KINGS OF NORWAY. 339 The faction which called itself the Birkebeiners had saga xvi. gathered together in great numbers. They were a chapter hardy people, and the boldest of men underarms; o^he^^* but wild, and 2:oin2: forward madly when they had a i^'»i^c- o o . . . beiners, strong force. They had few men in their faction who were good counsellors, or accustomed to rule a country by law, or to head an army ; and if there were such men among them who had more knowledge, yet the many would only allow of those measures which they liked, trusting always to their numbers and courage.* Of the men who escaped many were wounded, and had lost both their clothes and their arms, and were altogether destitute of money. Some went east to the borders, some all the way east to Sweden ; but the most of them went to Telemark, where they had their families. All took flight, as they had no hope of getting their lives from King Magnus or Earl Erling. King Magnus then returned to Tunsberg, and got great renown by this victory ; for it had been an ex- pression in the mouths of all, that Earl Erlins; was Jf'^s" ■'- . , . Erlingsson the shield and support of his son and himself. But Chapter XLIV. Of King us
- This faction of the Birkebeiners, of which the origin is here re-
lated by Snorro, became very celebrated under another leader, Swerrer, whom they raised to the throne upon a very doubtful title; and it was predominant for about ninety years, or until the death of Hakon Hakonson, in the affairs of Norway. Their opponents were called the Cowl-men at first, afterwards the Baglers; and the conflicts between these two factions occupy much of the interesting sagas of King Swerrer and his successors, for a century after the period at which Snorro's chronicle ends. They well deserve a translation, especially Swerrer's saga. The two factions, the Birkebeiners and Baglers, appear to have become at last the king's party and the church's party, in the contention for power between the state and the church which was car- ried on in every country of Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Birkebeiners enabled King Swerrer to oppose the churchmen much more successfully than any contemporary sovereigns. These Birke- beiners, the vikings of the forest, were bred under him, and attached to him and his race alone. z 2
