CHAPTER XV.
MAGNUS THE GOOD (1035-1047).
MAGNUS OLAFSSON was an illegitimate child, his mother, Alfhild, being, according to one report, an Englishwoman of high birth; according to another, the queen's laundress. When he was born he was so small and feeble that it seemed as if he could not live many hours. It was in the middle of the night and no one dared to wake the king. His friend, Sighvat Scald, was therefore called, and he assumed the responsibility of naming the child Magnus, after Carolus Magnus, the German emperor. A priest was then found who baptized it. When the king heard of the occurrence he was very wroth, and chided the scald. There was no one in his family named Magnus, and perhaps he even suspected that Sighvat had made a mistake in selecting the Latin surname of the emperor rather than his real name, Karl. It was under these unpropitious circumstances that the boy was born who became the heir to St. Olaf's kingdom and the love which a repentant people lavished upon his memory. He was not quite eleven years old when he was proclaimed king at the Oere-thing, but well grown and intelligent. He allowed himself, during the first years of his reign, to be guided by the counsel of Einar Thambarskelver and Kalf Arnesson; but soon gained sufficient independence of judgment to assert his own will.
It was but a short time after the proclamation of Magnus as king that Harthaknut prepared to invade Norway. Magnus, who was eager to punish the race of Knut for their insidious plottings against his father, also made warlike preparations, apparently with the intention of invading Denmark. Whether any actual fighting took place is not known. It is not improbable that some insignificant skirmishing may have been done; but before any decisive battle was fought, the chieftains in both countries interfered and persuaded the two youthful combatants to make peace. At a meeting at the Brenn Islands, at the mouth of the Götha Elv, an agreement was made in accordance with which each made the other his heir and successor, in case he died, without issue (1038). This might, indeed, seem to be a remote contingency, but it actually came to pass four years later (1042) when Harthaknut died and Magnus was, without opposition, proclaimed king of Denmark at the Viborg-thing, and received the allegiance of the people. Thus Norway and Denmark were for the first time united, and the descendants of Harold the Fairhaired were recognized by the Danish branch of Ragnar Lodbrok's race as their equals, as they already had been recognized by the branch governing Sweden.
Magnus must have been aware that it was to the sainthood of his father that he owed this recognition, and he lost no opportunity to show his reverence for his memory. He commenced the erection of a church in Nidaros, which was to bear St. Olafs name, and made him a new sarcophagus, adorned with gold and silver and precious stones. It was natural enough that he should take pleasure in the society of those who had been nearest to his father and stood at his side at Stiklestad. But the hostility aroused by the battle and the events that led to it existed, in some measure, yet; and one party began to fan the smouldering embers of distrust in the king's mind and incite him to vengeance against the other. Young as Magnus was, it is scarcely to be wondered at that he allowed himself to be influenced by this evil counsel. In spite of the amnesty which he had in Russia given to those who had borne arms against St. Olaf, he began now to punish all the leaders in the rebellion with great harshness. It was the Trönders, particularly, who had to bear the brunt of his wrath; because it was they who had made common cause with Knut and had been foremost in driving the sainted king into exile. Kalf Arnesson was among the first to experience the changed temper of King Magnus. Jealousies had early arisen between him and Einar Thambarskelver, both of whom called the king their foster-son and prided themselves on possessing his confidence. Once, it is said, Kalf had seated himself in Einar's seat next to the king, whereupon Einar sat down upon Kalf's shoulder, saying:
"It behooves an old bull to be stalled before the calf."
At a party at the estate Haug, in Vaerdalen, the king uttered to Einar a desire to visit the field where his father had fallen.
"I can give you no information about that," answered Einar, "as I was not present. But let Kalf ride along with you. He can give you full particulars."