Ilevollene, 1180 AD

[Erpingham]

Name : Battle of Ilevollene 27th May 1180

Protagonists : Norwegian civil war, fought between the Birkebeiner faction, led by King Sverre, and the Heklungs, led by King Magnus.

Numbers : Not given, except to say they were larger than normal for this war.  The Heklungs were a levy army from the whole of the south of the country, the Birkebeiners were mainly from the district around Nidaros (modern Trondheim, where the battle was fought).  Nidaros had fielded up to 1200 men a few years earlier, so a force of 1000-1500 for the Birkebeiners seems probable, with the Heklungs at least double that. The two armies are essentially masses of infantry spearmen, with the household troops of each side better armoured.  Some men carried long axes (sometimes called halberds in translation) and archers feature in earlier battles of the campaign, though aren't thought significant in this action.

Original source : J. Stephton, MA (trans) :Sverissaga - The Saga of King Sverri of Norway 1899

The text :
46. On the Monday of Rogation week King Magnus rowed to Eyra for a conference, and the two sides incited each other to battle. The Birkibeins pressed King Magnus to land on Eyra, and King Magnus urged them to come out of the wooden castle and join battle with him on the fields of Ila. King Sverri then said, "We will consent to what you now ask." So the Kings pledged one another to meet the next morning on the fields of Ila and fight there. After this, King Magnus and his men rowed out to his fleet. King Sverri then caused all his force to be told of the battle, and bade them prepare by going to Confession, and getting their weapons ready. At sunrise of Tuesday in Rogation week King Magnus ordered the signal to be given for leaving Holm, the awnings were taken down, and the ships were towed and brought on land under the rock, beyond the Ila. Here the men disembarked. The large sloop belonging to King Magnus lay out at anchor, but the cutters and smaller vessels were towed to the shore. King Magnus and the whole force marched up Steinbiorg, where they remained waiting for the sun to mount the heavens, so that they might not have it full in their faces. After a while they came down and drew up their force for battle. Then King Sverri led his men out of the wooden castle, and having them in battle array, marched to the fields near the rock [Steinbiorg] to meet them. King Magnus had arranged his guardsmen with his standard on the wing that stretched towards the sea, because he saw the standard of King Sverri there. The standard was fine and large, and he though the king himself would be with it; but it was the standard of the marshal, Gudlaug, who had with him the troops of the town, of the districts around and the levies. King Sverri marched with his standard by the inland road towards the rock, for he expected the fiercest of the battle at that point, because King Magnus's men had not all left the rock. King Magnus had placed a numerous force to attack the Birkibeins in the rear, and had set of it Nikolas, son of Arni, the brother of King Ingi. To oppose it King Sverri had despatched a force having Ulf of Laufness for its chief. So the array of Nikolas came to be no help to King Magnus.

King Sverri's speech to his men before the battle.

47. Before the ranks joined battle, King Sverri addressed his men, beginning his speech in this manner:-
"A great host and fine body-guard are here come together, and it now appears that we have to deal with overwhelming odds. The ranks of King Magnus, with gilt weapons and in goodly raiment, cover the whole fields. It would be good work done if you carried arms and raiment into the town this evening. Lo! now, my brave fellows, it is enough to have a choice between two ways-the one, to win victory; the other, to die with honour. The task of hewing timber in a wood is not like yours, who must exchange blows with the barons of King Magnus. To receive and return heavy blows is no disgrace; and now comes to pass the saying of the poet-
'Carle that combats earl has other work
Than cleaving wood for charcoal.'

Hear what a yeoman said who went with his son to the warships and gave him advice, bidding him be bold and hardy in perils. 'Renown lives longest after one,' he said. 'If you were engaged in a battle and knew beforehand that you were bound to fall, how would you act?' And the son answered 'What good would it be to forbear smiting right and left?' 'And now,' said the yeoman, 'if someone knew and told you of a truth that would not fall in the battle?' The son answered, 'What good would it be to refrain from pressing forward to the utmost?' 'One of two things will happen,' said the father: 'in every battle where you are present, either you will fall or you will come forth alive. Be valiant, therefore, since all is determined beforehand. Nought may send a man to his grave if his time is not come; and if he is doomed to die, nought may save him. To die in flight is the worst death of all."
Seven of King Sverri's men volunteered to lead the attack- Thorolf Rympil, his brother Karl Kiotlær, and five others- and the placed themselves in front of the array.
King Sverri then spoke again:-
"Birkibeins! Be assured of this: it will not avail to ask quarter of those Heklungs. There is only one way out: stand firmly fast, and give them no room to advance. It is well for you Birkibeins to try your swords on the mead-paunches of those men from the Bik. Our force is fine enough and our numbers large enough for battle. So great and overwhelming are their numbers, they can't all be brought into action; besides, the greatest part of them are more at home at a wedding than a fight, and are more accustomed to mead-drinking than to warfare. I will march my guardsmen and my standard against the standard of King Magnus, for we must expect from his guardsmen the sharpest fight and the fiercest onset. His barons will rather seek to spare themselves; and the crowd of yeomen dragged captive against their will, care not who falls so long as they are unwounded. I know full well the thoughts of all his Thronds: they are those of the poet who says-
'I mean to make that maiden mine,
Ingunn with the rosy mouth,
Howe'er the fighting fare between
Magnus and Sverri, famous Kings.'

