Olaf Geirstad-Alf

A member of the House of Yngling, he was the son of Gudrød the Hunter and according to the late Heimskringla, a half-brother of Halfdan the Black.

[4][5] The Ynglinga saga also inserts the following verse by the 9th–10th century skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir: Og niðkvísl / í Noregi þróttar Þrós / of þróast náði.

At length by cruel gout oppressed, The good King Olaf sank to rest: His body now lies under ground, Buried at Geirstad, in the mound.

The account of this is recorded in the Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs in the Flateyjarbók version of Óláfs saga helga, and continues with a fantastical story of how he became a draugr[6] haunting his own barrow (haugr), but ordered it to be destroyed so he could be reborn as St. Olaf.

[5] Later, the spirit of Olaf appeared in a dream to a man named Hrani, who was instructed to break into the barrow, salvage a ring, a sword named Bæsingr, and a belt, which were to be presented to Queen Ásta for her future son, and to sever the head of the dead body while making sure the head was set straight on its neck.