Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok was a legendary Viking hero and a legendary king of Denmark and Sweden, known from Old Norse poetry, Icelandic sagas, and contemporary chronicles. According to traditional literature, Ragnar is famous for numerous raids against the British Isles and the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century. He also appears in Nordic legends, and according to the legendary sagas Tale of Ragnar's Sons and a saga about certain ancient kings, Ragnar Lodbrok's father was the legendary Swedish king Sigurd Ring.

Accounts of Ragnar Lodbrok

Icelandic Sagas

According to The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, The History of Ragnar's Sons, Heimskringla, Hervarar Saga, Sögubrot, and many other Icelandic sources, Ragnar was the son of the Swedish king Sigurd Ring. Nearly all the sagas agree that the Danish king Randver was Sigurd's father, with the Hervarar Saga identifying his wife as Åsa, daughter of the Norwegian king Harald the Red Beard. It is also stated that Randver was a grandson of the legendary Scandinavian king Ivar Vidfamne, through his daughter Aud (who in the Hervarar Saga is called Alfhild).

After the death of King Ivar Vidfamne, Aud's eldest son, Harald, who was married to the Danish king Hrœrekr Ringslinger, conquered his grandfather's entire domain and became known as Harald Wartooth. Harald's nephew, Sigurd Ring, after the death of Randver (according to the Hervarar Saga in Denmark), became the High King of Sweden, likely as a sub-king under Harald. Sigurd and Harald fought in the Battle of Brávellir (Bråvalla) in the plains of Östergötland, in which Harald and many of his men died. Sigurd then ruled over Sweden and Denmark (sometimes identified with the Danish King Sigfred, who reigned from around 770 to his death before 804). He fathered a son, Ragnar Lodbrok, with Princess Alfhild from the small kingdom of Álfheimr, who succeeded him.

Eysteinn Beli, according to the Hervarar Saga, was Harald Wartooth's son and ruled Sweden for some time after Sigurd, until he was killed by the sons of Ragnar and Aslaug.

The Scandinavian prehistory sagas, known as fornaldarsǫgur, report more about Ragnar's marriages than his military exploits. According to Sögubrot, "he was the greatest and most handsome man ever seen by human eyes, resembling his mother in appearance and taking after her kin."

He first killed a giant serpent that guarded the residence of Thora Borgarhjort, the daughter of the Geatish jarl Herrauðr, and won her as his wife. The unusual protective clothing that Ragnar wore when he fought the serpent earned him the nickname Lodbrok.

His sons with Thora were Erik and Agnar. After Thora's death, he found Kráka, a woman of extraordinary beauty and wisdom, who lived with a poor farming couple in Norway, and married her. From this marriage came the sons Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, Ragnvald, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye.

It was later revealed that Kráka was actually Aslaug, the secret daughter of the famous hero Sigurd Fafnesbane. As the sons grew into famous warriors, Ragnar, unwilling to be outdone, decided to conquer England with only two ships. However, he was defeated by the superior English forces and thrown into a pit of snakes, where he died in agony.

The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, The Tale of Ragnar's Sons, and Heimskringla all describe the great heathen army that invaded England around 866, led by Ragnar Lodbrok's sons, to take revenge on King Ælla of Northumbria, who is said to have captured and executed Ragnar.

Danish Sources

The Chronicon Roskildense (around 1138) mentions Lodbrok (Lothpardus) as the father of the extremely cruel Nordic king Ywar (rex crudelissimus Normannorum Ywar) and his brothers Inguar (a twin of Ywar), Ubbi, Byorn, and Ulf, who rule over the northern peoples.

They urge various Danish petty kings to help them destroy the Frankish Empire. Ywar successfully attacks the kingdoms of Britain, although not as an act of vengeance, as in the Icelandic sagas.

The Chronicle of Sven Aggesen (around 1190) is the first Danish text to mention the full name Regnerus Lothbrogh. His son Sigurd invades Denmark and kills the king, marrying his daughter when he ascends the throne. Their son, in turn, is Knut, the ancestor of later Danish kings.

None of these sources mention Ragnar Lodbrok as a Danish ruler. The first to do so is Saxo Grammaticus in his work Gesta Danorum (around 1200). This work blends the Norse legend with historical data about Danish history from the Chronicle of Adam of Bremen (around 1075).

Here, Ragnar's father, Sigurd Ring, is a Norwegian prince married to a Danish princess, differing from the victor of Brávellir (who flourished about thirteen generations earlier). Sigurd Ring and his cousin and rival Ring (i.e., Sigfred and Anulo in recorded history, died 812) are both killed in battle, after which Ragnar is elevated to the Danish throne (identified by Saxo as Ragnfred, died 814).

His first act is defeating the Swedish king Frö, who had killed Ragnar's grandfather. Ragnar is supported by a wild shield-maiden named Ladgerda (Lagertha), who forces him to marry her. From this marriage came the son Fridleif and two daughters.

Later, Ragnar divorces his marriage to Lagertha and marries Thora Borgarhjort, daughter of the Swedish king Herrauðr, after killing two venomous giant serpents guarding Thora's house. His sons with Thora are Radbard, Dunvat, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, Björn Ironside, Agnar, and Ivar the Boneless. From an extramarital relationship with an unnamed woman (only described as the daughter of a man named Esbjørn), Ragnar fathered Ubbe. From a further, final marriage with Svanlaug (possibly another name for Aslaug), three more sons were born: Ragnvald, Eric Weatherhat, and Hvitserk.

