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 may often be used to either refer to a descendant of a deposed monarchy or a claim that is not legitimat ...

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)
/ref>

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, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

, his nickname ''slembi'' could be translated to mean "noisy", ''Slembidjákn'' would mean "noisy priest". Sigurd appeared before King

Harald Gille Harald Gille (, c. 1102 − 14 December 1136), also known as Harald IV, was king of Norway from 1130 until his death. His byname Gille is probably . Background Harald was born ca. 1102 in Ireland or the Hebrides, more likely the former. Accord ...

claiming that he was an illegitimate son of the late King Magnus III of Norway. He demanded his putative half-brother King

, 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 Eric II the Memorable (; – 18 September 1137) was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Niels of Denmark, and ...

supported them for an unsuccessful campaign. On November 12, 1139, in the naval Battle of Holmengrå near Hvaler in

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

, 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 (, , ) 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 composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'', ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is assumed to be a source for what is known as the '' Heimskringla'', containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th ...

'', and ''

Morkinskinna ''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275. The name ''Morkinskinn ...

''. 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 and Birkebeiner. 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