_Sigurd Mund, Eystein, and Inge Krokryg, the Sons of Harald Gille
(1136-1161)_
Queen Ingerid, the widow of Harald Gille, immediately after her
husband's death held a consultation with the liegemen and court-men,
and they decided to send a fast sailing vessel to Throndhjem to request
the people there to take Harald's son (with Thora, Guthorm's daughter),
Sigurd, for king. Sigurd, who was then in his fourth year, was being
fostered by Gyrd Baardson. The people of Throndhjem assembled at a
Thing and proclaimed Sigurd king. Queen Ingerid herself proceeded to
Viken, where her son with Harald, the one year old Inge, was fostered
by Aamunde Gyrdson. A Borgar-Thing (Thing at Borg or Sarpsborg) was
called, at which Inge was chosen king. "Thus," it is related in
the saga, "almost the whole nation submitted to the brothers, and
principally because their father was considered holy; and the country
took the oath to them, that the kingly power should not go to any other
man as long as any of King Harald's sons were alive." It was agreed
that the chief liegemen should rule in the name of the brothers while
they were in their infancy.
Sigurd Slembe proceeded north to Nidaros, and took Magnus the Blind
out of the cloister in the hope that, by making common cause with him,
he could secure a better following. In this he succeeded to some
extent, many of King Magnus's old friends joining him. With quite a
force they went south to the mouth of Raumsdal Fjord. Here Sigurd and
Magnus divided their forces, Sigurd sailing westward to the Orkneys
to seek aid. Magnus proceeded with his force through Raumsdal over
to the Uplands, where he remained during the winter and collected an
army. When it was rumored in Viken that Magnus the Blind had come to
the Uplands, Thiostolf Aaleson and the other chiefs who were with
King Inge gathered a great army and proceeded up to Lake Miosen, and
met the forces of Magnus at Minne (1137). A great battle was fought,
and Magnus was defeated. It is related that Thiostolf Aaleson carried
the child-king, Inge, in his tucked-up cloak during the battle; but
Thiostolf was hard pressed by fighting, and it was said that King Inge
suffered an injury there, which he retained as long as he lived. His
back was knotted into a hump, and one leg was shorter than the other.
Hence he was afterward called Inge Krokryg, _i.e._, Inge the Hunchback.
Magnus fled eastward to Gautland, where he received aid from the
Swedes, but being again defeated at Krokaskog he fled to Denmark.
Magnus the Blind was well received by the Danish king, Erik Emune, who
collected a force and sailed north to Norway with two hundred and forty
ships. Attacks were made at different places, and the town of Oslo was
burned, including St. Halvard's Church; but King Erik soon returned
to Denmark after having suffered great losses, and the expedition was
pronounced a total failure.
Sigurd Slembe about this time returned from the West, and made cruises
against the pirates in Vendland, and occasionally harried the coasts of
Norway. In the fall of 1139 Sigurd Slembe and Magnus the Blind came up
to Norway from Denmark with thirty ships manned by Danes and Northmen.
They met the fleet of kings Sigurd and Inge at Holmengraa (the gray
holm), where a battle was fought. After the first assault, the Danes
fled home to Denmark with eighteen ships, and thus Sigurd had to fight
against a greatly superior force. One after another of his ships was
cleared. The blind and crippled Magnus lay in his bed and could do
nothing to defend himself. When his ship was almost entirely bare of
men, his old and faithful court-man, Reidar Griotgardson, took King
Magnus in his arms and tried to leap over to another ship with him. But
just then he was struck between his shoulders by a spear, which went
through him and also killed King Magnus. Reidar fell backward on the
deck and Magnus upon him. Everybody afterward spoke of how honorably
he had followed his master and rightful sovereign. "Happy are they
who are given such praise after death," adds the writer of the saga.
Sigurd Slembe leaped overboard and would probably have escaped, if
he had not been betrayed by one of his own men. He was captured and
put to death with the most horrible tortures. The men who took upon
themselves to kill him, and who had personal grievances to avenge,
broke his shin-bones and arms with an axe-hammer. Then they stripped
him and flogged him, broke his back, and finally hanged him. He bore
the tortures with great fortitude. He never moved and never altered
his voice, but spoke in a natural tone until he gave up the ghost,
occasionally singing hymns. Sigurd's friends afterward came from
Denmark for his body, took it with them and interred it in Mary Church
in Aalborg.
