When the tidings of his father's death reached him, Magnus hastened to summon athingin Oslo and have himself proclaimed king of the whole country. Harold, who had been waiting for this opportunity to break his oath, did the same at Tunsberg; only he contented himself preliminarily with half the kingdom. Magnus naturally refused to recognize his claim, and the people were soon divided into two parties, one of which sided with Magnus, while the other supported Harold.
In point of character they were both equally unfitted for the leadership of a nation. Magnus was a coarse, avaricious, and arrogant roisterer, addicted to drink, and incapable of any noble impulse. Harold was a weak and vacillating man, jolly, liberal, and easy-going, in whom the Irish characteristics predominated. He was pliable as wax in the hands of the liegemen, to whom he left all the cares of state, while he himself conceived of the royal dignity as a mere privilege to live high, wear good clothes, and enjoy certain honors in daily intercourse. The tribal magnates, who had long been excluded fromthe power which they believed to be their due, were therefore attracted to him, while Magnus repelled them by his haughtiness and avarice.
For three years the two rivals kept the peace; but the fourth winter after their accession, Magnus began to collect troops, and attacked Harold at Fyrileiv (1134) in Viken, winning a great victory. He was so elated at his success that, contrary to the advice of the liegemen, he dismissed his army and betook himself to Bergen, where he lived riotously, paying no heed to Harold's movements. The latter, in the meanwhile, had found a refuge in Denmark, and had received the province of Halland in fief. He soon gathered a sufficient force to invade Norway, and as he sailed northward to Bergen, he gained many adherents in the coast-shires. Magnus, when he heard of his approach, lost his head completely, rejected the counsel of his friend, Sigurd Sigurdsson, and contented himself with scattering about the city a kind of sharp, iron "foot-hooks," which in the end only injured his own men, and locking the harbor with iron chains, whereby he prevented his own escape, when shortly afterward the town fell into his enemy's hands. Most of his men then abandoned him, while he himself, with his faithful friend, Ivar Assersson, remained on his ship, until it was boarded by Harold's men.
It is scarcely an excuse for Harold Gille to say, that his friends induced him to commit the atrocity, of which he was now guilty. He did not content himself with putting Magnus' eyes out, but he cut off one of his legs and subjected him to another stillmore revolting mutilation. Ivar Assersson, who strikingly resembled King Magnus, was asked whether he would now care to resemble him; and the brave man answered unflinchingly that he would, whereupon he too was blinded. The miserable Magnus was now dressed in a monk's garb and shut up in the monastery of Nidarholm. Bishop Reinald, who was suspected of having the royal treasures in his keeping, was hanged because he would not reveal their hiding-place.
These misdeeds did not long remain unavenged. In the summer of 1136 came a man, named Sigurd, to Norway, who also claimed to be a son of Magnus Barefoot. Sigurd was a man of great intelligence, courage, and ambition; and in those respects, at least, a much worthier pretender than the weak, vicious Harold Gille. He had led a very adventurous life, played an important role in the feuds between the Earls of the Orkneys, visited Rome and the Holy Land, and bathed in the Jordan. The ability of Harold Hard-Ruler and the restless and enterprising spirit of Magnus Barefoot seemed to be united in him. His mother, Thora Saxe's-Daughter, is said to have kept the secret of his paternity from him until he was grown, because Magnus Barefoot had had a child by her sister, and a sense of shame had therefore kept her silent. As a boy, Sigurd had an ungovernable disposition, and in order to tame his wildness, his foster-father had him educated and consecrated to the church. When he finally kicked through the traces, he was therefore called Sigurd Slembedegn,i.e., the Bad Priest.
On his return to Norway in 1136 Sigurd went to Harold Gille, after having procured a safe-conduct, and announced his origin. There was now a chance for Harold to return the generosity, which Sigurd the Crusader had shown to him when he came, as a poor and unknown youth from Ireland, and proclaimed himself heir to the throne of Norway. But, although Sigurd Slembedegn could bring apparently satisfactory proof of the truth of his assertion, Harold was perhaps, on this account, only the more afraid of him. His advisers among the liegemen who were now governing without restraint, in the king's name, had cause to fear a man like Sigurd who would make short work of their pretensions. They therefore advised the king to rid himself of the new aspirant to the throne, by fair means or foul. On the pretence of punishing him for his alleged participation in a slaying, Harold made an attempt to capture him; but Sigurd escaped by swimming, and returned the king's breach of faith by killing him in the house of his mistress, Thora Guttorm's-Daughter. He then called the citizens of Bergen together, and, standing upon his ship, avowed the murder and asked them to make him their king. Contrary to his expectation, however, a great indignation was aroused against him, and the liegemen artfully fanned the excitement, until it was no longer safe for him to remain in the city. "If thou art the son of King Magnus," the citizens said, "then it is thy brother whom thou hast assassinated." And they forthwith outlawed the regicide and all his adherents. Sigurd fled in haste northward on his ships and arrived in Nordhördland.Harold Gille was thirty-two years old, when he was slain. He was one of the most unworthy kings that ever disgraced the throne of Norway. It was a short while before his death (1136) that the Wends, under their prince, Ratibor, sacked and burned the flourishing town of Konghelle, which Sigurd the Crusader had enlarged and beautified.
