58 THE KING'S MIRROR 



Bodde, and nearly all that we do know comes from a 

 speech which he is reported to have delivered in his own 

 defence in 1217.* He entered King Sverre's service " be- 

 fore the fight was at Strindsea," which was fought in the 

 summer of 1199. This was also the year in which King 

 Sverre seems to have issued his famous Address. " I had 

 good cheer from the king while he lived, and I served 

 him so that at last I knew almost all his secret matters." 

 In King Inge's reign (1204-1217) he served in the ca- 

 pacity of chancellor: " and that besides, which was 

 much against my wish, they relied on me for writing 

 letters." During the same reign he also served as Prince 

 Hakon's foster father, and was consequently responsible 

 for the education of the great king.f Ivar was also 

 skilled in military arts: he was a warrior as well as a 

 priest .J He was apparently twice sent to England on 

 diplomatic errands, first to the court of King John, later 

 to that of Henry III. He withdrew from the court in 

 1217. In 1223 he reappears as one of the king's chief 

 counsellors. After this year nothing is known of Ivar 

 Bodde. 



The author of the King's Mirror was a professional 

 churchman who belonged to the ^nti-cleric^)f action ; 

 he was a master of the literary art. Ivar Bodde was a 

 man of this type; nothing is known of his literary abil- 

 ities, but it is clear that a man who was entrusted with 

 the king's correspondence can not have been without 



* Hdkonar Saga, c. 21. 



t Historiske Skrifter tilegnede Ludvig Daae, 88-89 (Heffermehl) ; Hdkonar 



Saga, c. 20. 



I Historiske Skrifter tilegnede Ludvig Daae, 80. 



Ibid., 81, 85. 



