The Battle of Fimreite 1184

These two were constantly at loggerheads, and Magnus lost several battles against Sverre and had to flee the country in the end.

The viceroy appointed by King Sverre was not well liked by the inhabitants. When he demanded payment taxes to hold a Christmas feast at Kaupanger, the inhabitants became furious. People from Sogndal and Kaupanger attacked the viceroy and his people, and killed most of them.

During the spring King Sverre sailed southwards along the coast with his ships. When he arrived in the Sognefjord, he wanted to sail in to Sogn to demand fines from those who had killed his men during Christmas. His men found no people in the villages. Sverre` s men took what they found of value and burnt the farms in both Sogndal and Kaupanger. The church at Stedje in Sogndal was the only building spared. Following these raids, King Sverre and his people travelled to Fimreite for a rest.

Magnus travelled to Denmark after his loss against Sverre. His good friend, the Danish king, helped him to equip a fleet and Magnus sailed back to Norway. Here he heard that Sverre and his men were in Sogn.

Sverre, with his 14 ships, battled against Magnus`s 26 ships. Instead of lashing his ships together in the traditional way, as Magnus did with his largest ships, Sverre let his sail free.

Sverre’ s men managed to board Magnus’s ships, men panicked and jumped from one ship to the next. In the end the vessels were so full of people that they sank and those on board drowned. Those who made it so shore were met by Sverre’ s men who cut them down as they came out of the water.

King Sverre thus became the sole monarch of Norway.

The body of Magnus was laid in a coffin and King Sverre took him to Bergen, where he was buried in Christ Church.

Memorial stone - Battle of Fimreite

The memorial stone about the Battle of Fimreite stands at Nornes, on a mound some distance up the hill from the boathouse by the sea. There is a clear view of Fimreite and beyond the fjord. The place is called Sveravodl. "I have to say that it is a nice place they have found for this monument stone", said Steinar Hagen when he was with people from the technical department in Sogndal municipality in the spring of 1983 and put the stone in place. It is advisable to drive a car down from the national road to the boathouse, and in 1999 the municipality built a walkway of planks and shingle up to the monument stone.