The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

From this time forth, Sverre had the upper hand, and though the war lasted for several years more, it changed its character. It was no longer a fight between law and order on one side and a handful of outlawed adventurers on the other. It was rather a civil war between two well-matched parties. Personally Magnus was indeed no match for Sverre, but as the representative of the old order of things—a monarchy deriving its power and support from the tribal aristocracy,[A]—he was no mean opponent. With Sverre and his Birchlegs a lower stratum of society arose—an uncouth and hungry democracy,—demanding its share of the good things of life, which had not hitherto been within its reach. It is Sverre's merit that he knew how to discipline these fierce and greedy elements, and force them into subjection to law and order. While before the battle at Kalvskindet he stimulated their cupidity by offering each man the honors and dignities of the man whom he slew, he took good care, when the victory was won, to keep this cupidity within bounds. He kept his promises, raised men of low degree to high offices, rewarded fidelity and valor, and revolutionized society in a democratic spirit. But, considering the time in which he lived and the completeness of his victory, he showed remarkable moderation. He meant the new order of things which he founded to be lasting, and instead of turning his victorious Birchlegs loose to prey upon the state, he charged them with the maintenance of law and order, invested them with responsibility, and punished them if they exceeded their authority. He could do this without peril, because his men loved and admired him as much as they feared him. His power over them was complete. He had shared the evil days with them, braved dangers and hardships, and tested their manhood.

[A] Munch: Det Norske Folks Historie, iii., 107. Sars: Udsigt over den Norske Historie, ii., cap. iv.

An intimate comradeship and attachment had grown up between them, which, however, did not exclude authority on one side, and respect and obedience on the other.

How much Magnus had lost by the battle of Kalvskindet is indicated by the fact that his adherents now get a party name and sink to the position formerly occupied by their opponents. They were called "Heklungs," because it was told of them that they had once robbed a beggar woman whose money was wrapped up in a cloak (hekl). "Birchlegs," from having been a term of reproach, now became an honorable appellation which Sverre's veterans were not a little proud of.[A]

[A] Munch: iii., 106.

Magnus spent the year after his defeat mostly in Bergen where he had many adherents, went thence to Viken, and made every effort to gather an army with which to destroy his enemies. He must have had considerable success, for when he went northward to Nidaros, he had a force much more numerous than the one Sverre could muster. Nevertheless he suffered an ignominious defeat at the Ilevolds (1180), near Nidaros, and had to flee head over heels to Bergen. Thither Sverre followed him, and came near being caught in a trap by one of Magnus' followers, Jon Kutiza, who came with an army of peasants to kill that "devil's priest." The devil's priest was, however, as usual, too clever for the Heklungs, and sent them flying, as soon as he lifted his sword. Magnus, in the meanwhile, had sought refuge in Denmark, where King Valdemar received him well, and this kingdom became the base of operations against Sverre. Long time did not elapse before the Heklungs were again on the way northward with thirty-two ships, and came within an ace of making an end of Sverre in the Saltö Sound; but as usual he slipped out of the trap by a daring stratagem. Soon after, Magnus overtook the Birchlegs at Nordness (1181), near Bergen, and this time Sverre, who was anxious not to lose his prestige, determined to stay and give battle, although his fleet was but half as large as that of his enemies. The Birchlegs were, as a rule, not good sailors, and never fought as well on the sea as on dry land. The Heklungs made a fierce onset, and were gradually gaining several advantages, when Sverre stepped forward where the fight was hottest, lifted his hands toward the sky, and sang in a loud, clear voice the Latin hymn, "Alma chorus domini." Hostile missiles beat like hail about him; but though he had no shield, he remained unharmed. Just then Magnus, flushed with warlike zeal, stormed forward and was on the point of boarding one of the hostile ships, when he received a wound through the wrist. The pain made him pause abruptly, and in so doing he slipped upon the bloody deck and fell backward. The Birchlegs sent up a tremendous shout of victory, and Orm King's-Brother (a half-brother of Harold Gille's sons), hearing that the king was slain, cried: "Then the fate of the realm is decided."

Instantly he cut the ropes which held the ships together, and, breaking the battle-line, fled as fast as he could. Magnus, getting on his feet, called vainly to his men that he was alive, and begged them not to flee from a victory. But the confusion soon became general, and Sverre, who was quick to take advantage of it, captured ship after ship and forced the rest into ignominious flight.

The war was still continued for three years with changing fortunes. In fact, Magnus, whenever he returned from Denmark, where he sojourned in the intervals between his defeats, seemed as formidable as ever, and had little difficulty in gathering an army under his banner. Sverre, therefore, in order to put an end to an internecine conflict which was draining the resources of the country, proposed to share the kingdom with him, and, when this proposal was rejected, that they should reign alternately for a term of three years each. This well-meant offer Magnus likewise repelled, and, after repeated interviews and fruitless negotiations, hostilities were resumed. Three times during the years 1181 and 1182 the Heklungs attacked Nidaros, where the Birchlegs had their head-quarters, and fought with variable success. In 1183 Sverre assumed again the offensive, surprised Magnus in Bergen, and compelled him to flee to Denmark, abandoning his fleet, his treasures, and the crown regalia. Archbishop Eystein, who had been one of the staunchest partisans of the Heklungs, had, some years before, fled to England, and had hoped to injure Sverre by declaring him in the ban of the church. Sverre was, however, not in the least disturbed by the ban, while the archbishop was greatly disturbed by the loss of his see. Perceiving that Magnus' chances of regaining his power were diminishing, the wily prelate opened negotiations with the excommunicated king and received him back into the bosom of the Church, on condition of being restored to his dignities.

A last attempt to recover what he had lost was made by Magnus in the summer of 1184. He then sailed northward to Bergen with a fleet of twenty-six ships and about three thousand two hundred men. He learned that Sverre had sailed up into the Norefjord (a narrow arm of the Sognefjord) with a few ships and a small force of men, for the purpose of punishing the Sognings, who had killed his prefect, Ivar Darre. Sverre was, as a rule, not easily surprised. But in the present instance he had not the faintest suspicion of danger until he saw the galleys of the Heklungs steering right down upon him. Escape was not to be thought of. He was shut in on all sides. The Heklungs, seeing that he had but fourteen ships, and that his force scarcely numbered more than half of theirs, were disposed to give thanks to God for having at last delivered their enemies into their hands. But it is sometimes a doubtful blessing to have such enemies as the Birchlegs delivered into one's hands. At all events, Magnus began to have doubts, as soon as battle had commenced, as to who were the captors and who the captives. The Birchlegs fought with heroism, and the Heklungs fell in great numbers and many leaped into the sea. Among the latter was King Magnus. It was midnight before the bloody work was at an end, and by that time two thousand men had lost their lives. All the ships of the Heklungs and much booty fell into Sverre's hands. When the morning broke there could be seen through the clear waters of the Sognefjord the corpses of slain chieftains lying outstretched on the bottom, while the fishes swam around them. The corpse of King Magnus was not found until two days after the battle, and was then taken to Bergen, where it was buried with great solemnity.

In the battle of Norefjord fell, beside the king, the flower of the Norse aristocracy. King Inge's son Harold, Orm King's-Brother and his son Ivar Steig, and a large number of proud chieftains, were among the slain. They had pinned their hope to King Magnus, and with his death their dominion was at an end. With Sverre Sigurdsson's reign begins a new epoch in the history of Norway.