Einar Tambarskjelve

Einar Tambarskjelve (c. 980–c.1050) was an influential Norwegian noble and politician during the 11th century.

Several references are made to him in Snorre Sturlason's Heimskringla. His cognomen, 'Tambarskjelve', has two strongly differing explanations. One is that it is derived from 'tomb', meaning shaking bowstring. Thus, the name suggests a master of the longbow. The other is that it is derived from 'tambr', meaning 'belly', and that it translates to 'wobbly belly', surely an unflattering reflection of his physical build.

Einar Tambarskjelve was the son of Eindride, a rich and influential farmer at the Viking Age political center of Melhus. He descended from the Lade jarls, one of the most dominant families of Norwegian Viking Age politics. He made his debut both as a saga character and in the political arena at the sea Battle of Svolder in 1000, fighting on the losing King Olav Tryggvason's side. From his description of this battle, Snorre presents us with one of the saga's most famous passages.

:"Einar stood on the ship deck shooting at the Danes with his bow and arrow when the bow broke. 'What cracked so loud?' said the King. 'Norway off your hands, Lord', answered Einar. 'Not quite,' replied the king. 'Here, take my bow and shoot', said the King and threw them to him. Einar put an arrow on the string and pulled, but the point of the arrow went far behind the bow and he could not shoot. 'Too weak, too weak, is the king's bow', said Einar, and shifted to his sword."

Early years of Olav Haraldson's reign

The king disappeared during the battle, though his corpse was never found. Einar, however, survived, and spent the next decades manoeuvring through shifting political waters. Einar, together with Erling Skjalgsson, supported Svein Ladejarl against Olav Haraldsson at the Battle at Nesjar in 1016. While Svein had to flee the country after the battle, and Erling was forced to join an uneasy alliance with the new king, Einar remained unscathed. He returned to Melhus and remained an opponent of the king. Therefore, when Danish influences sought to overthrow Olav Haraldsson in 1028, he supported them. However, he did not join the peasants' army at the Battle of Stiklestad. This was more due to luck than calculation - when news of Olav's presence in Trøndelag broke, Einar was in England, making a political visit to the Anglo-Danish king Canute. However, this move would later pay off handsomely.

After Stiklestad, many Norwegian noblemen felt that king Canute the Great had promised to install them as rulers of Norway in his place. Einar Tambarskjelve expected that he would be the natural choice, being the oldest opponent of Olav. However, the Anglo-Danish king instead made his son Svein viceroy, in effect placing his mother Alfiva in charge of his recent conquest. This greatly infuriated Einar.

Rise to power

As the pressure grew more intense on him during Svein Canutesson's viceroy reign, Einar made his greatest political masterstroke. He travelled to Gardarike (later Russia), where he found Olav's eleven-year-old illegitimate son Magnus (later dubbed 'the Good'.) Forming a political alliance with former Stiklestad peasant army leader Kalv Arneson, he then proceeded to broker an agreement between the puppet king Magnus and the newly installed Danish ruler, Harthacanute (not to be confused with his father 'the Great').

Thus, Einar became the de facto ruler of Norway, a position he at this point never could have held if he himself had fought Magnus's father at Stiklestad. Kalv Arneson and Tore Hund, two nobles who did, both faded out into insignificance; the latter even forced to go to Jerusalem in search of forgiveness for killing the holy king. While Magnus did assume some power as he grew older, Einar remained a very influential figure throughout his reign.

Turn of the tide

However, around 1045 the aging Einar ran out of luck. At this point, Olav Haraldsson's half-brother Harald Sigurdsson, later dubbed 'Hardreign', returned with a vast fortune amassed as a military commander in Byzantium. According to the succession laws put in place by the earlier monarch Harald Fairhair, Harald had a legitimate claim to the throne, a claim he did not hesitate to put forward. Fearing that Harald would turn his economic power into military power, Magnus against Einar's advice let Harald become joint monarch in late 1046. Only a year later, Magnus died, and the strong-willed Harald became sole monarch.

Harald was determined to centralize power, and had little patience with the quarreling nobles and peasant leaders. Thus, he was determined to end up on a collision course with the equally determined Einar Tambarskjelve. Conflict ensued, threatening civil war, and Einar began raising another peasant's army against the increasingly unpopular and tyrannical Harald. However, before this work was completed, Harald appeared to seek reconciliation. He asked Einar for a meeting at his farm in Nidaros, so that the two could sit down and broker an agreement.

Endgame and evaluation

Harald, of course, had no such intentions. Merely, he had decided that Einar had to be removed before his support was too powerful. Thus, when arriving at the king's farm, Einar and his son Eindride were assassinated. One can only ask if age had weakened the senses of the wily old politician, or if he was not prepared for the ruthlessness of the new monarch. In any way, Harald achieved his objective. Even though he had to temporarily flee Nidaros and Trøndelag due to the popular fury over Einar's death, the peasants stood indecisive without a political leader.

The death of Einar Tambarskjelve thereby concludes two important eras of Norwegian medieval politics. Firstly, he is the last of the Lade family to play a political role at this level. Secondly, he is also the last nobleman to seek power in Norway without a claim based on the Harald Fairhair succession laws. From this point on, all budding kings - however dubious their alleged relation to the ancient king - would claim to be descended from him.