Erli7ig Skakki 275 



wlio was at Oslo, the precursor of Christiania. It was 

 in winter, and the Christiania Fjord was thick with 

 ice. The ice extended as far as Horedo, the Saga says, 

 that little island about a mile out in the fjord, which is 

 one of the excursion-places from Christiania. There 

 lugi and his rival met, and the former was defeated 

 and fell (a.d. 1161). He was the last of the rulers of 

 Norway who even suppositiously represented a descent 

 in the male line from Harald Hardradi. 



The party of Ingi, which was the party of the 

 greatest lendermen of the country, now looked about 

 for a new leader. There was no thought of reconcilia- 

 tion with their opponents, or of submission to the 

 claims of Hakon Herdibreid. They found their new 

 leader in the most distinguished of their own body. 

 Since the death of Gregorius Dagsson, Erling Skakki 

 stood above all his contemporaries in personal power, 

 in reputation, and in influence. He himself had, how- 

 ever, no tincture of royal blood, and the time had not 

 yet come when that could be dispensed with ; but 

 Erling had married Christina, the daughter of Sigurd 

 Jorsalfari, and their son, Magnus, still only a child, 

 was chosen king ; the regency and the real kingship 

 devolving upon his father Erling. This was in 1161. 

 In 1162 Hakon Herdibreid was slain by Erling. 



The reign of jMagnus forms an important epoch in 

 Norse history. At the beginning of it Erling found 

 himself encompassed by difficulties on every side, and 

 threatened by rival claimants of the crown ; but the 

 bulk of the lendermen were on his side. They saw in 

 this elevation to the throne of a child king, under the 



