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After the final confrontation between Edvard Munch and Tulla Larsen in 1902, Munch became increasingly paranoid and believed he was being persecuted by a number of individuals among Tulla Larsen’s group of acquaintances, including her husband the painter Arne Kavli, whom she married in 1903. In The Battle of Stiklestad Munch has illustrated this persecution as an allegory of the historical Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. Here King Olav Haraldsson and his Christian followers fought against a group of rebels led by the chieftains Tore Hund, Kalv Arnesson and Hårek from Tjøtta. It was Tore Hund and Kalv Arnesson who were believed to have inflicted the final fatal wounds on the King. Olav Haraldsson was killed and lost the battle of Stiklestad, but nevertheless became victorious and Norway’s “everlasting king” through his status as a saint.