March well forward now, my brave fellows, and may God have you in His Keeping." All this speaking inspired the Birkibeins with much eagerness; they relied greatly on the King's prudence and his foresight of the issue of battles.

King Sverri's victory over King Magnus on the fields of Ila. [Battle of Iluvelli, 27th May 1180] King Magnus Flees to Denmark.

48. And now the ranks met, and a fierce contest at once arose; for the Birkibeins hitherto had never brought into battle so large a force, and yet that of King Magnus was far larger. Around King Sverri's standard all his guardsmen and gests were drawn up, and as they advanced, the opposing ranks of King Magnus wavered and were soon in flight. On the other wing the forces of Gudlaug and the townsmen recoiled before the advancing standard of king Magnus. They were soon on the point of flight. Some had begun to run, when King Sverri, who was on horseback, saw the ill fortune of his men, and galloped to them. "Why do you flee?" he shouted with a loud voice. "Turn and fight as best you can. Don't you see all their host in flight to the ships. Show your prowess like men, and drive the fugitives here, as over there." The men heard his words, and seeing the King, took courage and turned again straightway to face the foe, King Sverri's guardsmen too, seeing the troops of King Magnus in full flight, turned to the spot where they saw his standard, and attacked his guardsmen in the rear. And now a great slaughter befell. "King Magnus is fleeing," cried one. "Not yet," said another, and rushing at him dealt him a death-blow. That was King Magnus himself. He and all his host now fled to the ships.
Philippus Arnason fell there, and Bryniolf Blanda, son of Eindrildi Jonsson. Ivar Galli was seriously wounded, and as the host was fleeing, King Sverri, riding among the fallen, came to him, stooped from his horse, and, asking if his wound could be cured, offered him quarter. Ivar answered that he had good hope he would heal if he obtained aid from leech-craft. Close by there lay a man serious wounded, Bryniolf, son of Kalf Sendiman of the Færeys. He raised himself on his knees and struck at the King with a sword, aiming at his neck as he stooped down to Ivar. The King warded the blow the rim of his steep cap, which the edge of the sword struck, but King's ear was grazed, and his neck received a severe wound. He threw himself from his horse, on the other side, and at that same instant swords and halberds fell so thick on Bryniolf that he could scarce sing to the ground. Ivar Galli too was slain, and Sigurd Skiomi, his kinsman, who was supporting Ivar's head.
These barons fell on the fields of Ila: Nikolas Mondul, son of Andres, Jon Kula, Kolbein Gislason, and Eirik Lauk. Nikolas Mondul was a man of the greatest strength, and wore a coat of mail so trusty that no weapon might pierce it. He wielded his sword with both hands, and was the last man to make a stand' He fell finally from exhaustion, and the Birkibeins stripped him of his coat of mail and then slew him. King Magnus' large sloop and many other ships were taken by King Sverri; and the Birkibeins hastening on board, pursued the fugitives. Near Digrmull they seized a ship with Eindridi Kalfsson and thirty men on board. Eindridi escaped t land; the others received quarter. Under the Raudabiorg another ship was taken and two store-ships. Nikolas Arnason and the force under him marched of the Gaulras down to Stein, where he obtained a cutter. Many of King Magnus' men escaped by land. King Magnus sailed south to to Bergen and was well received by the townsmen. Then he held an Assembly, and the men of Bergen begged him to remain there; they said, though, that they fully expected a speedy visit from Sverri, and they offered to defend the town with him. Afterwards King Magnus caused all the merchant-ships in the town to be placed in a line, stretching across from Holm to Monks-quay, and fastened them together and the quays so that one could walk across the bay. But the King's councillors advised him that it was imprudent to trust the men of Bergen so far as to enclose himself and his ships in the bay. The King after that sailed away south, and coastwise, and came to Denmark to his kinsman Valdamar, and dwelt with him for a season.

