Sigurd Magnusson Slembe (or Slembedjakn) (died 12 November 1139) was a Norwegian

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

to the throne. He was the subject of '' Sigurd Slembe'', the historical drama written by the Norwegian playwright

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

in 1862. ''Sigurd Slembe'' (Norsk biografisk leksikon)
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Biography

Sigurd is commonly believed to have been born around 1100 in southern Norway and was said to have been raised by the priest Adalbrikt. His mother was apparently Thora Saxesdatter. Sigurd himself was consecrated to be a deacon. In

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

, his nickname ''slembi'' could be translated to mean "noisy", ''Slembidjákn'' would mean "noisy priest". Sigurd appeared before King Harald Gille claiming that he was an illegitimate son of the late King Magnus III of Norway. He demanded his putative half-brother King Harald Gille, whose origin actually was quite similar, share power with him as co-kings. Sigurd married Audhild Torleiv, the daughter of Thorleif Maddadsson. Sigurd had himself proclaimed king in 1135, but his claim was not recognized by King Harald Gille. In 1136, Sigurd arranged for Harald Gille to be killed in his sleep. As soon as Harald was dead, Sigurd had the previous King Magnus IV of Norway, his putative nephew, reinstated as co-king. This was apparently in the hope of increased support and in order to secure his own position. Magnus had previously been imprisoned, blinded and mutilated by Harald. As Magnus was rather incapacitated, Sigurd claimed royal power in Magnus' name. However, Sigurd was convicted and outlawed for

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

. Sigurd Slembe and Magnus continued to find little support in Norway. King Eric II of Denmark supported them for an unsuccessful campaign. On November 12, 1139, in the naval Battle of Holmengrå near

Hvaler Hvaler is a municipality that is a group of islands in the southern part of Viken County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjærhalden, on the island of Kirkeøy. The only police station in the municip ...

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

, the Danish supported forces of Magnus and Sigurd were put against supporters of King Inge I of Norway, who was still a child. Magnus was killed in the battle, while Sigurd was captured and betrayed.''Erik 2. Emune'' (Den Store Danske)
/ref> Sigurd met his end in a brutal manner, tortured to death. His arms and calves were first crushed with axe-hammers, after which the skin on his head was cleaved, his back was flayed and his spine broken. He was thereafter hanged, decapitated and thrown into a scree of rocks.

Primary sources

The main sources for Sigurd and his era are the

kings' sagas Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were comp ...

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'', '' Fagrskinna'', and '' Morkinskinna''. They in turn base their accounts on the now lost '' Hryggjarstykki'', whose author, Eiríkr Oddsson, either witnessed the events himself, or spoke to people who had.

Historical context

During the civil war period of Norwegian history (1130–1240), there were several interlocked conflicts of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts were the unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between church and king. There were then two main parties, firstly known by varying names or no names at all, but finally condensed into parties of

Bagler The Bagli Party or Bagler (Old Norse: ''Baglarr'', Norwegian Bokmål: ''Bagler'', Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Baglar'') was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, cler ...

and

Birkebeiner The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar (; no, Birkebeinarane ( nynorsk) or ( bokmål)) was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla. The name has its origins in prop ...

. The rallying point regularly was a royal son, who was set up as the head figure of the party in question, to oppose the rule of king from the contesting party.

Ancestry

References

Related sources