Winter Is Coming... Birkebeinerne in 1204 Norway Civil War Raged
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Medieval News January 2016 No. 1 January 2016 No. Winter is Coming... Birkebeinerne In 1204 Norway civil war raged. On one the court of King Inge in Nidaros (Trond- hand fought the “Baglers” supported by heim) in Trøndelag. This famous feat saved the Danish King; on the other side the the boy who grew up to become a mighty “Birkebeiners”, supporting the king in Norwegian king. Trondheim. Sometime in spring 1205 Inga of Varteig gave birth to a boy, who she In the 1930s this led to the popular annual claimed was the the son of Haakon Sver- skiing event, Birkebeinerrennet, which resson (Haakon III), who had been king of starts at Rena and ends at Lillehammer. Norway and leader of the “Birkebeiner” All participants carry a backpack weighing faction. This happened at Folkenborg in at least 3.5 kg symbolizing the weight of a Eidsberg in the middle of bagler-con- newborn babe. This distance is 54 km. trolled territory. In the winter of 1205-06, when the boy was no more than six or seven months old, the Baglers (supported by the Danes) searched for him in order In 2016 a film telling the dramatic story - thewill stuntspremiere have in been Oslo. carried The film out has by prima- the gether with loyal Birkebeiners. However, rily been filmed on location and many of theto kill party him. was The struck mother by and a blizzard child fled and to two mountains, the actors have had to learn famous Birkebeiner skiers, Torstein Skevla howactors. to Inski order the medieval to do the way. flight This over issue the of and Skjervald Skrukka volunteered to car- Medieval News tells the story about the re- ry the child over the mountains to safety at enactment of the skiing... Medieval News Medieval Histories Inc © Photo (frontpage): - read about new exhibitions, Paradisstien 5 Downward on 1300-year old re- books, research and much more DK2840 Holte constructed skis from Oppland Denmark in Norway. © Espen Finstad, Editor-in-chief: Karen Schous- Oppland County Municipality. boe www.medievalhistories.com Photos are to the best of our 2016: January No. 1 [email protected] ability either published by per- ISBN 978-87-92858-29-0 +45 24 23 36 10 mission or under the CCA. 2 Two men, who were the best to ski, ran ahead with the boy... “During summer, after Inge had been be as quiet about it as possible. The taken to King, the Danish king and next twelve months, the boy stayed Bishop Nicholas got the faction of the with Traand, the priest. However, the Baglers to revolt. At that point Inga following winter, Erland and Traand [who had slept with the king at Borg] the priest decided to move from east stayed in Viken in a village, called Heg- to west. With them they brought the gin on the farm called Folkensborg. son of the king and his mother into the There lived a priest called Traand. Opplands. At Christmas Eve [1205] Here Inga fell ill and gave birth to a they arrived at Hamar in Hedmarken. male child. But Traand priest knew Here two Birkebeiners ruled. One was that King Haakon Sverressøn was called Fridrek Slavse, the other Gjav- father to the boy. He baptized the boy vald Gaute, Both had a large retinue and let him be named Haakon, but and ruled with a heavy hand [literally: kept it so quiet that he trusted no one through fear] as there were Baglers to bring the child to the baptismal around in the Oppland. font except his two sons and his wife. Traand priest brought up the boy At that point Ivar Bishop was in quietly. Hamar; he was always a mighty enemy of the kindred of Sverre and all the A man named Erlend [lived at] Husabø. Birkebeiners. Even though they tried He was kin to king King Sverre and be- to keep it quiet, the bishop soon be- longed to the kindred of Guttorm Grey- came aware of the presence of the son beard. Traand priest walked over to of a king. The bishop now invited the Erlend and consulted with him about boy and his mother to spend Christ- the boy; they agreed, that they should mas with him and told them that he 3 was kin; as indeed he was. However, the Birkebeiners were suspicious and Instead they came to a shieling where told the bishop that the boy would be did not succeed in finding the village. brought to him after Christmas as he - and his mother were tired after having catethey thestruck rest a of fire the and party, rested who the arrived boy. travelled across country. As soon as atLater midnight. the pathfinders Now it became went back impossi to lo- Christmas day had ended, the Birke- beiner lords