The picture illustrates Longfellow's poem The Saga of King Olaf, The Musician's Tale from Tales of a Wayside Inn. Jarl Hakon begs Thora of Rimol to hide him from the wrath of King Olaf of Norway - fruitlessly as it turns out.

Knowles specialised in historical genre, exhibiting at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists and the Institute of Painters in Watercolours.