Editing Magnus the Good (section)

==Early life==
Magnus was an illegitimate son of King Olaf Haraldsson (later [[Saint Olaf]]) by his [[Kingdom of England|English]] concubine Alfhild,<ref name="bricka">[[Carl Frederik Bricka]], ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XI [Maar – Müllner], 1897, [https://runeberg.org/dbl/11/0046.html p.44].</ref> originally a slave ([[thrall]]) of Olaf's queen [[Astrid Olofsdotter]].<ref>Morten (2011) p. 16</ref> Born prematurely, the child was weak and unable to breathe for the first few minutes, and he was probably not expected to survive. Olaf was not present at the child's birth, and his Icelandic [[skald]] [[Sigvatr Þórðarson]] became his godfather. In a hasty baptism, Sigvatr named Magnus after the greatest king he knew of, also Olaf's greatest role model, ''Karla Magnus'', or [[Charlemagne]]. Against the odds, Magnus went on to grow strong and healthy, and he became of vital importance to Olaf as his only son.<ref>Morten (2011) p. 17</ref>

Olaf was dethroned by the Danish king [[Cnut the Great]] in 1028, and he went into exile with his family and court, including the young Magnus.<ref name="bricka"/> They travelled over the mountains and through [[Eidskog]] during the winter, entered [[Värmland]], and were given shelter by a chieftain called Sigtrygg in [[Närke]]. After a few months, they departed Närke, and by March went eastwards towards [[Sigtuna]], where the Swedish king [[Anund Jacob]] had left them a ship. The party thereafter sailed through the [[Baltic Sea]] and into the [[Gulf of Finland]], eventually landing in [[Kievan Rus']] (''[[Garðaríki]]''). They made their first stop at [[Staraya Ladoga]] (''Aldeigjuborg'') to organise the further journey.<ref>Morten (2011) pp. 15 & 18–20</ref> From there they travelled southwards to [[Novgorod]] (''Holmgard''), where Olaf sought assistance from Grand Prince [[Yaroslav the Wise]]. Yaroslav, however, did not want to become directly involved in the Scandinavian power-struggles, and declined to help. After some time, in early 1030, Olaf learned that the [[Earls of Lade|Earl of Lade]] [[Håkon Eiriksson]], Cnut's regent in Norway, had disappeared at sea, and gathered his men to make a swift return to Norway. Magnus was left to be fostered by Yaroslav and his wife [[Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden|Ingegerd]].<ref>Morten (2011) pp. 21–23</ref>

In early 1031, a party including Magnus's uncle [[Harald Hardrada|Harald Sigurdsson]] (later also to be king and then known as Harald Hardrada) arrived to report the news of his father's death at the [[Battle of Stiklestad]]. For the next few years, Magnus was educated in [[Old East Slavic|Old Russian]] and some [[Greek language|Greek]] and was trained as a warrior.<ref>Morten (2011) pp. 25–27</ref> In 1030, Cnut appointed his first wife [[Ælfgifu of Northampton|Ælfgifu]] and their son [[Svein Knutsson|Svein]] as regents, but the Norwegians found their rule oppressive and, by the time of Cnut's death in 1035, they had been driven out and Magnus was established as king.<ref>[[Frank Stenton]], ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Oxford history of England 2, 3rd ed. Oxford/Clarendon: 1971, {{ISBN|9780198217169}}, pp. 405–06.</ref> [[Einar Thambarskelfir]] and [[Kalf Arnesson]], who had both sought to be appointed regents under Cnut after Olaf's death in 1030,<ref>Morten (2011) pp. 28–29</ref> had gone together to Kievan Rus' to bring the boy back to rule as the [[King of Norway]].<ref name="larsen">Karen Larsen, ''A History of Norway'', [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]], Princeton University Press, 1948, repr. 1950, {{OCLC|257284542}}, p. 110.</ref> After receiving the approval of Ingegerd, they returned with Magnus to Sigtuna in early 1035, and received backing from the Swedish king, brother of Magnus's stepmother Astrid. Astrid immediately became an important supporter of Magnus, and an army was gathered in Sweden, headed by Einar and Kalf, to place Magnus on the Norwegian throne.<ref>Morten (2011) pp. 40–44</ref>