Queen Ingerid, the widow of Harold Gille, availed herself of the general indignation against Sigurd Slembedegn, to have her own two-year-old son, Inge, proclaimed king. She also sent a swift ship to Nidaros, with the request to the Trönders that they give their allegiance to King Harold's son, Sigurd, who had reached the age of five. The powerful liegemen, to whom this arrangement was highly agreeable, made haste to secure the recognition of the two boys throughout the land.
Sigurd Slembedegn's chances of becoming king were thus very slight. But, hoping to revive the indignation against Harold Gille and thereby mitigate his own offence, he took the blind and maimed Magnus, Sigurd the Crusader's son, out of the monastery, and tried to rally his old friends and followers about him. In this he had some success, but less than he had expected. He therefore sailed to the Hebrides for the purpose of increasing his force, leaving Magnus in charge of Björn Egilsson and Gunnar of Gimse. Before Sigurd had returned, however, Magnus had been attacked at Minne, in the Oplands, by King Inge's guardian, Thjostulf Aalesson, and defeated in a bloody battle (1137). Thjostulf, either to encourage his men, or because he was afraid to trust him to anybody else, carried the two-year-old king in his girdle during the battle, while he himself fought with a sword and spear, and the deadly missiles fell in showers about him. The poor boy, who was unequal to such hardships, soon began to show the effects of his premature experience of war. A hump grew on his back and one of his legs withered away. He therefore received the surname "Crook-Back."
Magnus the Blind fled after the battle into Sweden, where he persuaded the earl, Charles Sunesson, of Vestergötland, to come to his assistance; but was again overwhelmingly beaten at Krokaskogen by Thostulf Aalesson (1137). The little king, Inge, was again carried under his guardian's cloak, and heard, though scarcely without fear, the clash of arms and the fierce tumult of battle. This time Magnus fled to Denmark and succeeded in inducing King Erik Emune to sail to Norway with a fleet of 240 ships. The Norsemen, however, defended their coast so well that the Danish king for a long while did not venture to land. At last he burned the city of Oslo, but was immediately afterward attacked by King Inge and his liegeman, Aamunde Gyrdsson, at Hornboresund, and all his great fleet routed. Sigurd Slembedegn, in the meanwhile, had returned from the Hebrides and was cruising about in the Baltic, fighting in viking fashion with Wendic pirates, and occasionally harrying on the coasts of Norway, and injuring the friends of the young kings. He wassoon joined by Magnus, and the two were met by the fleet of the kings, Sigurd and Inge, at Holmengraa (1139). The battle was fought with great vehemence on both sides, until suddenly all the Danes fled, and left their allies in the lurch. Hoping to save the blind Magnus, Reidar Grjotgardsson lifted him from the bed upon which he was lying, and tried to carry him on board another ship. But a spear pierced both from behind and they fell down, dying. Magnus exclaimed as he felt the steel in his vitals: "That comes seven years too late."
Sigurd Slembedegn leaped overboard and would have escaped, if he had not been betrayed by one of his own men. He was put to death by the liegemen with the most horrible tortures. He was scourged until his skin hung in tatters about him; then his bones were crushed with stones; and at last he was hanged. His marvellous fortitude during his agony filled even his executioners with admiration. He talked in a perfectly natural voice, and not a muscle of his face betrayed what he suffered. Several times he sank into a swoon; but when he revived, he was calm and unmoved. Never did a man meet a more horrible death with more heroic equanimity. Sigurd Slembedegn had the stuff in him for a great king, and if Sigurd the Crusader had sat upon the throne, when he advanced his claim, instead of the Irishman, Harold Gilchrist, the history of Norway would have taken a different turn, and his might have been one of the great names in its pages. It was true what many, both friends and foes, said after his death, that "there was no man more capable in all thingsthan Sigurd * * * but he was born under an unlucky star."
