The Kings of Norway
Magnus the Good — the King Fetched from the East
The boy in Kyiv
When St Olaf rode down from the mountains to his death at Stiklestad, he had left his young son Magnus behind in the east, in the keeping of King Jarisleif — Yaroslav the Wise — and Queen Ingegerd at Kyiv and Novgorod.[1] The boy who would be king of Norway was, for those years, a foster-child of the Rus, growing up on the river-road far from the kingdom that was his by blood.
This is the hinge the previous saga set: Olaf's exile east had a future hidden in it. The father went into Russia and did not come back; but he had planted his heir there, in the one great Christian court of the eastern road. While Norway groaned under Canute's son and the rebellion soured, the king it needed was being raised in Garðaríki — and the road that had taken Olaf in would have to give Magnus back.
The source text · 1
Immediately after Yule (A.D. 1080), King Olaf made himself ready; and had about 200 of his men with him. King Jarisleif gave him all the horses, and whatever else he required; and when he was ready he set off. King Jarisleif and Queen Ingegerd parted from him with all honour; and he left his son Magnus behind with the king. The first part of his journey, down to the sea-coast, King Olaf and his men made on the ice; but as spring approached, and the ice broke up, they rigged their vessels, and when they were ready and got a wind they set out to sea, and had a good voyage. When Olaf came to the island of Gotland with his ships he heard the news -- which was told as truth, both in Svithjod, Denmark, and over all Norway -- that Earl Hakon was missing, and Norway without a head. This gave the king and his men good hope of the issue of their journey. From thence they sailed, when the wind suited, to Svithjod, and went into the Maelar lake, to Aros, and sent men to the Swedish King Onund appointing a meeting. King Onund received his brother-in-law's message in the kindest manner, and went to him according to his invitation. Astrid also came to King Olaf, with the men who had attended her; and great was the joy on all sides at this meeting. The Swedish king also received his brother-in-law King Olaf with great joy when they met.— heimskringla
St Olaf leaves his son Magnus with King Jarisleif in Russia (Laing).
Fetched home down the river-road
Within a few years the chiefs who had killed St Olaf could not stomach the rule of Canute's son Svein and his mother Alfifa, and they repented their victory. In the spring Einar Tambaskelfer and Kalf Arnason — Kalf himself one of the men of Stiklestad — made ready with a great and chosen retinue and went east, through Sweden and across to Russia, and came in autumn to Ladoga; from there they sent up to Novgorod to fetch the boy.[1]
And so, after Yule, Magnus began his own journey — out of the East, from Novgorod to Ladoga, where he rigged out his ships as soon as the spring ice loosened, and sailed west.[2] The saga marks the route precisely because it matters: the same Austrvegr that carried Norse traders to Miklagarð and carried his hunted father into exile now carries the son home to a crown. The road east runs both ways, and this time it runs toward Norway.
The source text · 2
Early in spring (A.D. 1034) Einar Tambaskelfer and Kalf Arnason made themselves ready for a journey, with a great retinue of the best and most select men that could be found in the Throndhjem country. They went in spring eastward over the ridge of the country to Jamtaland, from thence to Helsingjaland, and came to Svithjod, where they procured ships, with which in summer they proceeded east to Russia, and came in autumn to Ladoga. They sent men up to Novgorod to King Jarisleif, with the errand that they offered Magnus, the son of King Olaf the Saint, to take him with them, follow him to Norway, and give him assistance to attain his father's heritage and be made king over the country. When this message came to King Jarisleif he held a consultation with the queen and some chiefs, and they all resolved unanimously to send a message to the Northmen, and ask them to come to King Jarisleif and Magnus; for which journey safe conduct was given them. When they came to Novgorod it was settled among them that the Northmen who had come there should become Magnus's men, and be his subjects; and to this Kalf and the other men who had been against King Olaf at Stiklestad were solemnly bound by oath. On the other hand, King Magnus promised them, under oath, secure peace and full reconciliation; and that he would be true and faithful to them all when he got the dominions and kingdom of Norway. He was to become Kalf Arnason's foster-son; and Kalf should be bound to do all that Magnus might think necessary for extending his dominion, and making it more independent than formerly.— heimskringla
Einar and Kalf sail east to Russia, reach Ladoga, send to Novgorod for Magnus (Laing).
After Yule Magnus Olafson began his journey from the East from Novgorod to Ladoga, where he rigged out his ships as soon as the ice was loosened in spring (A.D. 1035). Arnor, the earls' skald, tells of this in the poem on Magnus: --— heimskringla
Magnus journeys from the East, Novgorod to Ladoga, and sails west.
Received by his stepmother
Sailing west from the East to Sweden, Magnus and his companions put in at Sigtuna. There was Queen Astrid, the Swedish-born widow of St Olaf and Magnus's own stepmother, and she received her stepson gladly and well.[1] At once she summoned a great Thing of the Swedes and spoke for the boy with all her weight, winning him support and safe passage toward his kingdom.
