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GRIPLA
4. Giffarðr’s Norwegian Mission
The question that remains to be answered is why the Norman Giffard sud-
denly appeared at Magnús’s court in 1101, and whether his presence in Nor-
way had anything to do with Magnús’s second expedition to the west in 1102.
The Old Norse-Icelandic sources give no motivation for that campaign,29 but
in light of the events that took place in England and Normandy at the time it
is very likely that Magnús’s appearance off the coast of England in 1102 was
no coincidence but part of a larger picture that involved King Henry of Eng-
land, Duke Robert Curthose of Normandy, and the Anglo-Norman nobility.
Upon the death of William Rufus on August 2, 1100, his brother Henry
was crowned king of England on August 5 (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle E
235-36). In September of that year Henry’s elder brother, Duke Robert Cur-
those, retumed to Normandy from his crusade (ihid:236), and certain high-
ranking members of the Anglo-Norman nobility joined in a conspiracy to
oust Henry and place Robert on the throne of England. According to Orderi-
cus Vitalis (IV: 103-04) the conspiracy was spearheaded by Robert of Bel-
léme, Earl of Shrewsbury and Shropshire, his two brothers, Roger and Amulf
of Montgomery, William of Warenne, Walter Giffard, Ivo of Grandmesnil,
and Robert of Lacy.30 On July 20, 1101, Robert of Normandy landed in Ports-
mouth with an army but was forced to surrender. After the peace treaty at Al-
ton in August he retumed to Normandy after Michaelmas with William of
Warenne and some of the other traitors (Ordericus Vitalis IV: 161; TheAnglo-
Saxon Chronicle E:237).
Upon Robert’s departure the rebellion in England was continued by Rob-
ert of Belléme and his two brothers, Amulf and Roger of Montgomery. Rob-
ert failed to obey Henry’s summons to appear at the Easter assembly in April
of 1102, and, fortifying his castles in Wales, he and his brothers sought al-
29 Theodoricus does in fact report that Magnús’s intention was to conquer Ireland:
Paucis deinde interpositis annis iterum classem parat, solita mentis inquietudine
Hybemiam repetiit spe subjiciendi sibi totam insulam (63).
The author of Ágrip follows Theodoricus at this point (1F XXIX:46), but Morkinskinna (and
Fagrskinna-Heimskringla, which copy ÆMsk) simply states that Magnús set out on his sec-
ond expedition after having ruled Norway for nine years (“Nú er þat sagt, þá er Magnús kon-
ungr hafði ráðit landinu .ix. vetr, þá byrjar hann annat sinni ferð sína vestr um haf’; Morkin-
skinna 1932:331; cf. ÍF XXIX:312; ÍF XXVII:233). For discussions of the possible goals of
Magnús’s second expedition, see Bugge 1914:40-47; Power 1986:123-25.
30 Ordericus is our only authority for Walter Giffard’s complicity in the conspiracy, but he does
not include him among those nobles who were punished by Henry after the peace treaty at
Alton in 1101 (1V: 161). Walter Giffard 11 was, however, the second cousin of Roger of Mont-
gomery, the father of Robert of Belléme (see White 1921:60).