| Magnus I | |
|---|---|
| King of Norway, King of Denmark | |
 |
|
| Reign | 1035-1047 (Norway) 1042-1047 (Denmark) |
| Born | 1024 |
| Birthplace | Norway |
| Died | October 25, 1047 |
| Place of death | Zealand |
| Buried | Trondheim |
| Royal House | Fairhair |
| Father | Olaf II |
| Mother | Alvhild (concubine) |
Magnus I (1024 – October 25, 1047), known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was the illegitimate son of King Olaf II of Norway, later known as Saint Olaf, by his English concubine Alfhild or Alvhild, and according to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla was named Magnus (Magnús in Old Norse) by Sigvat, his father's Icelandic skald, after Charlemagne, Carolus Magnus in Latin.[1]
From 1028 to 1035, he was in exile in Kievan Rus' with his mother, but after the death of Canute the Great, the Norwegian noblemen did not want to be under Danish rule any longer, in particular the oppressive rule of Canute's son Svein and his mother Ælfgifu (known as Álfífa in Norway).[2] Einarr Þambarskelfir and Kalf Arnesson, Magnus' father's ally and the enemy commander from Stiklestad, went together to Gardariki to bring the boy back to rule as King of Norway.[3] He was acclaimed king and Svein and his mother fled; Svein died shortly after. At first Magnus sought revenge against his father's enemies, but on Sigvat's advice stopped doing so, which is why he became known as "good" or "noble."[4]
Another son of Canute, Harthacanute, was on the throne in Denmark but wanted to reunite Norway with it; however, the noblemen of both countries brought the two kings together at the Göta River, the border between their kingdoms, and they made peace and agreed that the first of them to die would be succeeded by the other.[5][6] In 1042 Harthacanute died and Magnus also became King of Denmark, in spite of a claim by Canute's nephew Sweyn, whom Harthacanute had left in control of Denmark when he went to England,[7] and who had some support. Magnus destroyed the Jomsborg, headquarters of the Jomsvikings, as part of consolidating his control; Sweyn fled east and returned as one of the leaders of an invasion by the Wends in 1043, which Magnus decisively defeated at the Battle of Lyrskov Heath, near Hedeby.[8][9] Magnus swung St. Olaf's battle-axe, named Hel after the goddess of death.[10][11] He had dreamed of his father the night before; Norwegians swore that before the battle they could hear the bell that St Olaf had given to the church at Kaupang, a sign that the saint was watching over his son and the army.[12] It was the greatest victory ever over the Wends, with up to 15,000 killed.
Sweyn continued to oppose Magnus in Denmark, although according to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, they reached a settlement by which Sweyn became Earl of Denmark under Magnus.[13]
Magnus wanted to completely reunite Canute's North Sea Empire by also becoming king of England. When Harthacanute died, the English nobles had chosen as their king Æthelred's son Edward (later known as Edward the Confessor); Magnus wrote to him that he intended to attack England with combined Norwegian and Danish forces and "he will then govern it who wins the victory."[14] The English were mostly hostile to Magnus; Sweyn was made welcome there, although Edward's mother, Emma, curiously favored Magnus and in 1043 the king confiscated her property, with which by one report she had promised to assist Magnus.[15]
Meanwhile, Magnus' uncle Harald Hardrada had returned to Norway from the east and contested his rule there, while Sweyn was still a threat in Denmark. In 1046, Magnus made Harald his co-king in Norway.[16][17] By late 1046, Magnus had driven Sweyn out of Denmark, but on October 25, 1047 he died suddenly, either in Zealand or in Jutland, either in an accident or of a disease, according to varying accounts.[18] He is said to have made Sweyn his heir in Denmark, and Harald in Norway. Magnus was buried with his father in Nidaros Cathedral (modern Trondheim).
Magnus was the last of St. Olaf's direct line to rule. However, in 1280, Eric II, descended through his mother from Magnus' legitimate sister, became king of Norway. Also, Magnus' daughter married a Norwegian nobleman and their child married the Earl of Orkney, one of whose descendants, James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603.
See also
Notes
- ^ Hollander, Lee Milton. (Trans.) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. University of Texas Press, 1964. ISBN 0292730616, p. 390.
- ^ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd ed. Oxford: 1971, ISBN 19-821716-1, pp. 405-06.
- ^ Karen Larsen, A History of Norway, Princeton University Press, 1950, p. 110.
- ^ Larsen, p. 111.
- ^ Larsen, p. 113.
- ^ Palle Lauring, A History of the Kingdom of Denmark, tr. David Hohnen, Copenhagen: Høst, 1960, p. 57.
- ^ Larsen, p. 113
- ^ Lauring, p. 58.
- ^ Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, The Story of Norway, New York: Putnam, 1889, p. 237.
- ^ Lauring, p. 58.
- ^ Heimskringla, trans. Hollander, p. 562.
- ^ Heimskringla, trans. Hollander, p. 561.
- ^ Heimskringla, trans. Hollander, p. 558.
- ^ Larsen, p. 114.
- ^ Stenton, pp. 426-27.
- ^ Heimskringla, trans. Hollander, pp. 593-96.
- ^ Larsen, p. 111.
- ^ Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings, London: Oxford University Press, 1973, ISBN 0-19-285063-6, p. 406; Lauring, p. 59 reports that he fell overboard from one of the ships he was mustering to invade England and drowned; other sources report that he fell from a horse, (see Knut Gjerset, History of the Norwegian People, Volume 1 New York, Macmillan, 1915, p. 279); and some say that the assignment of the two kingdoms was a deathbed statement.
Sources
- Saga Hákonar góða from Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla in Old Norse, ed. N. Linder and H. A. Haggson, online at Kulturformidlingen Norrøne Tekster og Kvad, Norway.
- Saga of Magnus the Good from Heimskringla, translated by Samuel Laing, online at the Online Medieval and Classical Library.
- Heimskringla in Icelandic, Norwegian, and English, online at Idar Lind's "Norrøn Mytologi/Norrøn Tid."
- Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, Book X chapters 21 and 22, online at Royal Danish Library.
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Magnus the Good
Cadet branch of the Fairhair dynasty
Born: 1024 Died: October 25 1047 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sveinn Alfífuson & Canute the Great |
King of Norway 1035–1047 |
Succeeded by Harald Hardrada |
| Preceded by Harthacanute |
King of Denmark 1042–1047 |
Succeeded by Sweyn Estridsson |
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