The saga is careful to show that Magnus did not simply appear and seize Norway; he was carried home on a chain of loyalties his father had left behind — a foster-king of the Rus, championed by a Swedish queen, escorted by repentant Norwegian chiefs. St Olaf, dead, was assembling his son's kingship out of the very people and places of his exile. The boy from Kyiv came back trailing the whole eastern world behind him.
The source text · 1
Here it is related that when King Magnus and his fellow-travellers sailed from the East to Svithjod, they brought up at Sigtuna. Emund Olafson was then king in Svithjod. Queen Astrid, who had been married to King Olaf the Saint, was also there. She received very gladly and well her stepson King Magnus, and summoned immediately a numerous Thing of Swedes at a place called Hangtar. At the Thing Queen Astrid spoke these words: "Here is come to us a son of Olaf the Saint, called Magnus, who intends to make an expedition to Norway to seek his father's heritage. It is my great duty to give him aid towards this expedition; for he is my stepson, as is well known to all, both Swedes and Norwegians. Neither shall he want men or money, in so far as I can procure them or have influence, in order that his strength may be as great as possible; and all the men who will support this cause of his shall have my fullest friendship; and I would have it known that I intend myself to go with him on this attempt, that all may see I will spare nothing that is in my power to help him." She spoke long and cleverly in this strain; but when she had ended many replied thus: "The Swedes made no honourable progress in Norway when they followed King Olaf his father, and now no better success is to be expected, as this man is but in years of boyhood; and therefore we have little inclination for this expedition." Astrid replies, "All men who wish to be thought of true courage must not be deterred by such considerations. If any have lost connections at the side of King Olaf, or been themselves wounded, now is the time to show a man's heart and courage, and go to Norway to take vengeance." Astrid succeeded so far with words and encouragement that many men determined to go with her, and follow King Magnus to Norway. Sigvat the skald speaks of this:--— heimskringla
Queen Astrid, St Olaf's widow, receives Magnus at Sigtuna and wins the Swedes for him (Laing).
The harsh young king
Taken as king, the young Magnus came home with a hard heart. He had not forgotten that many of the very men now bowing to him had risen against his father and fought at Stiklestad, and he set about avenging the old wrongs — punishing, confiscating, settling scores — until the chiefs and farmers grew afraid of their avenging boy-king, and the country began to mutter and threaten to rise against him.[1]
It is a real crisis, and the saga does not hide it: the son of the saint was on the way to becoming a tyrant, his rule curdling into the same resentment that had destroyed his father. The kingdom fetched home at such cost was within a season of being lost again to fear and hatred. What turned it was not an army or a battle, but a poem.
The source text · 1
Sigvat accordingly composed a poem, which he called the "Free-speaking Song", which begins with saying the king had delayed too long to pacify the people, who were threatening to rise in tumult against him. He said: --— heimskringla
The people threaten to rise against the harsh young king (Laing).
The Free-speaking Song
His father's old skald Sigvat did the bravest thing a poet could do: he told the king the truth to his face, in verse. He composed the Bersöglisvísur, the 'Free-speaking Song', warning Magnus that he had delayed too long to pacify his people, who were near revolt, and exhorting him to keep the laws his father had set and rule with justice rather than vengeance.[1]
And the king listened. The song, and the honest men who spoke the same way, had a good effect on him; Magnus took counsel with the wisest men and ordered his affairs by law instead of by grudge.[2] This is the moment he becomes 'the Good' — not by softness of nature but by being told the truth and heeding it. The saga makes a poet, not a sword, the saviour of the kingdom: the word that turns a tyrant is mightier than the rebellion that would have unmade him.
The source text · 2
Sigvat accordingly composed a poem, which he called the "Free-speaking Song", which begins with saying the king had delayed too long to pacify the people, who were threatening to rise in tumult against him. He said: --— heimskringla
Sigvat composes the Free-speaking Song to rebuke the king (Laing).
In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his father had established. This exhortation had a good effect on the king, for many others held the same language to him. So at last the king consulted the most prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law. Thereafter King Magnus had the law-book composed in writing which is still in use in Throndhjem district, and is called "The Grey Goose".1 King Magnus afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the country people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.— heimskringla
The song turns the king to rule by law; he earns the name 'the Good'.
The Grey Goose
Magnus made the turn permanent in writing. Heeding the call to keep his father's laws, he had a law-book composed and set down — the code long used in the Throndhjem district and known as Grágás, the 'Grey Goose', from the colour of its parchment.[1] The saga pauses to marvel at it: law so far advanced among the Northmen that the very forms of legal procedure were fixed, and the slightest breach of form could lose a man his case.