Commentary

The Norwegian Civil Wars (1130-1240) is not exactly a well-known period in Britain.  However, it provides an interesting perspective on early medieval warfare.  Much of the fighting is very small scale and there are a lot of naval battles.  Occasionally, there are larger fights, and Ilevollene is one of these.  The exact details of the background to the action need not delay us; exactly what was going on in this factional fighting still divides historians (regional competition, centralising v. regionalising, modern v. traditional, even class war have been suggested - see the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war_era_in_Norway ).  Suffice it to say that by this stage, Sverre has steered his small band of outlaws through a number of military successes (and the odd defeat) and now they are a serious military proposition.  Magnus has mobilised his southern powerbase to crush them and regain the capital Nidaros, which the Birkebeiner seized in 1179, killing Magnus' father in the process.
 
A brief note on the battlefield.  The rules of this section of the forum don't allow maps but a description is essential to understand what's happening.  Nidaros sat on a peninsular connected by a narrow isthmus to the mainland. North of the isthmus was the sea, south of it the river Nidelva.  The wooden fortification mentioned blocked the narrow point of the isthmus.  Beyond this to the west is the flat area of Ila and beyond that the steep ridge known as Steinberget (Steinbiorg in the text).  Ila was open farmland until the 19th century.  The "inland road" ran diagonally south west across the fields from the gate in the centre of the isthmus.  Both sides use the terrain.  Magnus tries to intimidate the enemy by showing the size of his force deployed on the high ground.  Sverre can accept battle because the land just beyond the fortification is narrow allowing him not to worry about outflanking by his larger enemy.
One interesting element of the account are Sverre's speeches.  The saga's author liked speeches and Sverre invariably addresses his men.  Whether Sverre ever said any of this in so many words is doubtful, but they do give us an insight into the author's view of the thought processes and motivations behind the action.  Given that the writer in this case spent years at Sverre's court and discussed the saga's content with him, we may be close to Sverre's thinking too.  So, we see a set of motivating tropes in use; loot, philosophy about a good death, how rubbish most of the enemy are compared with our own battle-hardened force.  This latter doubtless forms part of Sverre's thinking in terms of accepting battle – the enemy army is big but only Magnus' household troops are any good.  Break them and the rest will cave in.
Turning to the competing plans of the two sides.  Both are relying on using their household troops to win the battle.  Magnus leads with his left at where he thinks Sverre is (but it is actually Marshal Gudlaug and the king's banner- a deliberate ruse?).  He has men to his right and a force held on the high ground to attack the enemy in the rear.  It is hard to see how they were expected to do this unless Magnus anticipated being outflanked.  Sverre places his main force of townsmen and levies on his right to act as a block, intending to smash through the weaker forces on Magnus' right and hook round into the rear of Magnus' elite troops crushing them between the sea and his own main forces.  He has a detachment prepared to prevent the Heklung reserve from interfering.  We are told seven men lead Sverre's attack force – are they perhaps in wedge formation?  It nearly goes wrong.  Sverre has to leave his own men and ride over to his main force to encourage them as they waver. 
Overall, an interesting little battle in which tactics and ploys played a part and quality overcame quantity. 

[Mick Hession]

Thanks for this: it's interesting that Sverri was mounted and taking a more "managerial" approach to the battle than one normally associates with that period. A century earlier you'd expect to see him leading the attack in person.

Cheers
Mick   

[Erpingham]

According to some of the background I read, Sverre often led from horseback.  According to his wikipedia page, it was because he was short (alas, the comment isn't referenced).  There is nothing to suggest his men are on horseback, though, and Magnus on the other side seems to be on foot and in the middle of the fight.  On managerial, Sverre's saga does stress his generalship and inspiring leadership rather than his heroic fighting skills.  Raids, night assaults, ambushes, attacks when the enemy are worse for drink are all in his playbook.

[Duncan Head]

Sverre's saga does stress his generalship and inspiring leadership rather than his heroic fighting skills.  Raids, night assaults, ambushes, attacks when the enemy are worse for drink are all in his playbook.

I've just posted his candidacy as DBMM Brilliant General to the dbmmlist 

[aligern]

Wonderful post Anthony, just what ths section is for.
You can, of course, post a map in the battle maps section and reference to it.
Roy

[Erpingham]

Map posted.

http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=1931.0