- viking: a Norse sea-raider and pirate of long ago
- prow: the front end, or bow, of a ship
- harry: to raid and attack a place
- stingy: not willing to give or share
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic locations connect with Viking Tales Chapter 3, Olaf's Farm?
- Find Denmark: Denmark is Norway's neighbor to the south, another viking land across the water.
See these places on the mapHave a look
These match the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 3 of Viking Tales, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Faerie Book Mama.
Read by Faerie Book Mama for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What historical context goes with Chapter 3 of Viking Tales?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Jennie Hall’s 1902 words are read exactly as she wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and cultural context.
- About the whole bookViking Tales is Jennie Hall’s 1902 retelling of old Norse stories drawn from the sagas, such as the Heimskringla and the Vinland sagas. These weave real history together with legend, so the tales are best enjoyed as saga tradition rather than exact history.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 3 of Viking Tales?Harald, Olaf the Crafty, Gudbrand the Big, Denmark, Waverunner, King Halfdan, The Queen, ThorkelHave a look
- Harald: Halfdan's young son, listening as Olaf tells his life story.
- Olaf the Crafty: Harald's tooth thrall in his free days: a Danish chief's son and a viking who raided Norway.
- Gudbrand the Big: Olaf's father, a great chief in Denmark with two hundred warriors and ten sons.
- Denmark: Olaf's homeland across the sea; unlike Norway, already one kingdom under one king.
- Waverunner: The dragon-ship young Olaf built and named, black with gold-tipped scales.
- King Halfdan: Harald's father, the king who captured Olaf and made him a thrall; Halfdan the Black in the sagas.
- The Queen: Harald's mother, who spared Olaf and made him the baby's tooth-gift; Ragnhild in the sagas.
- Thorkel: King Halfdan's man, ordered to deal with the captured Olaf.
Chapter 3 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. We keep Jennie Hall’s 1902 words as written and add historical context. Here are common questions about this chapter.
What happens in Chapter 3 of Viking Tales?
In Chapter 3, Olaf's Farm, Olaf tells Harald how he became a thrall. As a young man he built a dragon ship called Waverunner, vowed to raid Norway and win a farm, and wintered in a farmer's seized house. Sailing away, his ship met King Halfdan's three ships, was defeated, and Olaf was captured, spared by the queen, and collared as a thrall.
What does it mean to go a-viking in Viking Tales?
To go a-viking meant to sail off raiding and trading by sea, as Olaf does in Chapter 3 when his father sends his sons out to make their own way. Olaf builds a ship, gathers a crew, and harries the coast for gold. Kindred Thicket keeps Jennie Hall's words as written and adds Teacher's Notes with historical context on viking life.
What is the ship Waverunner in Viking Tales?
Waverunner is the twenty-oar dragon ship that Olaf builds at age fifteen in Chapter 3, carved with a dragon head and gold-tipped scales. He names it and vows to sail it to Norway to raid and win a farm. Named ships with carved prows were part of Norse seafaring life, a detail Viking Tales brings vividly to young readers.
How did Olaf become a thrall in Viking Tales?
Olaf became a thrall in Chapter 3 after his dragon ship met King Halfdan's three ships at sea and was defeated. Olaf was captured and would have been killed, but the queen interceded and his life was spared. Halfdan then had an iron collar welded onto him, and he was made a thrall in Halfdan's household.
Who is Sif the Friendly in Viking Tales?
Sif the Friendly is the nickname Olaf's men give the farmer whose house they take over for the winter in Chapter 3. Although the vikings seize the home by force and set guards, the household comes to no harm, and they part with gifts and goodwill. The name reflects the friendship that grew between host and unwelcome guests.