Now Rolf decided to expand even further and during his reign he conquered all of current Norway except Finmark (Northernmost part of Norway). He also expanded Kingdom of Trondelag's influence in the rest of Europe. He created Districts which used to belong the older tribes. The People in the kingdom was doing Norse Rituals as they were followers of Norse paganism. They had heard tales of Foreign land and Rich cities they only could dream of. Therefore, they decided to og on raiding. Small raiding parties would in the next 300 years pillage and plunder Europe even taking on huge cities like Rome, Paris and Constantinople. In the year 756 Rolf decided that in the Capital Nidaros (later Trondheim) there would be built a great temple in honor to the gods, where they would do offerings and have great blots. The Production began in 758 and was finished in 816. Soon Rolf became obsessed With stories of ancient Europe and the Mediterranean. He ordered an expedition to explore the waters of Europe and that it would be mapped. So in the year 760, the Explorers set sail and in 774 they came back with many tales and stories of this epic journey. Rolf was impressed and awarded the Explorers with gold and silver. The next heir was Leif, he was born in 762 and became king in 778.
As said Rolf died in 778 and Leif became the new ruler. Rolf would be the king who ruled longest of all kings. Now as 20-year-old Leif was king and he would continue to follow his father's dreams. He was like his father obsessed with stories of ancient Europe and had studied Roman tactics. Now that he was full of knowledge he made his army highly disciplined. They used Roman tactics and had similar weapons and gear. They could form a shield wall as strong as a thick wall of Iron. With such efficient army he planned a campaign so conquer southern Sweden. First he invaded the western Geats with 10,000 men. He led the men himself and fought in the front among his soldiers which boosted morale greatly. He quickly swept over western Sweden and invaded the eastern Geats. He won every single battle in his campaign. One of the reasons why Leif was so successful was his disciplined army and his tactics. When all of southern Sweden was conquered he had spent five years of his life and had aged 30. He now saw the svea tribes to the north as a threat and a easy target. And in 791 he Invaded the savages of Svealand. Because of the deep forests it took him longer than expected and his campaign ended in 797, but he had also by a mistake conquered Lappland. He returned in 798 and was 40 years old . He got two sons: Ragnar and Karl. Ragnar being the oldest was the heir to the throne and Karl being only one year younger was jealous. Ragnar was born in 800 and was praised as he were born at the change of a century. Counting years the Trondenians adopted the Christian system as it was easy to learn and had been brought back after raids. Now having two sons Leif being 44-years-old wanted another campaign. He wanted to conquer Finnmark and the rest of northern Scandinavia which was inhabited by Sami people. The campaign started in early 802 leaving his wife Ingrid to take care of his children although she got help from their helping women. He's campaign did well to begin with, but it all went trash when they were ambushed by Finns. Leif got badly wounded and had to be carried far to home as they had gone far into northeastern lappland which was not known how far east it went as no western Scandinavian had ever been there. To be continued