olaf was the son of hoskuld dala-kollsson, a chieftain who lived in the laxardal region. according to "laxdæla saga", hoskuld purchased a mute thrall-woman named melkorka from a rus' merchant on brännö while on a trading expedition to norway, and made her his concubine while away from his wife jorunn bjarnadottir. when hoskuld returned home to iceland, he took the concubine with him. despite jorunn's irritation, the concubine was accepted into hoskuld's household, though he remained faithful to jorunn while in iceland. the following winter the concubine gave birth to a son, to whom they gave the name olaf after hoskuld's uncle, olaf feilan, who had recently died. "landnámabók" mentions that hoskuld and melkorka had another son, helgi, but he does not appear in "laxdæla".