34 THE KING'S MIRROR 



there was mojJia,n one h J ejr 3 _theJkingsHp was helc 

 all the *i"'nrmt rprpivinff th^ . 



permissioaJaunaintain e^ *"'* wn household Usually 

 a part of the realm was assigned to each; but it was the 

 not th*> imgHnm itself, which 



seen that^nch a system would 







rights were at-Jbest of a, doubtful 

 the Norwegian throne. It is an interesting fact that two 

 of these, the strenuous Sverre and the wise Hakon IV, 

 must be counted among the strongest, ablest, and most 

 attractive kings in the history of Norway. 



Though there had been instances of joint rule before 

 the twelfth century, the history of that unfortunate 

 form of administration properly begins with the death 

 of Magnus Bareleg on an Irish battlefield in 1103. 

 Three illegitimate sons, the oldest being only fourteen 

 years of age, succeeded to the royal title. One of these 

 was the famous Sigurd Jerusalemfarer, who took part 

 in the later stages of the first crusade. About twenty 

 years after King Magnus' death, a young Irishman, 

 Harold Gilchrist by name, appeared at the Norwegian 

 court and claimed royal rights as a son of the fallen 

 king. King Sigurd forced him to prove his birthright by 

 an appeal to the ordeal, but the Irishman walked un- 

 hurt over the hot plowshares. Harold became king in 

 1130 as joint ruler with Sigurd's son Magnus, later 

 called " the Blind." * Three of his sons succeeded to the 



* The strife that followed the accession of Harold Gille and Magnus the 

 Blind is the subject of Bjornson's great historical drama, Sigurd Slembe 

 (English translation by William Morton Payne). 



