Lendmann Ivar Ivarson Gjesling, på Sundbu

• Anebeskrivelse av Tore Nygaard https://tore-nygaard.com/trondelag/3929.htm
• Lokalhistoriewiki https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Ivar_Gjesling
• Gjesling i Store Norske Leksikon https://snl.no/Gjesling
• Lendmann var en stormann, som stilte seg til tjeneste for kongen.

I "Ættesoge for Gudbrandsdalen", Bind 1 av Engebret Hougen, står det om Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling på Sundbu:

"... Den fyrste mann me kan føre opp av Gjesling-ætta: Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling på Sundbu, lendmann i Gudbrandsdalen. Han må vera fødd ikkje seinare enn ikr. 1150, truleg alt ikr. 1135, for han var venteleg ein mann i sine beste år, ikkje lenger heilt ung, då han fyrste gong stig fram i ljoset i 1177. Før pålag 1125 kan han snautt vera fødd, for han levde venteleg til pålag 1200."

Det er ikke kjent hvem foreldrene til Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling var. Engebret Hougen omtaler en "Ivar Gamle Sundbu", som skal ha levd på Sundbu ca. 100 år tidligere, men det er minst to generasjoner mellom disse to.

På enkelte internettsider er Ivar Gamle Gjesling oppført som sønn av en Ivar Ivarsen Gjesling (Lendmann Ivar Ivarson Gjesling, på Sundbu), som igjen er sønn av enda en Ivar. Dette strider mot alle oppkallingsregler på den tiden. På de nevnte internettsidene mangler også kildehenvisninger.

Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling er også kjent fra sagnet om Ridderspranget. Engebret Hougen hevder at "Skårvangssola" var kona eller frillen til Ivar Gjesling da hun ble bortført av "Valdresridderen", og at "Skårvangssole" dermed er mor til sønnen til Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling, Håvard i Sundbu. Dette er imidlertid ren spekulasjon fra Hougen sin side.

Ivar "Gamle" Gjesling Kong Sverres lendmann i Gudbrandsdalen fra 1177/78. Kong Sverre motte tre lendmenn pa Mjosa pa tur sorover fra Trondheim i 1177. En av dem var Ivar Gjesling. Senere sokte kongen tilflukt hos Ivar flere ganger og kongen ga ham Heimdalen og Heimdalsvannet i gave. Det skulle etterkommerne ha i evig eie.

1177 - Ivar Gjesling (or Ivar Gjæsling) was King Magnus IV's lendmann for the Opplands. Gjesling, allied himself with the Birchlegs (Birkebeinerne) — who chose Sverre as their king at Øreting in 1177. In return Sverre granted him the valley of Heidal.[2]

Ridderspranget(The Knight's Leap) :

There is an old legend that is supposed to tell the history of this narrow gorge where it is possible to jump across the foaming water flow, 10 meters below. (Don't try it yourself, even if it is possible) The legend goes as follows:

"At Sandbu there lived an ancient knightly family that was called Gjæsling. They were a royal vassal family with roots right back to the time of St. Olaf, who christianized the nation. Between 700 and 800 years ago Ivar Gjæsling was the knight at Sandbu. At the same time there was a knight at Kvie in Valdres, his name was Sigvat and who had been in enmity with the Gjæsling family about the fishing rights in Heimdalsvatnet. If he met Ivar's men at the outlet there was a terrible conflict with slashing and blows while the fishing cottages and boathouses were burnt up. And if Ivar came back with weaponed men for revenge, Sigvat did not dare do anything but stay at home in Melby for Ivar commanded more and stronger people than Sigvat.

In addition to the conflicts about Heimdalen something else came up that did not exactlyly ease the hatred between the two of them. At Nordi Skårvangen in Vågå, a girl grew up who was renowned in the whole valley and on the other side of the mountains because she was so incomparably beautiful. She soon went under the name of Skårvangsola among the people in the valley. Ivar Gjæsling owned farms in Skårvangen and saw her often when he went there. His desire for the girl grew steadily. When she had grown up he wanted her to move down to Sandbu to brighten his main farm there. But before that happened Sigvat Kvie, in one way or another, had seen Skårvangsola and got to know her. Since he was the most handsome of the two it was he that attracted her. But when Ivar Gjæsling heard of this he understood that it was not safe to leave her in Skårvangen if she was to be his. Against her will she was taken to Sandbu. But before he could hold!

a proper feast before taking her in marriage he had to make an errand for the king to Lesja and Dovre and would be away for some days. He took his best men with him and rode off while only a few watchmen and workers remained on the farm.

No sooner than Ivar Gjæsling had ridden out from the farm, Skårvangsola managed to send a message over the mountain to Melby and told Sigvat that she was now confined. If he wished to free her he must come quickly while the hawk was away. Sigvat did not have to be asked twice, he flew over the mountain with all the men under his command, killed all the guards and farm folk at Sandbu and took Skårvangsola up on his saddle and set fire to the farm. As he rode northward, he turned and saw the flames high over Sandbu and exclaimed, "Now the wolf will come out of his lair"!

But before the buildings were burnt down Ivar had returned. He understood the situation and that the one who had stolen Skårvangsolen from him could not have gotten very far. The Kvie knight and his retinue had ridden hard until they came to Fuglseteren at Tesse where they were to rest for a few hours during the night. But in the early dawn Ivar Gjæsling and his men spotted them. A vigilant guard warned Sigvat, who threw himself on horseback with Skårvangsola and took the shortest way toward the Veo plateau. His squire followed him but the rest of his men were cut down to the last man at the seter. The Valdres knight now rode for his life but Ivar and his men were getting closer and closer. His horse was tiring and the only alternative he could think of was to head to the Sjoa River.. He knew of a place where the distance between the overhanging cliffs was no further than what a vigorous man could jump across the boiling water in a good bound.

Since the Gjæslings were only a stone's throw behind him, he had no other choice. With Skårvangsola in his arms he made the leap on his worn-out horse - and made it! His squire jumped right after him but then Sigvat turned around and knocked him back into the rushing waters. Thereby he showed Ivar and the others what would happen to anyone who dared to try. With a drawn sword he awaited whoever dared. In this manner he had stopped his pursuers. He got back over the mountain and felt that he had kept his honour even though he had lost all his men in the raid. But the king later sentenced Sigvat to give a letter to Ivar Gjæsling ceding all of Heimdalen. But the narrow ravine where Sigvat saved himself with the girl in his arms has since been known as Ridderspranget."

Sandbu gård fra boka Norske Storgårder II, s.17
https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011022205226?page=17