The country now had peace for some years; chiefly because the kings were too small to have serious quarrels. In 1142, however, came Eystein, a third son of Harold Gille, from Scotland, and claimed his share of the kingdom. He was considerably older than the others, and must have been often mentioned by his father during his lifetime; for no one thought of disputing his claim, nor was any proof required as to his origin. He was a dark-haired, corpulent, and somewhat indolent youth, avaricious in the extreme, and devoid of all personal attractions. Some time elapsed before he exerted any influence upon the affairs of the country, and we shall therefore leave him, until his quarrels with his brothers demand our attention.
The first cause of discord in the royal family was the marriage of the queen dowager, Ingerid, to the above-mentioned liegeman, Ottar Birting. King Inge thereby came under the guardianship of his step-father, whereby the jealousy of other liegemen was aroused. Especially was King Sigurd indignant, because Ottar had hitherto been one of his most powerful adherents; while now he became attached to the fortunes of Inge. Amid this agitation, Ottar Birting was suddenly assassinated, and it became clear to every one that King Sigurd had caused his death. Many other circumstances conspired to make Sigurd unpopular, and his personal qualities were, indeed, such as to repel all who came in contact with him. It was particularlyhis immorality which alienated his friends. When he was but fifteen years old, he had a son, named Haakon, whose mother was a pretty servant-girl. Many pretenders appeared later, who claimed him as their father. In appearance he was more of a Norseman than his brothers—light-haired, blue-eyed, tall of stature, and of great vigor. His beauty was, however, marred by a pair of ugly thick lips, from which he derived the surname Mouth (Mund).
LOFOTEN VILLAGE DURING FISHING SEASON.LOFOTEN VILLAGE DURING FISHING SEASON.
He hated his brother Inge, whose popularity caused him uneasiness; and, as Eystein shared this sentiment, he approached the latter and opened negotiations with him, with a view to thrusting Inge from the throne. They were soon agreed, and would perhaps have carried out their plan, if Inge's faithful friend, Gregorius Dagsson, who had taken Ottar Birting's place as his guardian and adviser, had not got wind of their purpose. When, therefore, King Sigurd arrived in Bergen, he found Inge prepared to receive him; and he contented himself with killing one of his men-at-arms and threatening "to roll the golden helmet of Gregorius in the dust," but denied that any agreement existed between him and Eystein to Inge's detriment. Neither Inge nor Gregorius put any trust, however, in his assurances; and, after many bickerings and hostile acts on both sides, Gregorius received Inge's permission to attack his brother. Sigurd was then surprised in his house and slain (1155), after having vainly begged for mercy. It is told that the men, whose wives he had insulted, rushed athim, eager for vengeance, and ran him through with their swords. He was then but twenty-one years old. Eystein, who knew that his turn would come next, gathered in haste as many men as he could induce to join him, in order to take vengeance on Gregorius. But Gregorius learned of his approach in time to escape with all his men. His family estate, Bratsberg, was, however, burned by Eystein and his cattle hewn down. Next, Inge's excellent dockyards, which had been built by Eystein I., were given over to the flames, and war seemed unavoidable between the two kings, when Eystein, seeing his brother's superior strength, proposed to make peace. He agreed to pay Inge 360 marks in silver, one third of which was to be given to Gregorius as compensation for the destruction of Bratsberg. This fine, however, he failed to pay; and, repenting of his placability, sent Inge hostile messages, accusing him of breach of faith. At last, when they had been exchanging this kind of civilities for about a year, they met with hostile fleets near Fors in Ranafylke (1157) and prepared for battle. The greater part of Eystein's force, however, abandoned him, leaving him no choice but flight. He was captured by his brother-in-law, Simon Skaalp, who, after having allowed him to hear mass, coolly murdered him. There is a legend that a spring with healing powers burst forth on the spot where he was slain, and there were some who believed him to have been a saint.
Inge was now lord of all the kingdom, although the noble and capable Gregorius Dagsson conducted the government and was the virtual ruler. A warmfriendship bound the two together, based not only upon community of interests but upon real attachment. Inge's bad health, which unfitted him for action in the many serious crises of his life, made him dependent upon his sagacious and resolute adviser, and Gregorius, who was equal to his responsibility, kept a vigilant watch upon the king's enemies, and at the same time exercised, with a wise moderation, the power which had been put into his hands. It was natural that a man occupying such a position had many ill-wishers. There were those, of course, who envied him the place he held in the confidence of the king. Thus the great chieftain, Erling Skakke (the Lop-Sided), who had married Sigurd the Crusader's daughter, Christina, thought that he was entitled to the first place among the liegemen of the land. Erling traced his descent from the mighty Hörda-Kaare (who lived in the reigns of Halfdan the Swarthy and Harold the Fairhaired), and was thus in kinship with Erling Skjalgsson of Sole, who played so great a part in the times of Olaf Tryggvesson and Olaf the Saint. He had made a crusade and fought the Saracens in the Mediterranean, and had received a wound in the neck, which compelled him to carry his head on one side. His wealth and fame made him now a conspicuous figure in the land, and it was obvious that whichever party he should join might thereby gain a preponderance. Erling was, indeed, himself aware of that fact, and refrained, for this reason, for a while, from committing himself. He was understood to be favorably disposed to King Inge and paid him the customary civilities, but there are indications thatInge did not trust him. At all events, he had no intention of buying Erling's unequivocal adherence at the only price at which it could be bought, viz., the dismissal of Gregorius.
