Olaf II of Norway

About Olaf II of Norway

Olaf II of Norway (993–1030 AD), later canonized as St. Olaf, was a pivotal figure in Norwegian history, primarily recognized for his aggressive efforts to consolidate and impose Christianity across the nascent kingdom during his reign as king. His successful, though often brutal, establishment of Christianity as the state religion is the cornerstone of his historical importance, earning him an HPI Rank of #1000 in MIT's Pantheon study of global influence.

Despite this foundational historical role, Olaf II currently experiences a notable internet attention gap. With only 88K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, his online visibility is significantly lower than his historical weight suggests, resulting in an attention gap ratio of -3x—meaning he is under-attended relative to his importance. To illustrate this disparity, figures ranked much lower in historical importance, such as Khafra (#567 importance), garner far less modern attention, while Olaf II is comparatively overlooked.

However, recent interest shows volatility: his view count is down a significant 76.0% year-over-year, suggesting a rapid decline in sustained online engagement, although the latest quarter (Q3 vs Q1) indicates a modest rebound with a +15% momentum figure.