There are two versions, one shorter and one longer, which are in modern editions usually printed as one saga.
[1][citation needed] The Bagler Sagas occur during the Civil war era in Norway.
The sagas deal with the reigns of the birkebeiner kings Haakon Sverresson, Guttorm Sigurdsson and Inge Baardsson, and the bagler pretenders to the Norwegian throne Erling Steinvegg and Philippus Simonsson.
The older version is neutral in its depiction of events, without a clear bias for either birkebeiner or bagler.
The author of this later version is clearly on the side of the birkebeiner, and shows personal sympathies for King Inge, also in his disputes with his brother, earl Haakon the Crazy (Håkon Galen).