It's Over!

The race has ended and the skiers can now relax! For 43 years, this event has been a classic for outdoor enthusiasts as they participate with a few thousand other skiers of all ages and travel from Hayward to Cable, Wisconsin on a fifty kilometer ( 30 miles) trail through the Wisconsin  hilly forest on their cross-country skis.

Each skier carries a specific weight and spectators cheer as the skiers enter the little town of Cable in northern Wisconsin.

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Outside of being in competition with others, the winter sport or maybe just the exercise, it’s questionable whether many know ( or even care) about the reason for the event! And why the “required extra baggage”?  The extra weight is the equivalent of a two-year old infant being carried on a storied journey.  The event is
the Annual Birkebeiner held in northern Wisconsin. Perhaps some American-based skiers may not know it’s significance, but native Norwegians certainly do.

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This all started in Norway. There always was a war going on between tribes, but a civil war was being fought from 1130-1240. While  king and chieftain names kept changing every two to twenty years, the fighters were often loyal to the same two sides, namely the church-leaning Bishops who  believed they were the people’s  true leaders and the rest who preferred their independence, and  resisted!.

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Priest with crosier

The “Church power” people became known as “ The Baglers” who were centered in the southwestern area of Norway and believed this was the place for the center of Norwegian power. All tribes were urged to submit to their authority. Baglers were also known as ‘Crosiers’, a crocked staff carried by the bishops as a symbol of their power. Along the eastern border of Norway, the population was less affluent and tended to

Birkebein ( Birch legs)

make a living  robbing those more fortunate. This rag-tag group simply opposed the bagler attempts to solidify control. Because members of this unruly group were so poor they couldn’t afford shoes, they wrapped birchbark around their legs and feet. They became known as the “Birkebeiners”    ( the Birch legs) and worked the border area  of Norway and eastern Sweden.

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This war intensifies when one of their members, Sverre Sugurdson,

King Sverre

marries a daughter of the Swedish king, thus gaining importance. He becomes commander of the birch-legs and trained his followers into becoming a cohesive army, waging heavy resistance against the Baglers with countless wars occurring between tribes. New kings enjoyed their victories, but died quickly. Often, this interaction resulted in the creation of several male offspring who were later able to claim to be fathered heirs to thrones of these deceased kings. One of these future kings was a son known as Haakon and followed by several “King Haakons”.

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Håkon Sverreson ( son of Sverre) soon became the leader of his father‘s armies and took part in many battles. However, he died an unusual death, possibly that of being poisoned by his father’s queen. Being unmarried, there was no apparent heir to his kingdom.

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 However, at this time, a woman named “Inga of Vartig” approached the court with an infant boy she claimed was fathered by King Håkon, thus claiming heir to the throne. Being supported by the king’s

followers, the claim was accepted, upsetting all plans by warring Baglers and putting the baby’s life as well as that of the mother’s life in grave danger. To escape assassination attempts, two skiers were chosen to transport the  2-year-old child to a safe territory where he would be raised by another friendly Norwegian King. The skiers were being pursued by their Bagler enemies as the two skiers and their infant passenger struggled in a blizzard through forests and mountains to safety.

This rescued child would later be known as Håkon Håakonsson IV, King of Norway.  

This king reigned for an astounding forty-six years while finally settling the long Norwegian civil war after everyone  agreed to a church-state regulation.He also prohibited ‘blood feuds’ and created a  regulation of heirs to the thrones. All while creating what was to be called Norway’s “Golden Age”. King Håkon IV of Norway died in 1263, but is still remembered annually

  by Norway’s “Worldloppet” and The US Birkebeiner, one of which is held in the northern area of Hayward Wisconsin. Every year, snow permitting, cross-country skiing enthusiasts arrive to take part in the ceremonious skiing event, carrying a backpack containing weight that would have been that of a two- year-old child in their responsibility, had  they been skiing for their lives in the Norwegian snowy mountains.

 Of all of the numerous Scandinavian leaders and famous kings, Håkon IV has been honored and remembered by Americans and Scandinavians alike every year in this winter sport.