After the battle in Sognesund King Svein returned to Throndhjem; but his stay there was not of long duration. He met the people at a Thing, and heard their complaints, but no understanding could be reached. Shortly afterward the situation became so strained that King Svein and his mother found it necessary to remove to the southern part of the country to spend the winter. During this winter Einar Thambaskelfer and Kalf Arneson had many consultations in Nidaros with the other chiefs, and the result was that in the spring a deputation of prominent chiefs, including Einar Thambaskelfer and Kalf Arneson, proceeded east to King Jaroslav in Russia to offer the throne of Norway to Magnus, the son of Olaf the Saint, who had been raised at King Jaroslav's court. They asked and received full forgiveness for having fought against Magnus's father at Stiklestad. They thereupon swore allegiance to Magnus, who, on the other hand, promised them under oath that he would be true and faithful to them all when he got the dominions and kingdom of Norway. Einar and Kalf were to act as his foster-fathers and counsellors. Magnus returned with them to Norway and was welcomed with great joy. At Oere-Thing he was proclaimed king over the whole land. When King Svein heard this news he tried to raise an army; but nobody would listen to him, and he and his mother were obliged to flee to Denmark. Here Svein died in the year 1036; his father Canute dying a short time before him. CHAPTER XVIII _Magnus the Good (1035-1047)_ Magnus was a natural child of Olaf the Saint, his mother being a girl by the name of Alfhild, who was usually called the king's slave-woman, although she was of good descent. She was a very handsome girl and lived in King Olaf's court. It is said that when Magnus was born she was very sick, and it was some time after the birth before it could be discovered whether the boy was alive. A priest, who was present, requested Sigvat the Skald (poet) to hasten to the king and tell him of the event; but Sigvat refused, as the king had strictly forbidden anybody to awaken him in the middle of the night. As the child was very weak, however, they decided to baptize it, and Sigvat the Skald named the boy Magnus. The next morning the king demanded to know why they had named the boy Magnus, since there was no such name in his family. Sigvat said: "I called him after King Carl Magnus (Emperor Charlemagne), who, I knew, had been the best man in the world." This satisfied the king.