The Bagler Sagas (
Old Norse ''Böglunga sögur'') are
kings' sagas
Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were compo ...
relating to events which occurred between 1202–17 and are a primary source of Norwegian history during this period. There are two versions, one shorter and one longer, which are in modern editions usually printed as one saga. The authors of both versions are unknown. There are indications that both of them were
Icelanders, although this cannot be said for certain.
The Bagler Sagas occur during the
Civil war era in Norway. The sagas deal with the reigns of the
birkebeiner kings
Haakon Sverresson
Haakon Sverresson (Norwegian: ''Håkon Sverresson'', Old Norse: ''Hákon Sverrisson''; c. 1183 – 1 January 1204) was King of Norway (being Haakon III) from 1202 to 1204.
Biography
Haakon was born as the second illegitimate son of the future King ...
,
Guttorm Sigurdsson
Guttorm Sigurdsson (Old Norse: ''Guttormr Sigurðarson''; 1199 – 11 August 1204) was the king of Norway from January to August 1204, during the Norwegian civil war era. As a grandson of King Sverre, he was proclaimed king by the Birkebeine ...
and
Inge Baardsson, and the
bagler
The Bagli Party or Bagler (Old Norse: ''Baglarr'', Norwegian Bokmål: ''Bagler'', Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Baglar'') was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clerg ...
pretenders to the Norwegian throne
Erling Steinvegg and
Philippus Simonsson Philip Simonsson (Old Norse: ''Filippus Símonsson'') (ca. 1185-1217) was a Norwegian aristocrat and from 1207 to 1217 was the Bagler party pretender to the throne of Norway during the civil war era in Norway.
Background
Philip was the son of Simo ...
.
The sagas pick up the story where
Sverris saga leaves off, at the death of King
Sverre Sverre, Sverrir or Sverri is a Nordic name from the Old Norse ''Sverrir'', meaning "wild, swinging, spinning". It is a common name in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands; it is less common in Denmark and Sweden. It can also be a surname. Sverre ma ...
in 1202. The older, and shorter, version ends with the wedding of Philippus in 1209. The later and longer version, also continues the story until the death of King Inge in 1217. The older version is neutral in its depiction of events, without a clear bias for either birkebeiner or bagler. It was probably written not long after the point where it leaves off, in 1209. The newer version was probably written by someone who wanted to expand the older version with more material about the birkebeiner, and continue the story to cover all of Inge's reign. It was probably written no later than the early 1220s. The author of this later version is clearly on the side of the birkebeiner, and shows personal sympathies for king Inge, also in his disputes with his brother, earl
Haakon the Crazy (''Håkon Galen'').
References
Other sources
* ''Soga om baglarar og birkebeinar'' translated by Gunnar Pederse (Oslo: Samlaget, 1979)
* ''Böglunga saga (styttri gerð)'' translated by Einarr Michaelsson (Reykjavík: Skemman, 2015)
Norwegian civil wars
Kings' sagas
{{saga-stub