_King Svein Alfifuson (1030-1035)_
When King Canute the Great heard that Earl Haakon had been lost in a
shipwreck on his way to Norway, he concluded to put his natural son
Svein on the throne of Norway. Svein's mother was Ælfgifa, a daughter
of an English chieftain in Northampton, but the Norwegians called
her Alfifa and her son Svein Alfifuson. Svein had, a couple of years
before, been appointed by King Canute to govern Jomsborg in Vendland;
but after Earl Haakon's death King Canute sent word to him to proceed
to Denmark and from there to Norway, to take that kingdom in charge and
assume the title of king of Norway. With a number of men from Denmark,
Svein proceeded to Norway together with his mother, Alfifa, and he was
hailed as king at every Thing. He had come as far as Viken at the time
the battle was fought at Stiklestad, where King Olaf fell. He continued
his journey northward until, in the autumn, he came to the Throndhjem
country; and there, as elsewhere, he was received as king.
Svein was very young and inexperienced, and it was his mother who had
most to say in governmental affairs. Together with Bishop Sigurd and
some Danes, whom she had brought with her from Denmark, she commenced
to rule the country in a very arbitrary manner, and the people soon
became greatly discontented. For a time the disaffection smouldered
beneath the surface; but when the foreign rulers proceeded to introduce
a new system of laws, fashioned in accordance with the development of
the feudal system in the rest of Europe, there was a general uprising
throughout the country.
Among the laws introduced in King Svein's name were the following:
No man must leave the country without the king's permission; or if
he did, his property fell to the king. Whoever killed a man should
forfeit his land and movable property. At Christmas every man had
to give the king a certain portion of the products of his farm. The
peasants were obliged to build all the houses the king required on his
farms. For every seven males over the age of five years one man was to
be furnished for the service of war. Every ship that went out of the
country should have storage reserved for the king in the middle of the
ship. Several heavy taxes were provided. And to all this was added a
provision that the testimony of one Dane should invalidate that of ten
Norwegians.
When these laws were announced at the Thing in Throndhjem, loud murmurs
were heard among the people. Those who had not taken part in the
uprising against King Olaf said: "Now take your reward and friendship
from Canute and his race, ye men of the interior of Throndhjem who
fought against King Olaf, and deprived him of his kingdom. Ye were
promised peace and justice, and now ye have got oppression and slavery
for your great treachery." This was true, and the chiefs felt it well
enough; but they were afraid of making open rebellion, as many of them
had given King Canute their sons or other near relatives as hostages.
At this time the people began to talk much of King Olaf's sanctity.
There were many rumors of miracles in connection with the dead king,
and it gradually became the general opinion that a great mistake or
rather a crime had been committed by the rebellion against King Olaf.
People began to severely reproach those who had excited opposition to
the king, and among those especially accused was Bishop Sigurd. He got
so many enemies that he found it most advisable to leave the country,
and proceeded to England to King Canute. When Bishop Sigurd had left,
the people of Throndhjem sent word to Bishop Grimkell, desiring him to
come to Throndhjem. King Olaf had sent Bishop Grimkell back to Norway
when he went east to Russia, and since that time Grimkell had been
in the Uplands. He now came north and visited Einar Thambaskelfer,
who received him with open arms. Einar congratulated himself upon not
having taken part in the strife against King Olaf, and was now one of
the mighty men who looked upon the dead king as a saint. Einar and the
bishop obtained King Svein's leave to exhume the body of Olaf. It is
said that they found that the coffin had raised itself almost entirely
to the surface of the earth, and when the coffin was opened they found
that the king's face was red as if he had merely fallen asleep, and his
hair and nails had grown as if he had lived all the time. Grimkell now
declared that King Olaf was truly a holy man, and with the approbation
of the king and the decision of the Thing Olaf was declared the saint
of the nation. His body was transported into Clement's church, where
a place was made for it near the high altar. The coffin was covered
with costly cloth, and stood under a gold embroidered tent. People soon
began to make pilgrimages to the shrine of Saint Olaf, and gradually a
great number of churches were built and dedicated to him, not only in
Norway, but also in other countries.
When King Svein had been three years in Norway, a young man, who called
himself Trygve, and professed to be a son of Olaf Trygvason and Queen
Gyda of England, came from the west with an armed force, intending to
claim the throne of Norway. Svein called upon his chiefs to furnish
him with men and ships in defence of the country, and an army was soon
ready; but Einar Thambaskelfer, and Kalf Arneson, and some others
refused to give aid. King Svein sailed south and met Trygve in battle
in Sognesund. In this battle Trygve fell, and many of his men with him;
but some fled, and others received quarter.
After the battle in Sognesund King Svein returned to Throndhjem; but
his stay there was not of long duration. He met the people at a Thing,
and heard their complaints, but no understanding could be reached.
Shortly afterward the situation became so strained that King Svein and
his mother found it necessary to remove to the southern part of the
country to spend the winter. During this winter Einar Thambaskelfer and
Kalf Arneson had many consultations in Nidaros with the other chiefs,
and the result was that in the spring a deputation of prominent chiefs,
including Einar Thambaskelfer and Kalf Arneson, proceeded east to King
Jaroslav in Russia to offer the throne of Norway to Magnus, the son
of Olaf the Saint, who had been raised at King Jaroslav's court. They
asked and received full forgiveness for having fought against Magnus's
father at Stiklestad. They thereupon swore allegiance to Magnus, who,
on the other hand, promised them under oath that he would be true and
faithful to them all when he got the dominions and kingdom of Norway.
Einar and Kalf were to act as his foster-fathers and counsellors.
Magnus returned with them to Norway and was welcomed with great joy. At
Oere-Thing he was proclaimed king over the whole land. When King Svein
heard this news he tried to raise an army; but nobody would listen to
him, and he and his mother were obliged to flee to Denmark. Here Svein
died in the year 1036; his father Canute dying a short time before him.