This was the situation of affairs when, after King Eystein's death, the remnants of his and Sigurd Mouth's party rallied around the latter's ten-year-old son, Haakon, and demanded for him a third part of the kingdom. Inge answered by outlawing his nephew and all his adherents. Gregorius was at that time in Konghelle, occupied with defending the frontier against the rebellious partisans of Haakon who had found a refuge in Sweden, and Erling Skakke availed himself of his absence to approach the king. Although the relation between the two liegemen was constantly growing more strained, the common danger, to which they were exposed from Haakon's party, made them postpone hostilities. A decisive battle was at last fought between the latter and King Inge at Konghelle (1159), and Haakon was defeated. Both Erling and Gregorius were present and to their valor the victory was largely due. A very slight provocation was now needed to bring them into collision, and this was supplied by a quarrel between their men, which soon became a general fight, and would have become a battle, if King Inge had not personally interfered. In the meanwhile Haakon, who had gathered under his banner robbers, outlaws, and all sorts of adventurers, began to ravage the frontier shires in Viken, and the presence of Gregorius was again needed to keep him in order. He made an attack upon the estate ofHaldor Brynjulfsson, Gregorius' brother-in-law, and the latter's sister, Sigrid, was compelled to flee in her night clothes from the burning house, carrying her five-year-old son in her arms. This wanton destruction Gregorius resolved to avenge, but during his pursuit of Haakon's robber band, he ventured too far out upon the insecure ice of the Bevje-Aa, fell through, and while struggling to get ashore was killed by an arrow (1161). King Inge wept like a child, when he heard of his friend's death, and swore either to avenge him or to die in the attempt. Scarcely a month had elapsed, when he was attacked by Haakon's band at Oslo, and fought a bloody battle upon the ice of the Folden Fjord. Here he fell, defending himself desperately, after having been deserted by King Gudröd of the Hebrides, who by his treason decided the battle in Haakon's favor (1161).
Inge Crookback was the only one of Harold Gille's sons who was an honorable man. In spite of his physical weakness, he had courage and pluck, and a strong sense of loyalty to those who served him well. He was but twenty-five years old when he died.
It was during his reign, but while his brothers still were alive, that the Cardinal Nicolas Breakspeare was sent to Norway (1152) by Pope Eugene III., to arrange the ecclesiastical affairs of the country. He established an archiepiscopal see in Nidaros, under the jurisdiction of which were included Norway and all its dependencies among the Scottish Isles, besides Iceland, Greenland, the Faeroe Isles, and the Isle of Man. As the first archbishop he appointed, in accordance with the wishes of KingInge, the Bishop of Stavanger John Birgersson. The bishopric of Hamar at Lake Mjösen also owes its foundation to the cardinal's visit. Nicolas Breakspeare became, later, Pope under the name Hadrian IV., and always preserved a lively interest in the welfare of the Church in Norway.
Haakon Sigurdsson lost no time in proclaiming himself king of all Norway, though he dispensed preliminarily with the ceremony of a formal proclamation at Oere-thing. As he was but a boy of fourteen, it was, of course, his advisers who dictated his actions. He was a tool in the hands of a few ambitious liegemen, who had staked their fortunes on the chance of his ascendancy. For the purpose of portioning out lucrative offices among his adherents, he called a secret meeting in the church of St. Hallvard in Oslo. As it was of great importance to Erling Skakke to know how these men felt toward him, his wife Christina bribed the priest who kept the keys of the church, to conceal one of her friends where he could hear the proceedings. She then sent a messenger to her husband, enjoining him under no circumstances to trust Haakon or his party. But Erling was too conspicuous a man to be allowed to preserve neutrality; and as he could not declare for Haakon, he was obliged to declare against him. He then proposed, though scarcely in good faith, to make the child, Nicholas Simonsson, the son of Simon Skaalp and Harold Gille's daughter Maria, the headof the opposition and to proclaim him king. There were, however, serious objections to this course; and after many consultations, Erling allowed himself to be urged to do, what had been his intention from the beginning, viz., to proclaim his own son Magnus. Magnus, to be sure, was not of royal birth, but he had royal blood in his veins, being the grandson of Sigurd the Crusader. By shrewd manœuvres, Erling succeeded in rallying the greater part of King Inge's party about his son, who was but five years old, and to induce the liegemen to swear him allegiance. Athingwas then summoned to meet in Bergen, and Magnus was formally acknowledged as king (1161).
