The Sons of Harald Gilli 273 



Gillechrist, a sou of Magnus Bareleg. He gained little 

 support for his own claims, save among the wilder 

 spirits of the borderland; but, with the help of the 

 small army he raised among these, Sigurd Slembidjakn 

 managed to release the blind Magnus, and the opposi- 

 tion party to King Harald was made up of the adherents 

 of both Magnus and Sigurd. 



The aristocracy of Norway were now split up into 

 two fiercely hostile sections, caring in reality little about 

 the rights of the leaders under whom they professed to 

 fight, but each burning for revenge upon the other. The 

 lendermeu were, in fact, brought to almost precisely 

 the same condition in which the English nobility were 

 at the time of the Wars of the Eoses. Now, if a leader 

 fell, his followers never thought of acknowledging his 

 rival, they simply looked for a new claimant to the 

 throne to lead their party, the best they could find. 

 Harald Gilli at length defeated and slew his two rivals, 

 Magnus and Sigurd, at the battle of Holmensgraa, and 

 for a moment peace seemed to be restored. Harald 

 Gilli was, however, himself murdered in a.d. 1136. 



Harald left four sons by different mothers. One of 

 them, Eystein, was in Scotland at the time of his 

 father's death, and the government first devolved 

 upon two brothers, Sigurd and Ingi. When Eystein 

 appeared, and later on a fourth brother, Magnus, the 

 country was divided among all the sons of Harald Gilli. 



For a short time there was peace. Then war broke 

 out again between the brothers, or, say, between the 

 lendermeu of the four different courts. Ingi, who was 

 physically the weakest of the sons of Harald — he was 

 slightly deformed, and could with difficulty mouut on 



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