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The Mad Norse King

What happens when the mental health of a medieval King of Norway declines and falls into madness? The story of Sigurðr the Crusader, who reigned for over 25 years, reveals a fascinating account of mental illness from the 12th century.

This topic was recently covered by Ármann Jakobsson, a professor in mediaeval Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland. His research appears in the article, “The Madness of King Sigurðr: Narrating Insanity in an Old Norse Kings’ Saga”, which was published last year in the book Social Dimensions of Medieval Disease and Disability.

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The article focuses on the reign of Sigurðr Magnusson, who was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. He is best known for leading the Norwegian Crusade – when about 60 ships and 5000 men sailed from Scandinavia to the Holy Land. Beginning in 1107, the four-year trip included taking part in battles in Portugal and the Mediterranean, and then assisting the Crusader King of Jerusalem capture the city of Sidon in present-day Lebanon.

Jakobsson notes:

The splendour of King Sigurðr’s magnificent journey in his youth ends up standing in stark contrast to his life at home and his sad fate later in life. The dark side of this famous journey emerges when King Sigurðr returns from his voyages – eventually his sad fate as a lunatic on the throne, but immediately in the disruption he and his men cause upon their return. At first, King Sigurðr receives a hero’s welcome, and the treasures he brings back with him cast glory on all of Norway. All hail King Sigurðr  when he comes back, but soon his men start strutting around in their finery and thinking themselves above everyone who did not go on the journey, provoking a backlash from those who stayed home. 

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As the reign continues, those around him begin to see signs of what they refer to as ‘unsteadiness’ or ‘lack of control’ in the king. This includes demanding meat be served on Fridays for his feasts, violating Christian law, and just the way he rolls his eyes while looking around the room in a strange fashion. One episodes is reported in Heimskringla:

When the king lay in the bath and the tub was covered by a tent, he thought that fish were swimming in the bath near him. The he began to laugh so loudly that unsteadiness followed and thereafter it happened very often to him.

Jakobsson explains that “the narrative of King Sigurðr’s madness in Morkinskinna is lengthy, graphic and striking.” The saga, which was written around the year 1220, provides several stories where the king inexplicably strikes out violently at the people around him, including almost drowning one man after he hears what a good swimmer he is. On another occasion, he demands to divorce his own wife and marry another women, although his advisors convince him to abandon he idea.

Jakobsson adds that:

It is remarkable how often Sigurðr mends his ways, never punishing his subjects for preventing him from fulfilling his misguided plans, but they remain very frightened of him and at loss how the behave. On every occasion when he refuses to speak, people become afraid  ‘at Þa myndi enn koma at honum vanstilli’ (that another attack would come over him). The state of confusion that the mental illness initiates is graphically depicted in the texts, not least how baffling and terrifying the changes that come over the king appear to his court. 

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King Sigurðr depicted by Gerhard Munthe (1849–1929)
King Sigurðr depicted by Gerhard Munthe (1849–1929)

Sigurðr is aware of his mental instability. In one episode, he talks about how his half-brother and son are vying for power and hoping to replace him. He says to his followers:

You are badly off, you Norwegians, to have a crazy king ruling you, but I suspect that you would soon pay in red gold for me to be your king rather than either Haraldr or Magnus. The first is cruel, and the other foolish.

The king was right – after he died in 1130, Norway would be plunged into civil war that would last for decades.

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While the historical sources offer little information to why the king went mad – one chronicle suggests that he may have been poisoned, Jakobsson explains that they do provide some fascinating details:

What it is possible is to say that Old Icelandic sagas demonstrate a sensitivity and an awareness of mental illnesses that today’s scholarship might not expect from the 13th century North. Though the court society depicted in Morkinskinna offered no cure for King Sigurðr, the sympathy for his condition shines through. The madness was not explicable, and both king and subjects had to survive without those handy labels available to make people feel as if they understood what is happening.

The article “The Madness of King Sigurðr: Narrating Insanity in an Old Norse Kings’ Saga”, appears in Social Dimensions of Medieval Disease and Disability, edited by Sally Crawford and Christina Lee. It is the third volume of Studies in Early Medicine from the British Archaeological Reports International.

Ármann Jakobsson writes extensively about Icelandic sagas. Click here to view his Academia.edu page

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