The land was now divided between two tolerably evenly balanced parties, and only the sword could decide to which of the two the government should belong. After the great defeat at Oslo, however, Inge's party had lost much of its prestige, and Erling felt that foreign help was needed to secure its predominance. He, therefore, sailed with his son and a large following of high-born men to Denmark and obtained the promise of help from King Valdemar the Great on condition of ceding to him the greater part of Viken. Haakon availed himself of his absence to take possession of the fleet which had belonged to Inge and to have himself proclaimed king at Oere-thing. His friend Sigurd of Reyr he raised to the dignity of earl, and delegated to him the task of watching for Erling, whose return from Denmark was expected. Erling was, however, a shrewd man who did what was least expected of him. He did, indeed, return from Denmark, but bya singular route. He crossed from Skagen in Jutland to Agder, and thence steered northward to Bergen, where he killed or otherwise punished many who had given their allegiance to Haakon. Then, before Earl Sigurd had yet heard of his arrival, he attacked Haakon in Tunsberg and beat him. Having accomplished this and secured the recognition of his son in Viken, Agder, Rogaland, and Hördaland, he returned to Bergen where he spent the winter. Haakon, who found his strongest support in Tröndelag, went into winter quarters in Nidaros.
It was merely a question of time when the two rival kings, or the men who represented them, should meet for a final contest. Therefore, as soon as the ice broke up, preparations began on a grand scale. Erling's cunning again stood him in good stead, for by a stratagem he succeeded in surprising Haakon at Sekken, in Söndmöre, and utterly destroying him (1162). The poor boy, who was but fifteen years old, jumped from his ship on board the one which lay nearest, and found himself unexpectedly among enemies. He told the men who he was, and surrendered himself to their mercy. The battle was then virtually at an end; but when Erling found that the men to whom Haakon had surrendered were determined to guard his life, he began a fresh attack, and managed it so that, in the tumult, the boy-king was slain. His own former candidate for the throne, Nicholas Simonsson, whom he had forcibly abducted from Bergen, he also contrived to get rid of in the same battle, and there can be little doubt that he was responsible for his death.Haakon Sigurdsson was king of Norway for about a year and three months. He was large for his age, and on account of the slenderness of his waist and the breadth of his shoulders, was called Haakon the Broad-Shouldered (Herdebred).
Erling Skakke had effectually cleared the way to the throne for his son, by killing every descendant of the royal house whom he could lay hands on. There was, however, another undoubted son of Sigurd Mouth left, whom he had not got into his power, besides several whose claims had not yet been pronounced upon. The bitterness between the party of Erling and that of Haakon was indeed so great, that a reconciliation was not to be thought of, and the latter, therefore, seized the opportunity to rally about a king whose royal descent was unquestioned. This new claimant was a boy named Sigurd Marcusfostre (the foster-son of Marcus), probably ten or twelve years old, who had been brought up by Marcus of Skog, a friend and kinsman of Earl Sigurd of Reyr. Another magnate, the much-travelled Eindride the Young, transferred his allegiance to Sigurd, and a large number of proud and adventurous men, who could not tolerate Erling's supremacy, joined the new party. The peasants, however, who had hitherto suffered but little from the feuds of the kings, now began to find these roving bands troublesome, especially when they levied contributions andforaged wherever they went. Erling availed himself of this circumstance to excite their indignation against the "Sigurd party," as it was called, and he presently succeeded in forcing the hostile chieftains to give battle at Ree, near Tunsberg. Here Earl Sigurd fell, and Eindride the Young, Marcus of Skog, and the boy-king Sigurd were captured and executed.
Although no formidable pretender was now left, Erling, whose ambition was nothing less than the founding of a new dynasty, did not feel secure in his possession of power. The Trönders, who had been partisans of Sigurd Mouth, were yet at heart devoted to the party which represented him, and the Danish king Valdemar was incensed, because Erling had not kept his promise in regard to the cession of Viken. To fortify himself against the contingencies arising from this situation, Erling found it necessary to cast about him for new allies, and the choice which he made was exceedingly shrewd.
