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| Rus slave market |
Heimskringla sagas tells us that the Norwegian Queen Astrid escaped with her son, the later king of Norway Olaf Tryggvason from her homeland to Novgorod, where her brother Sigurd had influence at the court of Prince Vladimir. On their journey, Oeselian Vikings raided the ship, killing some of the crew and taking others into slavery. Six years later, when Sigurd Eirikson traveled to Estonia to collect taxes on behalf of Vladimir, he spotted Olaf in a market on Saaremaa and paid for his freedom.