When Sigurd was dead, it was acknowledged by all, both enemies and
friends, that he was the most remarkable and most gifted man that had
lived in Norway within memory of anybody living; "but in some respects
he was an unlucky man," says the saga. Magnus the Blind was twenty-five
years old when he fell. Thiostolf Aaleson transported his body to Oslo
and buried it in St. Halvard's Church, beside King Sigurd, his father.
Norway now had peace for some years. About six years after Sigurd and
Inge had been proclaimed kings, a third son of Harald Gille, named
Eystein, came from Scotland accompanied by his mother, Biadok, and by
three men of high standing. They immediately proceeded to Throndhjem,
and at the Oere-Thing Eystein was chosen king and given a third of
the country with his brothers, Sigurd and Inge. King Harald himself
had spoken to his men about this son, so that Eystein did not have to
resort to the ordeal of iron in order to prove his right. A fourth son
of Harald Gille, Magnus, who was being fostered by the great chief
Kyrpinga-Orm at Studla, was also given the title of king, so that for
a short time there were nominally four kings; but Magnus was deformed,
lived but a short time, and died in his bed.
Shortly after the death of Harald Gille, his widow, Queen Ingerid, had
married the liegeman, Ottar Birting of Throndhjem, who thus became
King Inge's stepfather and guardian, and who strengthened King Inge's
government much during his childhood. King Sigurd was not very friendly
to Ottar Birting, because, as he thought, Ottar always took King Inge's
part. One evening Ottar was assassinated in Nidaros as he was going
to the evening service. His relatives and friends accused King Sigurd
of having instigated this deed and were much enraged against him. A
peasant army under the leadership of King Eystein came to Nidaros and
a conflict seemed inevitable. But King Sigurd then offered to clear
himself by the ordeal of iron, and peace was made. King Sigurd hastened
to the southern part of the country, and the ordeal was never heard of
again. Many other things contributed to make Sigurd unpopular. As he
grew up he became a very ungovernable and restless man. He was a stout
and strong man, of a brisk appearance. He had light brown hair and
quite a handsome face except that he had an ugly mouth. For that reason
he was called Sigurd Mund (Mouth). His great immorality gave general
offense to the people. He was not married, but had several illegitimate
children.
In 1153 King Eystein made a cruise to the Orkneys. Some time after his
return there was a quarrel between him and King Sigurd, because the
latter had killed two of Eystein's court-men. A conference to settle
this affair was arranged in the winter (1154-55) in the Uplands. They
not only settled their difficulty, but privately arranged for a meeting
of the three kings in Bergen next summer. It was said that their plan
was to depose King Inge and give him two or three estates and a certain
income, as he had not health to be a king. Their plan might possibly
have succeeded if it had not been for King Inge's faithful man,
Gregorius Dagson, who was then Inge's guardian and adviser. He made
preparations for the meeting, and when Sigurd arrived in Bergen, King
Inge had a superior force. After some hostile acts, King Sigurd was
attacked in his lodgings by Gregorius Dagson and slain, June 10, 1155.
Two or three days after King Eystein arrived from the east with thirty
ships. He had along with him his brother's seven year old son Haakon,
a son of King Sigurd. When he heard what had happened in Bergen,
Eystein did not come up to the town, but anchored at Florevaag, while a
reconciliation between the brothers was attempted. The result was that
King Eystein returned to Viken and King Inge to Throndhjem, and they
were in a way reconciled; but they did not meet each other.
About a year later, after several quarrels and provoking incidents, the
two brothers met with hostile fleets at Fors, Ranrike, and made ready
for battle. So many of King Eystein's ships left him, however, and
joined King Inge that Eystein had no choice but flight. He was captured
by his brother-in-law, Simon Skalp, who murdered him after having
allowed him to hear mass (August 21, 1157). King Eystein was buried in
Fors Church.