The Archbishop of Nidaros, at that time, was the able and imperious Eystein Erlendsson, who descended from a mighty Tröndelag family, and therefore, apart from his episcopal office, was a man of great influence. He shared the political sympathies of the community in which he lived, and was therefore more disposed to be Erling's enemy than his friend. The sagacious chieftain, however, succeeded in propitiating him and in forming an alliance with him for mutual advantage. The result of their negotiations was, that a great meeting was called in Bergen, at which Norway was declared to be St. Olaf'sheritage and property, and the bishops, as his representatives, acquired the right to reject any legitimate heir to the throne, in case they held him to be unworthy. The clerical and secular magnates were, at the death of a king, to select among his heirs the one who was to succeed him, the presumption being always in favor of the eldest son born in wedlock, unless he was declared unworthy. In case of disagreement, a majority of votes was to decide the choice, but only in so far as the archbishop and the other bishops gave their consent. If the king left no heirs of whom the magnates approved, they were at liberty to elect any one whom they regarded as fit to guard "the right of God and the laws of the land."
It is obvious that the secular and the clerical magnates here united for the spoliation of the crown, and in return for the concessions which Erling had made, as the nominal representative of the latter, the archbishop crowned Magnus in Bergen (1164), thereby repairing, in the eyes of many, the deficiency of his title. He had the friendship of the Church, which had it in her power to influence the people in his favor. He could therefore look forward without fear to meeting the Danish king, who was preparing to take forcible possession of the province which had been promised him. In order to test the sentiment of the people toward Magnus, Valdemar sent secret messengers with presents and friendly greetings to many prominent Trönders, some of whom committed themselves in writing to join him, in case he invaded Norway. Their letters, however, fellinto Erling's hands, and the offenders were punished with severity. Some were killed, others outlawed, and again others were sentenced to pay enormous fines. When King Valdemar finally, in 1165, sailed with a large fleet to Norway he received a different reception from what he had expected. The number of the disaffected who were ready to do him homage was very small, compared to the number of those who were ready to fight him. He, therefore, returned to Denmark, without awaiting Erling's arrival. It is said that he suffered from lack of provisions; and was indisposed to harry in a province which he hoped soon to lay under his crown.
Before Erling had time to return this visit, a band of rebels was organized in the Oplands under the leadership of Olaf Guldbrandsson, a grandson on the mother's side of King Eystein I., the brother of Sigurd the Crusader. This new pretender attempted to rally the discontented chieftains under his banner. His adherents were called the Hood-Swains (Hettesveiner), and he himself got the surname, the Unlucky (Ugæva), because he came within an ace of capturing Erling at the farm, Rydjökel, north of Lake Oieren, but failed through mischance (1166). The Hood-Swains then for some time eked out a precarious existence in forest and field; for the fear of Erling was so great that few who had any thing to lose dared to make common cause with them. He would probably have put an end to them without delay, if the hostilities with Denmark had not demanded his attention. It was, just then, the favorable moment for attacking Valdemar's kingdom, as he washimself absent in Wendland and his kinsman, Buris Henriksson, who had the greater part of Jutland in fief, had promised to co-operate with the Norsemen and even to capture and kill the king on his return. Erling accordingly sailed with his fleet to Denmark and beat the Danes at Djursaa; but was prevented, by the resolute conduct of Bishop Absalon, from reaping any benefit from his victory. A second campaign of Valdemar in Norway was as indecisive as the first, and finally, when both parties were tired of the aimless warfare, peace was concluded (1171), on condition that Erling should govern Viken as Valdemar's vassal and accept from him the title of earl. It is probable that Erling, after his return, made known only in part the terms of this peace; for the national feeling had now begun to assert itself in Norway; and it is scarcely credible that the people of Viken, who had, but a short time ago, manifested their hostility to the Danish king, should now willingly submit to becoming his subjects. What Erling did was really to confirm his own power and that of his son, at the expense of the integrity and the independence of his country. But in that respect he only followed the traditions of his class. The aristocracy of Norway usually (though there were many honorable exceptions) regarded their own independence and power as more important than those of their country. It was not the first time that the tribal magnates bartered away faith and honor for personal gain. In the olden time, when Norway was but a loose agglomeration of tribes, who felt their kinship to the Danes and Swedes more stronglythan they did their own geographical isolation, such conduct was often excusable. But in the days of Erling Skakke, the Norsemen were a nation, quite distinct from their neighbors, and the cession of a fertile province, like Viken, gave the Danes a foot-hold on the peninsula, and meant in the future, as Erling was shrewd enough to know, infinite complications, wars, and the possible loss of independence.
THE RAFT SUND IN VESTFJORD, BETWEEN LOFOTEN AND VESTERAALEN ISLANDS.THE RAFT SUND IN VESTFJORD, BETWEEN LOFOTEN AND VESTERAALEN ISLANDS.