It is a quiet, enormous thing. The boy fetched from Kyiv, who might have ruled by fear, instead gives Norway a written law — the same reverence for legal form that runs through every feud and lawsuit in the Icelandic sagas, here enthroned at the centre of the kingdom. Magnus the Good is remembered not for conquest but for this: the king who chose the law-book over the sword, and earned his name by it.
The source text · 1
In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his father had established. This exhortation had a good effect on the king, for many others held the same language to him. So at last the king consulted the most prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law. Thereafter King Magnus had the law-book composed in writing which is still in use in Throndhjem district, and is called "The Grey Goose".1 King Magnus afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the country people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.— heimskringla
Magnus has the law-book Grágás ('Grey Goose') composed (Laing).
The crown of Denmark
By a treaty sworn with the Danish king Hardaknut — each to be the other's heir if he died without a son — Magnus had a claim on Denmark, and when Hardaknut died he pressed it. He sent word south reminding the Danish chiefs of their oaths, gathered a great army, and sailed over to Jutland in his father's great ship the Bison.[1] In Denmark he was joyfully received, summoned the people to the Thing, and was taken as their king.[2]
So the son of St Olaf came to rule both Norway and Denmark together — a northern empire reaching from the Arctic coast to the German border. The hunted exile's boy now wore two crowns. But a double kingdom is a double burden, and in Denmark a rival was already waiting who would claim the southern half for himself.
The source text · 2
When King Magnus Olafson heard of Hardaknut's death, he immediately sent people south to Denmark, with a message to the men who had bound themselves by oath to the peace and agreement which was made between King Magnus and Hardaknut, and reminded them of their pledge. He added, as a conclusion, that in summer (A.D. 1042.) he would come with his army to Denmark to take possession of his Danish dominions, in terms of the agreement, or to fall in the field with his army. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: --— heimskringla
Magnus presses his treaty-claim on Denmark after Hardaknut's death (Laing).
When King Magnus came to Denmark he was joyfully received. He appointed a Thing without delay, to which he summoned the people of the country, and desired they would take him as king, according to the agreement which had been entered into. As the highest of the chiefs of the country were bound by oath to King Magnus, and were desirous of keeping their word and oath, they endeavoured zealously to promote the cause with the people. It contributed also that King Canute the Great, and all his descendants, were dead; and a third assistance was, that his father King Olaf's sanctity and miracles were become celebrated in all countries.— heimskringla
Magnus received in Denmark and taken as king.
Too great an earl
To govern Denmark Magnus raised up Svein Ulfsson, nephew of Canute, girding him with sword and shield and helmet and giving him an earl's title and fiefs, and Svein swore fidelity on holy relics.[1] But Magnus's wise old foster-father Einar Tambaskelfer saw the danger and named it in five words as the new earl walked out: 'Too great an earl — too great an earl, my foster-son.'[2]
Einar was right. Svein, once raised, broke his oath and had himself proclaimed king of Denmark, and the two were at war. The saga loves this kind of compressed wisdom — the old counsellor's curt prophecy that the king's generosity has armed his rival. Magnus the Good's very openness, the trait that made him loved, here makes him an enemy who will outlast him.
The source text · 2
Then the king stood up, took a sword, and girt it on the earl's loins, and took a shield and fastened it on his shoulders, put a helmet upon his head, and gave him the title of earl, with the same fiefs in Denmark which his father Earl Ulf had formerly held. Afterwards a shrine was brought forth containing holy relics, and Svein laid his hand hereon, and swore the oath of fidelity to King Magnus; upon which the king led the earl to the highseat by his side. So says Thiodolf: --— heimskringla
Magnus makes Svein Ulfsson an earl, who swears fidelity on relics (Laing).
Then Einar Tambaskelfer said, "Too great an earl -- too great an earl, my foster-son!"— heimskringla
Einar warns: 'Too great an earl, my foster-son.'
The dream before the heath
Then came his father, out of death, to fight for him. A vast heathen Wendish army was massing against Magnus in Jutland, and on Michaelmas eve, the king dozing before the battle, St Olaf appeared to him in a dream and said: art thou so melancholy and afraid because the Wends come against thee with a great host? Be not afraid of heathens, though they be many; for I shall be with thee in the battle. Prepare to fight when thou hearest my trumpet.[1]
This is the saint's promise made good to his own blood. The St Olaf whose miracles had begun on the field where he died now reaches across to his living son on the eve of his greatest danger. The boy from Kyiv, who never really knew his father, is given him back for one night as a guardian — the dead king of Norway standing watch over the kingdom he had crossed the world to keep.