Inge was now sole king, but it was only a short time that he was in
undisputed possession of the country. The adherents of the late kings,
Eystein and Sigurd, chose the latter's son as their chief and gave him
the title of king. He was then ten years old. He was afterward given
the surname Herdebred, _i.e._, the broad-shouldered. Haakon and his
adherents were outlawed by King Inge, who took possession of all their
estates, after they had sought refuge in Sweden. Gregorius Dagson was
then in Konungahella, where the danger was greatest, and had with him
a strong and fine body of men, with which he defended the country. He
defeated Haakon's force in a decisive battle at Konungahella (1159).
Later Haakon, who had strengthened his forces with a number of robbers
and adventurers, harried the frontier districts in Viken. One day he
came to the estate of Haldor Brynjolfson, a brother-in-law of Gregorius
Dagson, set fire to the house and burned it. Haldor came out, but was
instantly cut down together with his house-men; in all about twenty
men were killed. Haldor's wife, Sigrid, Gregorius Dagson's sister,
escaped to the forest in her night-dress; but the five year old Aamunde
Gyrdson, a nephew of Gregorius, was carried away by Haakon's men.
When Gregorius Dagson heard of this he took it much to heart, and set
out to avenge the outrage. On January 7, 1161, Gregorius caught sight
of Haakon's force. There was a river, called Befia, between them, and
in trying to cross it on the unsafe ice Gregorius fell through, and,
while struggling to get ashore, was killed by an arrow shot by one of
Haakon's men. When King Inge, who was then in Oslo, heard of Gregorius
Dagson's death, he cried like a child, and, after having recovered
himself, swore to attack Haakon, and either avenge his friend's death
or die in the attempt. On the 3d of February, 1161, King Inge's spies
brought him word that Haakon was coming toward the town (Oslo). The
king ordered his men called together, and when they were drawn up in
line they numbered nearly 4,800. When the night was well advanced, the
spies came and informed the king that Haakon and his army were coming
over the ice, which lay all the way from the town to the Hoved Isle.
King Inge then led his army out on the ice, and drew it up in order of
battle. The king and his brother Orm took their places under the banner
in the centre. On the right wing, toward the nunnery, was Gudrod, the
exiled king of the South Hebrides, and Jon Sveinson, a grandson of
Bergthor Buk. On the left wing, toward Thrælaberg, stood the chiefs
Simon Skalp and Gudbrand Skafhoggson, who was married to King Eystein
Magnusson's daughter Maria. When Haakon and his army came near to King
Inge's array, both sides raised a war shout. But then it appeared that
there were traitors in Inge's army. Gudrod and Jon gave the enemy a
signal, and when Haakon's men in consequence turned that way, Gudrod
immediately fled with 1,800 men; and Jon, and a great body of men with
him, ran over to Haakon's army and assisted them in the fight. When
this news was told to King Inge, he said: "Such is the difference
between my friends. Never would Gregorius have done so in his life."
Some of Inge's men now advised him to mount a horse and ride up to
Raumarike, where he could get help. But he refused to do so. "I have
heard you often say, and I think truly, that it was of little use to my
brother Eystein that he took to flight; and yet he was in many ways an
abler man than I. I was in the second year of my age when I was chosen
king of Norway, and I am now twenty-six. I have had misfortune and
sorrow under my kingly dignity, rather than pleasure and peaceful days.
I have had many battles; and it is my greatest luck that I have never
fled, even when fighting against a superior force. God will dispose of
my life, but I shall never betake myself to flight." As a result of the
traitors' work Haakon gained a complete victory. When daylight came,
King Inge was among the fallen. His brother Orm tried to continue the
battle, but at last had to take flight. On the following day Orm was
to have married Ragna, a daughter of Nikolas Mase and widow of King
Eystein; but after the battle Orm fled to Svithiod, Sweden, where his
brother Magnus was then king. Haakon and his men took possession of
the town, and feasted on what had been prepared for the wedding. Those
of Inge's friends who survived the battle fled in all directions. Only
Kristina, Sigurd the Crusader's daughter, remained in town, for she had
a promise to the late king to fulfil. She found King Inge's body, and
had it laid in the stone wall of Halvard's Church, on the south side
below the choir.