Having thus placated his foreign foes, Erling set himself to the task of exterminating the domestic ones. Olaf the Unlucky he had already, before the conclusion of the negotiations, beaten in two fights (at Stanger and at Dav, 1168), and had destroyed his band. Olaf had fled to Denmark, where he died (1169). There were, however, several pretenders left who had as much right to the throne as Magnus Erlingsson; and Erling did not choose to wait until they became dangerous, before relieving himself of their presence. Sigurd Mouth's daughter, Cecilia, he sent to Vermeland and made her the mistress of a man, named Folkvid the Lawman. His own step-son, Harold, an illegitimate son of his wife Christina, and accordingly a grandson of Sigurd the Crusader, he beheaded, in spite of King Magnus' prayers and protests. That kind of clemency which involved future danger he professed not to understand.
"If I let him live," he said to his son, "they will all want him for their king, and thee to kiss the lips of the axe."
In spite of all his precautions, however, there was one scion of the royal house, and that the most dangerous of all, who escaped his attention. Therewas, at that time, living in the Faeroe Isles a youth named Sverre Sigurdsson, and the history of Norway for the next thirty years is chiefly his story. But before he enters upon the scene, a pretender named Eystein Meyla (Little Girl), who professed to be a son of Harold Gille's son Eystein, made a little stir and gathered about him the remnants of the rebellious party. He tried to obtain aid in Sweden, and was well received by Earl Birger in Götland, who had married Harold Gille's daughter, Brigida. He could, however, not sustain himself against Erling's power, and was obliged to roam about with his band on mountains and in wildernesses, robbing and plundering in order to keep from starving. His men thereby got a bad name, and on account of their dilapidated appearance and their habit of using birch-bark for shoes, the peasants called them derisively Birkebeiner,i. e., Birchlegs. The discipline of hardship and danger which their arduous life imposed upon them stood them, however, in good stead; and insignificant though they were in number, they were, as Erling found to his cost, not a foe to be despised. However often he beat them, they would never stay beaten. With wonderful intrepidity and endurance they rallied after each defeat, and fought again, whenever there was a chance of fighting. Many of them were undoubtedly little better than highwaymen, and to treat them as a political party would be an extravagant compliment. Their chief political purpose was, for a good while, to keep body and soul together. Gradually, however, their band was increased by political malcontents and even by men ofhigh birth, who had quarrelled with Erling, or had the death of kinsmen to avenge. In the summer of 1176 they were numerous enough to surprise the city of Nidaros and have their chieftain, Eystein Meyla, proclaimed king at the Oere-thing; but the following year their luck deserted them, and in the battle of Ree, near Tunsberg, they were overwhelmingly defeated by King Magnus, and Eystein Meyla was slain (1177). The band then broke up, and the Birchlegs would perhaps never have been heard of again, if their fortunes had not become identified with those of a great man—Sverre Sigurdsson.
Sverre was born in the Faeroe Isles. His mother Gunhild was, according to the legend, cook in the service of King Sigurd Mouth. She was not particularly handsome, but quick-witted and intelligent. The king begged her to kill her child, as soon as it was born; and being unwilling to listen to such a proposition, she fled on a ship to the Faeroe Isles, where she took service as milkmaid with Bishop Mathias. Here she bore a son, whom she named Sverre. A smith or combmaker named Unas came, the following spring, from Norway, and she suspected him of having been sent by the king to kill her child. She therefore hid it in a cave, which is yet called Sverre's Cave. Unas, however, followed her and discovered where the child was hidden, but promised not to harm it, if she would marry him. She consented, though reluctantly, and returned with him to Norway. Sigurd Mouth was then dead, and she had nothing to fear. When the boy was five years old, he returned to the Faeroe Isles with his mother and step-father. Thelatter's brother, Roe, had been made bishop after the death of Mathias, and Unas was not insensible to the advantage of living in a neighborhood, where he had such an influential relative. Sverre grew up in the belief that he was the son of Unas, and Bishop Roe, who took a fancy to him on account of his extraordinary intelligence, began to educate him for the priesthood. His ambition, as he himself asserts, did not then extend beyond a bishopric, or possibly a cardinal's hat. But when he was ordained asdiaconus(which is one of the lower grades of the priesthood), his mother burst into tears, and to his question why she was displeased at the honor conferred upon him, she answered: "This is but a paltry honor, compared to that which by right belongs to thee. Thou art not the son of him whom thou thinkest, but of King Sigurd in Norway. I have kept this from thee, until thou shouldst reach the age of manhood."
From that day Sverre's peace of mind was gone. Great thoughts tossed and whirled about in his soul and his life seemed poor and meaningless. His ambition kept him awake in the night and bright vistas of future achievements beckoned him from afar.
