CHAPTER XXII
Sigurd the Crusader (1103-1130), and his Brothers, Eystein and Olaf
IN the autumn the remnants of King Magnus’s army and fleet left the island of Man, and with his thirteen year old son, Sigurd, returned to Norway. On their arrival in Norway, Sigurd and his two brothers, Eystein and Olaf, were proclaimed kings. Eystein, who was fourteen years old, was to have the northern, and Sigurd the southern, part of the country. Olaf was then four or five years old, and his third part of the country remained under the control of his two brothers.
When the three sons of Magnus Barefoot had been chosen kings of Norway, several of those who had been away taking part in the crusades returned home. They had made themselves renowned, and had many things to relate. Some had been to Jerusalem and some to Constantinople, and it was said that those who would enter the military service at Constantinople had the best of opportunities to earn great money. By these extraordinary tidings many of the Northmen were seized by a desire to make similar expeditions, and they asked of the two kings that one of them should place himself at the head of such an expedition. The kings agreed to this, and had the preparations made at their common expense. Many of the great men in the country took part in this enterprise, and when all was ready it was decided that Sigurd was to go with the crusade, while Eystein was to stay at home and govern the country for their joint account.
Four years after the fall of King Magnus (1107), King Sigurd sailed from Norway with sixty ships. He first visited the king of England, Henry I., and remained with him during the winter. In the spring he sailed with his fleet to Valland (the west of France), and in the fall came to Galicia, Spain, where he stayed the second winter. Along the coast he had several battles with the heathens. At the Straits of Gibraltar he defeated a large viking force, and on the island of Forminterra, east of Spain, he exterminated a band of Moorish brigands and took a great booty. After similar victories on the islands of Ivica and Minorca, he came to Sicily, where he was very well received by Duke Roger. It is stated in the saga that King Sigurd, during his stay in Sicily, conferred upon Duke Roger the title of king, though with what right he did so does not appear, nor is it mentioned by contemporary historians.
In the summer King Sigurd sailed to Palestine, and at Acre met Baldwin, king of Palestine, who received him particularly well, accompanied him to Jerusalem and showed him the holy sepulchre and other sacred places. They also rode to the river Jordan and bathed in it, and then returned to Jerusalem. King Baldwin and the patriarch of Jerusalem presented Sigurd with a splinter of the holy cross, with the condition that he, and twelve other men with him, should swear to promote Christianity with all their power, and erect an archbishop’s seat in Norway if possible, and the splinter was to be kept where the holy king Olaf reposed. Thereupon King Sigurd with his fleet assisted King Baldwin in capturing the town of Sidon, Syria, and received his share of a great booty. He then proceeded to Constantinople, and was received in the grandest style by Emperor Alexius. After having stayed here for some time and enjoyed the great festivities given in his honor, King Sigurd made preparations for his return home. He gave the emperor all his ships, and the valuable dragon head which had adorned his own ship was set up in the Sophia church. The emperor gave him horses and guides to conduct him through his dominions. Leaving quite a number of his men, who went into the service of the emperor, King Sigurd started homeward on horseback through Bulgaria, Hungary and Germany. When in the midsummer of 1111 he came to Schleswig in Denmark, Earl Eilif gave him a magnificent reception. Here he also met the Danish king Nils, who had married his stepmother, Margaret Fridkolla. King Nils accompanied him north to Jutland, and gave him a ship provided with everything needful. He then returned to Norway, where he was joyfully received by his people. He had been absent three years and a half, and all agreed that no one had ever made a more honorable expedition from Norway. From this day he was given the surname Jorsalfar, i.e., the Crusader.
While King Sigurd was attaining fame on his journeys far away from his country, King Eystein was occupied with peaceful achievements at home. A great deal was done for the real benefit of the country, and under his wise government Norway made progress in the same way that it had done in the time of his grandfather Olaf Kyrre. He improved the laws, built churches and monasteries, made harbors, and established beacon lights. On the mountain of Dovre he built cabins, where travellers could find shelter. In Bergen he built the monastery at Nordnes, Michael’s Church, the Church of the Apostles, and the great king’s hall. In Nidaros he built the Church of St. Nikolas. He also built a Church at Throndenes in Halogaland. King Eystein also extended the limits of the country, not by warfare and bloodshed, but by peaceful negotiations. Thus he gained the allegiance of the inhabitants of the Swedish province Jemteland, which was formerly a Norwegian province, but was taken by Sweden after the fall of Olaf Trygvason.
King Olaf was taken sick and died before he reached manhood, and it seems to have been only in name that he had any share in the government. The relation between Eystein and Sigurd was not always the most cordial, and Sigurd was usually to blame for it. The winter of 1112-13 King Eystein spent most of the time at Sarpsborg. There lived at that time at Mikle-Dal in Aamord a rich and influential man called Olaf of Dal. He spent a good part of the winter at Sarpsborg with his daughter Borghild, a very handsome and accomplished girl. Borghild and King Eystein often met, and the king found great pleasure in conversing with her. The people began to talk about this friendship, and King Sigurd, who was then at Konghelle, also heard of the girl that his brother had taken a liking to. When Borghild heard it whispered that people talked ill of her intimacy with King Eystein, she took it much to heart. When Eystein had gone north she went to Sarpsborg, and, after suitable fasts, carried red-hot irons to prove her innocence, endured the test, and thus cleared herself from all offence. Sigurd then rode over to her home, where he remained all night, made Borghild his concubine and took her away with him. They had a son, who was called Magnus, and was immediately sent to Halogaland to be fostered by Vidkun Jonson of Biarkey.
The relation between the brothers remained strained as long as they both were kings, but it never came to a breach of peace. Occasionally they even peacefully met as each other’s guests. On one of these occasions, when the two kings were feasting together at one of Eystein’s estates, they had what was called a “man-measuring,” or comparison of merits. The saga says that in the evening, when the people began to drink, the ale was not good, so that the guests were very quiet and still. Then said King Eystein: “Why are the people so silent? It is more proper in parties that people are merry, so let us find some jest over our ale that will amuse us; for surely, brother Sigurd, all will like to see us happy.”
Sigurd replied, rather bluntly: “Do you talk as much as you please, but give me leave to be silent.”
Eystein said: “It is a common custom over the ale-table for one person to compare himself with another, and now let us do so.” Sigurd did not answer.