The source text · 1
The following day was Michaelmas eve. Towards dawn the king slumbered, and dreamt that his father, King Olaf the Saint, appeared to him, and said, "Art thou so melancholy and afraid, because the Vindland people come against thee with a great army? Be not afraid of heathens, although they be many; for I shall be with thee in the battle. Prepare, therefore, to give battle to the Vindlanders, when thou hearest my trumpet." When the king awoke he told his dream to his men, and the day was then dawning. At that moment all the people heard a ringing of bells in the air; and those among King Magnus's men who had been in Nidaros thought that it was the ringing of the bell called Glod, which King Olaf had presented to the church of Saint Clement in the town of Nidaros.— heimskringla
St Olaf appears to Magnus in a dream before Hlyrskog, promising to fight beside him (Laing).
Hlyrskog's Heath
Magnus woke, ordered the war-trumpets sounded — and at that very moment the Wendish army advanced from the south across the river. The king threw off his coat of ring-mail and went into the fight in a red silk shirt over his clothes, swinging the battle-axe called Hel that had belonged to his grandfather.[1] The slaughter that followed was, the saga says, the greatest of heathen men ever known in the northern lands since the coming of Christianity, while few of Magnus's own fell.[2]
Hlyrskog's Heath is the summit of his reign and the proof of his father's promise: the dead saint's living son, fighting with the saint behind him, breaks a heathen host utterly. It binds the whole arc together — the Christianising mission of the two Olafs, carried forward by the third generation, and St Olaf's sanctity made into victory on the battlefield. The road east had delivered a king who could win the North for the faith.
The source text · 2
Then King Magnus stood up, and ordered the war trumpets to sound, and at that moment the Vindland army advanced from the south across the river against him; on which the whole of the king's army stood up, and advanced against the heathens. King Magnus threw off from him his coat of ring-mail, and had a red silk shirt outside over his clothes, and had in his hands the battle-axe called Hel,1 which had belonged to King Olaf. King Magnus ran on before all his men to the enemy's army, and instantly hewed down with both hands every man who came against him. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: --— heimskringla
Magnus fights in a red silk shirt with the axe Hel (Laing).
It is a common saying, that there never was so great a slaughter of men in the northern lands, since the time of Christianity, as took place among the Vindland people on Hlyrskog's Heath. On the other side, not many of King Magnus's people were killed, although many were wounded. After the battle the king ordered the wounds of his men to be bound; but there were not so many doctors in the army as were necessary, so the king himself went round, and felt the hands of those he thought best suited for the business; and when he had thus stroked their palms, he named twelve men, who, he thought, had the softest hands, and told them to bind the wounds of the people; and although none of them had ever tried it before, they all became afterwards the best of doctors. There were two Iceland men among them; the one was Thorkil, a son of Geire, from Lyngar; the other was Atle, father of Bard Svarte of Selardal, from whom many good doctors are descended. After this battle, the report of the miracle which King Olaf the Saint had worked was spread widely through the country; and it was the common saying of the people, that no man could venture to fight against King Magnus Olafson, for his father Saint Olaf stood so near to him that his enemies, on that account. never could do him harm.— heimskringla
The greatest slaughter of heathens in the North, at Hlyrskog's Heath.
The good king's short day
Magnus ruled Norway and Denmark together, gave his country its law, beat the heathen, and warred Svein Ulfsson up and down the Danish isles — and he did it all in a handful of years, for he died young, still called the Good.[1] The double crown passed; Svein took Denmark in the end, and Magnus's fierce uncle Harald Hardrada took Norway, and the saga moves on to that harder man.
But Magnus closes the great eastern arc. St Olaf went into Russia an exile and died; the boy he left at Kyiv was fetched home down the river-road and made a king who chose law over vengeance and won the North for his father's faith. The Austrvegr, which runs through this whole atlas as a road of slaves and traders and Varangians, here did its kindest work: it gave a murdered saint's son back to his kingdom, and Norway its good king. From Holmgard to the throne — the road east, completed.
The source text · 1
While King Magnus the Good, a son of King Olaf the Saint, ruled over Norway, as before related, the Earl Ragnvald Brusason lived with him. Earl Thorfin Sigurdson, the uncle of Ragnvald, ruled then over Orkney. King Magnus sent Ragnvald west to Orkney, and ordered that Thorfin should let him have his father's heritage. Thorfin let Ragnvald have a third part of the land along with him; for so had Erase, the father of Ragnvald, had it at his dying day. Earl Thorfin was married to Ingebjorg, the earl-mother, who was a daughter of Fin Arnason. Earl Ragnvald thought he should have two-thirds of the land, as Olaf the Saint had promised to his father Bruse, and as Bruse had enjoyed as long as Olaf lived. This was the origin of a great strife between these relations, concerning which we have a long saga. They had a great battle in Pentland Firth, in which Kalf Arnason was with Earl Thorfin. So says Bjarne Gullbrarskald: --— heimskringla
Magnus the Good, son of St Olaf, ruling Norway (Laing).
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