"If I am born to a crown," he said to his mother, "then I will strive to win it, whatever it may cost me. Life has no more joy for me without it, and therefore I will stake life on it."
Disregarding the warnings of the bishop he embarked for Norway, and, without revealing who he was, spent some time in investigating the sentiments of the people toward King Magnus. This is highlycharacteristic of Sverre. He made no leap in the dark, but computed carefully the strength of the enemy whom he was to combat. What he learned was, however, far from encouraging. The people seemed everywhere devoted to King Magnus and well contented with his rule. Sverre also made the acquaintance of Erling Skakke, studied him thoroughly, and talked with his men-at-arms, who found the priest from the Faeroe Isles a droll and entertaining fellow, and freely told him all the gossip of the royal household. To enter the lists, alone and penniless, against a power so formidable as this, seemed madness. Sverre was too shrewd not to see that such an undertaking was hopeless. At the same time, he was not minded to return, after his dream of royalty, to his obscure priesthood on the bleak isles in the North Sea. He knew that Earl Birger in Sweden was married to a sister of Sigurd Mouth, and, as a forlorn hope, he crossed the frontier, revealed his origin to the earl, and begged him for aid. The earl, it appears, who had reaped no glory from his alliance with Eystein Meyla, did not receive Sverre's request graciously, suspecting that he had been sent by Erling to mock him. Sverre, then, betook himself to his half-sister, Cecilia, who was the mistress of Folkvid the Lawman, and met here with a better reception. The rumor that a son of Sigurd Mouth had made his appearance in Sweden had, in the meanwhile, gone abroad and had reached the remnants of the Birchleg band. They made haste to find Sverre and requested him to be their chief; but Sverre, seeing what condition they were in, declined.He made them a little speech, in which he remarked that the only thing he had in common with them was poverty; and advised them, in conclusion, to select as their chief one of Earl Birger's sons, who were, like himself, descendants of Harold Gille. The Birchlegs acted upon this advice, but received no encouragement from the earl.
He told them, perhaps not without a humorous intention, that Sverre was their man, and advised them, in case he persisted in his refusal, to threaten him with death. Back they went, accordingly, to Sverre, and this time he yielded to their persuasions. He must then have been twenty-four or twenty-five years old. And thus, with two empty hands and seventy ragged and badly armed men, he began the fight for the crown of Norway. He started from Vermeland southward for Viken, and so many gathered about him on the way, that by the time he arrived in the Saurbygd, he had 420 men. These proclaimed him, in spite of his protest, king, and touched his sword in token of allegiance. But when he forbade them to rob and plunder the peasants, the majority grew discontented and left him. In order to test them he ordered them back to Vermeland, but by the time he reached the Eidskog, his band had shrunk to the original seventy. Sverre was now in a serious dilemma. He had announced himself as a claimant to the throne, thereby making himself fair game for any one who could slay him. And to wage war against King Magnus and Erling Skakke with seventy men was too absurd to be considered. In his extremity hesent messengers to Thelemark, where he had heard that some Birchlegs had sought refuge after the battle of Ree, and where there was said to be much dissatisfaction with King Magnus. Wherever he appeared, the peasants met him with hostile demonstrations, and many were those who wished to earn the gratitude of Earl Erling by destroying the runaway priest and his robber band. But it was in these desperate emergencies that the wonderful resources of Sverre's mind became apparent. Though he often had to live on bark and frozen berries, which were dug up from under the snow, his courage never failed him. Though in his journeys through pathless mountain wildernesses, his men dropped dead about him from exposure and hunger, and he had to cover himself with his shield and allow himself to be snowed down, he kept a stout heart in his bosom and rebuked those who talked of suicide. It is told of him that during his march from Sweden to Nidaros, he came to a large mountain lake which it was necessary to cross. Rafts were made, but the men were so exhausted, that it took them a good while to fell the logs. One by one the rafts were launched and rowed across. Sverre himself boarded the last, but it was already so heavily loaded, that the water reached above his ankle. One man, however, who was half dead with weariness, had been left. He crawled down to the edge of the water and begged the king to take him along, as otherwise he must perish. The Birchlegs grumbled loudly, but Sverre commanded them to lay to and take the man aboard. The raft then sank still deeper and the king stood inthe icy water up to his knees. It looked for awhile as if they would go to the bottom. But Sverre did not change a mien. They reached, at last, the further shore, where an enormous pine had fallen into the water. The men, eager for safety, scrambled over into the tree, and Sverre was the last to leave the raft, which, the moment his foot was off it, sank. This incident was regarded by the Birchlegs as a miracle, and strengthened their faith in Sverre's mission.