e 



THE KING'S MIRROR 43 



.s a. fmpst. /f no is 



Yft thft divine j^yt^iitinTi nf lrJngcnip pf any bo nftr Of 



'dignity i* The author evidently deems it important, to 

 t*"> retention: for if Christ. 



Caesar a,,i to n rigfr**" 1 on+K/M-jf.Y, tli^ fh]|rf>h in 



Secular r"lfT g ^"1^ g^Qr rp ]y p]pim tr> V>o fnllnaring in 



footsteps of the faster. 



It seems to be a safe conclusion that the doctrine of 

 the divine character of kingship as developed in the 

 King's Mirror is derived from King Sverre's Address, 

 unless it should be that the two have drawn from a com- 

 mon source. There is nothing novel about Sverre's ideas 

 except the form in which they are stated; fundamentally 

 they are a return to the original Norwegian theory of 

 kingship. The Norwegian kings of heathen times were 

 descendants of divine ancestors. Thpy recognized ft"* will 



Qgg^mKli^g Qg Q T^Q] lirm'tQ + iryn on tJ1fj r 



Dow^ers but fif) TP! 10*1 one fl.iitnoTit.v f^oiilri dflim su~ 

 pprinrit,y +^ +1h ^ Tnl^r The j^ing was inH^f^ himseh 6 a 

 priest. r ft. media/tor between the gods and men. The 



Christian Irincrs 



in a very real manner; they had 



bishops and ha.H also on nrrasinn remnvpH thprn 



claini of the archbishop to overlordshii) was therefore 

 distinctly an innovation. The king makes use of argu- 

 ments from the Bible to support his theory, not because 

 it was based on Scriptural truths, but because to a 

 Christian people these would prove the most convincing. 

 In his statement of the filings and majesty ^ *^g 

 xnynl pow^r, the author of the Speculum Regale goes, 



* C. xliv. 



