Olaf Gudrødsson (c. 810 – c. 860), known after his death as Olaf Geirstad-Alf "Olaf, Elf of Geirstad" (Old Norse Ólafr Geirstaðaalfr), was a semi-legendary petty king in Norway. 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. Gudrød and Olaf ruled a large part of Raumarike. The Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs in Flateyjarbók records a fantastical story of how he was worshipped after his death and on his own instructions, his body was then decapitated so that he could be reborn as Olaf II of Norway (St. Olaf).
Two not necessarily conflicting hypotheses identify Geirstad with Gjerstad, formerly Geirekstad in Agder, and with Gokstad (possibly also a contraction of Geirekstad) in Vestfold, the location of the mound Gokstadhaugen, where the Gokstad Ship was excavated. The theory that Olaf thus had a connection with the ship burial is unproven.
Ynglinga saga
In the Ynglinga saga portion of the Heimskringla, the king is reported to have died of a "disease in his foot" haunting his own barrow ('), but ordered it to be destroyed so he could be reborn as St. Olaf.
According to this version, Olaf was carried away by a plague that subsided after his death. When this Olaf was riding past the barrow one day, one of his men remembered him saying he had once been laid to rest there. The king vehemently denied this, saying his soul could not occupy two bodies. Hilda Ellis Davidson suggests the notion of rebirth is communicated here. At any rate, Olaf II is thought to have been named after Olaf Geirstad-Alf.
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- Reprint: Cambridge University Press 2013 (preview)