Birkebeiner

The Birkebeiner, Birkebeinar or Birkebein Party (Old Norse: Birkibeinar; Norwegian: Birkebeinarane (nynorsk) or Birkebeinerne (bokmål)) were a rebel group in the Civil War period in Norway, formed in 1174 around Eystein Meyla, a pretender to the throne. The name has its origins in propaganda from the established party that the rebels were so poor that they wrapped their legs with birch bark. Although originally a pejorative, the opposition adopted the Birkebeiner name for themselves, and continued using it after they came to power in 1184.

Today, the Birkebeiner are popularly celebrated for two of them having skiied with the one-year-old Haakon Haakonsson, an heir to the Norwegian throne, from Lillehammer through Østerdalen to Trondheim, a long and perilous journey through treacherous mountains and forests. In Norway, their feat is commemorated through the Birkebeinerrennet cross-country ski race, the Birkebeinerrittet mountain bike race, and the Birkebeinerløpet cross-country run.

During the period of the Norwegian Civil War (borgerkrigstiden) between 1130 and 1240, several interlocked conflicts arose, of varying scale and intensity. The background for these conflicts was unclear Norwegian succession laws, social conditions and the struggle between Church and King. In the 1170s, two rival parties emerged: the establishment faction, later known as Bagler, and the rebel Birkebeiner. The rallying point was regularly a royal son, who was set up as the figurehead of the party in question, to oppose the rule of the king from the contesting party.

Although weak in the beginning, the Birkebeiner had the upper hand for most of the conflict's duration.

The Birkebein party formed in 1174 out of earlier groups with the original goal of deposing king Magnus V of Norway (Magnus Erlingsson) and his father Erling Skakke, Earl of Vestlandet, in favor of Eystein Meyla. From a socio-historical perspective, scholars have interpreted the party as the result of the rapid increase in landless markamenn ('border men'), who settled along the Swedish border and made their living by pillaging the rich old settlements. It was this lawless population that became the basis of the Birkebeiner.

Their leadership came from Trøndelag, a region where the social tensions were not as marked, and their motive was rather to stop the transition of power from Trøndelag to Viken and Vestlandet. The powerful Trønder families were being left behind by their peers in the south, who had acquired a strong leader in Erling Skakke in the mid-12th century. In the early 1160s, Erling had taken control of Viken and the bishopric of Nidaros and had subsequently made his underage son Magnus the king of Norway.

The faction that was behind the rule of Magnus and Erling was called by several names, ultimately Bagler. They dubbed their opponents "Birkebeiner"—'birch legs'—as an insult suggesting they were so poor, they wrapped their legs with birch bark as gaiters. The Birkebeiner embraced the name and continued to use it.

After some initial victories for the Viken party, the tables turned when Sverre entered the political scene claiming to be the illegitimate son of king Sigurd Munn. Sverre sought assistance from the Swedish earl Birger Brosa who sent him Swedish forces after some hesitation. One of Birger Brosa's sons, Philippus Birgersson, became Sverre's earl.