took three horses and led melt the ice off the roof of the shieling; the boy and his mother away. And they itble was to staybetter inside outside. as the They fire had started noth to- did not rest until they had reached ing to feed the boy, except melted ice. Lillehamar; from here they moved on Where they stayed was called Nav- through Østerdalene [the Eastern Val- ardal [perhaps near Neversjøen north leys] from where they were planning of Lillehammar]. There, they met so to go to Trondheim. much hardship, that they had to make way through the snow by using the In this venture they suffered much evil staffs of their spears to stamp it. How- from foul and friezing weather and ever, wherever they came [amongst snow. During nights they stayed in for- people] in Østerdalene, the peasants ests or in the wilderness. One night a helped them on their way, lending blizzard struck and they did not know them horses and showing them the their whereabouts. At this point they way to go…” had two men, who were the best to ski, run ahead with the boy; one was (Translated from: Haakon Haakonsøns Torstein Skevla and another Skervald Saga. Translated by Alexander Bugge. I. Skrukk. They got two peasants, who M. Steinersens Forlag, Kristiania 1914.) They ran as if it was a race, but they knew the way, to act as pathfinders. 4 Skiing in the Viking Age A few years ago archaeologists made a breath-taking find: a 1300-year old ski with the binding intact. Last year the skis were reconstructed. Now they have been tested. Climate change is causing the glacier in Re- possible to recreate the ancient way of ski- inheimen National Park in Norway to melt, yielding lost artefacts from the Norwegian is the ski found at Mantta in Finland). Iron and Viking age. So-far archaeologists ing; (another example of such a lucky find have uncovered more than 2000 artefacts The Reinheimen Ski from the glacier in Oppland. The ski is made of birch and measures 172 cm long and 14.5 cm wide, making a very old ski, dated to around AD 700. it somewhat akin to present day free rid- One of the more significant finds has been Of course archaeologists have found an- ing skis, also called big mountain skis. cient skies before, several dated earlier. The intact binding is at the back and con- What makes the ski from Reinheimen in sists of a wicker pulled through a hole in Oppland somewhat unique though, is the a slightly elevated platform and fastened fact that the binding was still intact. This with strings of leather around the back means that not only a proper reconstruc- of the foot. This tells us a lot of how they tion has been possible. It has also been manoeuvred, says the archaeologist Espen Archaeologist Runar Hole with the 1300-year old ski © Aud Hole, Oppland County 5 The 1300-year old ski with its binding © Vegard Vike, University of Oslo, Museum of Cultural History Finstad. He adds that the ski was probably among the Chinese from that region. Those used by a hunter moving across the glacier, skies are also wide. tracking reindeers or other prey. According to Dag Inge Bakke and the team In 2015 local craftsmen from Garmo in behind the reconstruction, the challenge Lom, Kjell Bengtsen and Reidar Marstein appeared to be not to get the skis on edge, have reconstructed the ski in order to but instead keep the snow under the skis. try the design out. The point of the wide Skiing in the ancient way involves a sharp modern skis is that they glide on top of the bend in the knees and letting the body snow. The question raised by the archaeo- weight rest backwards on the long stick, logists has been whether the ski from which must be used as a kind of rudder. Reinheimen had the same quality. The bindings are rather loose demanding a constant bodily vigilance. Recently the reconstructed skies were tried out by Dag Inge Bakke. The recon- Birkebeiner struction was recorded by Espen Finstad and the team behind. But the reconstruction has also found wi- Inspiration of how to ski was found in an- of the “Birkebeiner” in 1206 set to prem- cient depictions of skiers from the moun- iereder application:in February in2016, a grand the actorsfilm on have the feathad tains of Altay in China. Here cave paintings to learn how to race downhill using the have shown skiers driving reindeer with ancient technique. The skis have been re- the same techniques as are used today constructed by Ole Kristian Ødegård, who 6 has made his own transition from mod- The main source of information concern- ern racing skis to the old traditional skis ing Haakon and his rescue is the Saga made of birch.