A FOUR-LEGGED KING NAMED SAUR
and why a Trønder shouldn't bow for anyone
The smiling redhead you see at the picture below is a man who has tiny bit more rebellious genes in his body than the average Norwegian.
And now he will tell you a story that helps you understand why he takes such pride in this fact.
My late father researched our family tree several hundreds year back in time. All of my ancestors lived in Trøndelag, a beautiful region in the middle part of Norway.
Trøndelag didn't really become a part of a unified Norwegian kingdom before late in the Viking Age. Until about 1050 AD the Trønders was more or less self governd. The political system was to some extent an anarchy based on a deeply rooted respect for private property, combined with disrespect for men who wanted to rule others.
This didn't mean that the Trønders were without leaders or laws. Their famous Frostating law ("ting" means "court") was based on legal and cultural traditions that had developed over hundreds or possibly thousands of years.
The leaders were numerous farmers and landowners from all parts of the region. They also had earls who were entitled to receive some taxes, likely in exchange for an obligation to organize safekeeping and military defence against intruders.
The most fundamental part of the Frostating law was its so-called "resistance provisions", a system of self defence regulations that weren't part of any other Nordic laws.
These rules stated that nobody, neither the King nor any man, could take something from a Trønder without the prior consent of the Frostating, which was controlled by the farmers and landowners.
The law said that, if a king laid claim on someones property, for instance by introducing taxes, without the consent of the Frostating, the Trønders should cut a war arrow, that should be sent around to all corners of Trøndelag.
The arrow carried a message, which said that everybody were obliged to try to kill the king, and if they didn't succeed in doing this, they had to chase him out of the country.
Those who didn't pass the arrow to their neighbor, or who refrained from hunting down the king, would be punished with fines.
An interesting aspect of the Frostating law was that the punishment for someone who took another man's property therefore were much more significant for the king than for anyone else. This is in practice the very opposite principle of our modern day's legal system, in which the laws are designed to protect the politival leaders against the citizens.
There's in my mind no doubt that
- the highly decentralized political power,
- a completely decentralized defence system that required everyone to understand both the right to self defense and the moral obligation to help your fellow man, and
- laws that were severely stacked against powerhungry men
were key factors when it came to securing the Trønders' sovereignty and freedom.
This didn't, of course, deter each and every bloodthirsty king from paying a visit to Trøndelag.
According to the Royal Sagas, one of those who fell for the temptation was King Øystein of Oppland, an area south of Trøndelag. He lived in the 8th to 9th century and had earned the less-than-flattering nickname "Hardråde", which meant "hard ruler".
After Øystein defeated the Trønders in a battle which we don't know when happened, he installed his son as King of Trøndelag. This probably wasn't the wisest decision that he had ever made, because shortly afterwards the son was killed by his unruly subjects.
When Øystein got wind of what had happened he became furious, gathered his army and attacked the Trønders once more.
Again he won the fight, but this time he decided to try and make a fool out of the Trønders. He told them that they could choose a new king, and gave them two choices - his slave Thore Faxe or a dog named Saur.
The people of Trøndelag merrily elected Saur, and suddenly my ancestors had a four-legged king as their ruler.
Based on what we know about the Trønders' appreciation of their freedom and their deeply rooted traditions as a sovereign people, the following is my interpretation of the events described in the sagas:
Instead of allowing King Øystein the sweet taste of having taught the Trønders a lesson, they decided to make a complete mockery out of his plot.
First, they pretended that they used some kind of witchcraft to give Saur three men's intelligence. They then claimed that he could say two words, and bark a third.
Secondly, they let Saur have a splended farm named Saurshaug (Saur's hill, today Sakshaug, which is 30 km away from where I live). They gave him a high throne, and let him rule over his land from the top of a hill, as was customary for kings at the time.
Thirdly, they gave Saur a collar of gold and a leash of silver.
The dog king's hird (a professional royal guard) served and protected him. If it rained, they would carry him on his shoulders. A real king couldn't be seen with muddy paws as he travelled around and inspected the kingdom and his underlings.
After a while the hirdsmen probably grew tired of all the work that they had to do to create this formidable farce. And when a pack of wolves one day came to Saurshaug, they egged the dog to go out and protect his royal herd.
Saur went after the wolves, who of course ripped him to pieces.
My ancestors probably wanted to send Øystein and all other kings the following message of defiance:
F**** us once and we will kill your son.
F**** us twice and we will ruin your legacy.
They probably wanted Øystein to forever be remembered as the King who bitterly realized that the Trønders could be beaten, but that they never would be ruled by anyone.
Having this story probably strengthened the value of the Frostating law as a weapon against tyrants and plunderers. If the knowledge about the unique resistance regulations in Trøndelag had been well known outside the borders of Trøndelag before King Øystein attacked them, the history about King Saur probably helped bringing word of their code to all corners of the world.
It makes me proud to know our legacy as sovereign Trønders. We were the people who kept our freedom longer than anyone else in the fight against bloodthirsty kings who wanted to rule every Norwegian.
Furthermore, it also makes me realize that I can only show my respect to my ancestors by promising them that I'm not going to bow for anyone.
I am, after all, a trueblood Trønder.
