Alf of Leifa-steads (~1200–1240) was a

Housecarl A housecarl ( on, húskarl; oe, huscarl) was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The institution originated amongst the Norsemen of Scandinavia, and was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by the Danish conq ...

, commander of the Wolf-Skins, and

liegeman A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

Skule Bårdsson Skule Bårdsson or Duke Skule (Norwegian: Hertug Skule) (Old Norse: Skúli Bárðarson) ( – 24 May 1240) was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson. Henrik Ibsen's play '' Kongs- ...

. He enters

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

as a Housecarl of Arnbjorn Johnson who was a kingsman. In 1235 he did fealty to Skule becoming his liegeman. In 1239 he was sent into the Uplands as the leader of an army of 500 men to harass the kings men who were hiding in churches or woods. In the spring of 1240 AD. he was sent ahead of Skule's army to scout with a few men- however he ran into enemies led by Earl Knut Haakonsson. One of his men was beheaded by one of Knut's men because the two had a personal quarrel. The result of this exchange is that Knut challenged Skule to a battle at Lierfields. He led the defense at the

Battle of Goat-Bridge A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1240 for Skule against King

Haakon IV of Norway Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 y ...

where he is said to have fought very bravely. This conflict was part of a larger series of conflict known as the

Civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway ( no, borgerkrigstida or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in history of Norway, Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders War of succession, waged wars to clai ...

. He was one of the leaders of a group of young noble or free warriors known as the Wolf-Skins. During the battle the supporters of Skule set up on a hill near a church where they had a defensive position. During the attack the Wolf-Skins and supporters of Skule used this defensive position to throw rocks at the enemy, a somewhat unusual strategy given the improvised nature of the fortifications. The fighting of the battle is said to have been very fierce on both sides to the extent that the kings

Hauberk A hauberk or byrnie is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon ("little hauberk") generally refers to the quilted undergarment used with a hauberk, but the terms ...

was destroyed. However the king and his men were able to advance and force many of the Wolf-Skins into the church where they were able to defend it with rocks. Alf saw that they would be trapped inside the church soon so he fought his way out and was chased to the river where he was killed after fighting to his last breathe.

References

1240 deaths {{improve categories, date=April 2021