Battle of Fimreite

naval Battle delivered the June 15th 1184 in Norway, with Fimreite. She opposed the king of Norway Magnus V to her candidate, Sverre Sigurdsson. This last gained the battle, at the time which Magnus perishes.

To the end of the year 1183, the Sogn is struck taxes by Sverre Sigurdsson. The inhabitants, carried out by the Arntor farmer, exasperated to see the representatives of the king living of good wine and refined mets, assassinate them. Following that Sverre decides to burn all the village of Sogndal and to punish the culprits.

Unfolding of the engagements

With the assistance of the king Knut VI of Denmark, Magnus V returns to Norway with a fleet of 24 or 26 boats and 3000 men. When he learns the projects from Sverre he gets under way to defend Sogndal and his legitimacy as only and single sovereign of Norway. June 15th, 1184 in after midday the fleet of Magnus engages in the fjord of Sogndal, small branch of the Sognefjord. Sverre has 10 ships and 1000 men of less! The two fleets face in a kind of neck formed by two courses: Nornes, and Fimreite.

It should be known that traditionally, the naval battles between Vikings did not consist in breaking the adversary with its own boat, the lengskips not being equipped with spurs as on the Trirèmes. There existed two principal techniques of combat:

to open a water way at the adversary while launching an anchor or while striking directly with the axe.
the boarding then the quarry, which remains the principal technique, boats not being used as weapon with whole share.

In the purest tradition Viking, Magnus V attaches his boats together, abât the veils and fact souquer sailors in front of the ships while the others thus prepare with the boarding. On the contrary, a such Horatio Nelson before the hour, Sverre Sigurdsson decides to pass in addition to the tradition and the rules of the war. It makes sink individually or by small groups its ships on the ends of the line of langskips of Magnus. Surprised and encircled the sailors thus jump of one boat to the other, the overloaded boats run and involve in their turn the boats located at the medium. The majority, exhausted and wounded, drowned whereas the dry land was very close. It is probable that Magnus him even drowned.

In the evening, the army of Sverre unloaded and put at bag the surrounding farms, the churches, and massacred many civilians.

The legend says that Sverre did not burn Kvåle, the farm of the Arntor hero, but made cut in its wood its new throne. The farmer as for him with the number of the 2160 is killed, with several local aristocrats and of vassal of Magnus.

After the battle, the body of Magnus was repatriated in Bergen is buried in the church of Christ, during a ceremony where fills Sverre hypocrisy praised its talents and its character.

Nowadays, a raised stone commemorates the 900 years of the battle. It at summer inaugurated by the king of Norway in 1984.

Coordinated place of the battle: 61° 9 ' 20.18" NR, 6°58' 50.13" E.

Arntor, ein to windir

The Norwegian group of Black metal Windir ( warlike ), originating in Sogndal, composed two songs evoking the battle of Fimreite, and some others in the honor of Arntor.

Summarized battle on the site of the group
Summarized battle in an interview

Words of the song '' 1184 '' (in Norwegian)
Words of the song '' Heidra '' (in Norwegian)
Small pocket of the album 1184 appear the table of Johan Christian Dahl, '' Winter in Sognfjord '')

External bonds

Table of Johan Christian Dahl representing Fimreite, '' Winter in Sognfjord ''

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