The sons were appointed as sub-kings in various conquered territories. Ragnar led a Viking expedition to England, killing its king Hama before killing the earls of Scotland and appointing Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Radbard as governors. Norway was also subdued, and Fridleif was made its ruler and in the Orkneys. Later, Ragnar invaded Sweden with three sons, where a new king named Sörle appeared and claimed the inheritance of Thora's sons. Sörle and his army were massacred, and Björn Ironside was set on the throne.

Later, Björn was granted rule over Norway, while Ragnar appointed another son, Eric Weatherhat, as ruler in Sweden; he was later killed by a certain Eysteinn. One of the sons, Ubbe, rebelled at the instigation of his maternal grandfather, Esbjørn, against his father and could only be defeated and captured with great difficulty. Saxo also reports several expeditions to the British Isles, one of which cost Dunvat and Radbard their lives.

Ælla, son of Hama, with the help of allies known as the Galli — possibly a group of Norse Gaels (who in Old Irish were known as Gall-Goídil) — expelled Ragnar's sub-king Ivar the Boneless from England and remained a constant enemy.

Finally, the Scythians were forced to accept Hvitserk as their ruler. Eventually, Hvitserk was treacherously captured by the Hellespontian prince Daxon and burned alive, as he himself admitted. When Ragnar learned of this, he led an expedition to the Kievan Rus' and captured Daxon, who was strangely spared and exiled.

Unlike the Icelandic sources, Saxo's account of Ragnar Lodbrok's reign is largely a catalog of successful Viking raids across a vast geographical area. These maritime expeditions included one against the Bjarmians and Finns (Saami) in the Arctic North.

The Bjarmian sorceries caused storms and the sudden death of many Danish invaders, and the Finnish archers on skis proved to be formidable enemies. Eventually, the two tribes were routed, and the Bjarmian king was killed.

The historical king Harald Klak is made by Saxo (based on a passage in Adam's Chronicle) a persistent enemy of Ragnar, who repeatedly stirred the Jutes and Scanians to revolt, but was regularly defeated. After the final victory over Harald, Ragnar learned that King Ælla had massacred Ragnar's men in Ireland. Enraged, he attacked the English king with his fleet but was captured and thrown into the snake pit, just as in the Icelandic sagas. Despite all his praise for Ragnar Lodbrok, Saxo also views his fate as God's just revenge for the contempt he had shown towards the Christian religion.

Poetic and Epigraphic Sources

Although the narrative Norse sources are from the 12th and 13th centuries, there are also many older poems that mention him and his kin. In Ragnarsdrápa, allegedly written by Bragi Boddason in the 9th century, a Ragnar, son of Sigurd, is praised for an intricately decorated shield that the poet received. The shield depicts the attack on Jörmunrek, the story of Hjaðningavíg, Gefjon's plowing, and Thor's battle with the Midgard Serpent.

Recent research suggests that the poem actually dates from around the year 1000 and celebrates the Norse reconquest of England. The four stories depicted on the shield would then symbolize four aspects of the Lodbrok saga.

In Sigvat Thordarson's Knutsdrapa (around 1038), the death of Ælla by Ivar in York is mentioned, where Ivar "carved the eagle on Ælla's back," suggesting the brutal revenge of Lodbrok's sons was already present in early sources.

Another poem, Krákumál, Ragnar's death song, was allegedly recited by Ragnar in the snake pit, recounting his heroic deeds and battles across a vast geographical area, many of which concern the British Isles.

There is a runic inscription that mentions Lodbrok, engraved in the early 12th century on the prehistoric burial mound of Maeshowe on Orkney. It reads: "This Howe was built long before Lodbrok. Their sons were bold; rarely have such great men been seen." The phrase "their sons" has led to the theory that Lodbrok was originally thought to be a woman, the mother of the historically known sons.

Frankish Accounts of a Viking Leader Named Ragnar in the 9th Century

The Siege and Plunder of Paris in 845 marked the climax of a Viking invasion of the Kingdom of the West Franks. The Viking troops were led by a Nordic chieftain named Reginherus or Ragnar. This Ragnar has often been tentatively identified with the legendary figure Ragnar Lodbrok, but historians dispute the accuracy of this assumption.

Ragnar Lodbrok is sometimes also identified with a Ragnar to whom Charles the Bald granted land in Torhout, Flanders, around 841, though he eventually lost both the land and the king's favour.

Ragnar's Vikings raided Rouen in 845, and in response to the invasion, Charles, who did not want the royal abbey of Saint-Denis (near Paris) to be destroyed, assembled an army, which he split into two parts, one for each side of the river. Ragnar attacked one of the divisions of the smaller Frankish army, defeated it, captured 111 of their men, and hanged them on an island in the Seine to honour the Norse god Odin, thereby terrorizing the remaining Frankish troops. Ragnar's fleet returned to his overlord, King Horik I of Denmark, but Ragnar soon died from a severe illness that also spread to Denmark.

Later Continental Reports

One of the oldest texts mentioning the name Lodbrok is the Norman history by William of Jumièges from 1070. According to William, it was customary for the older Danish kings to exile their younger sons to get them out of the way. When this practice was in vogue, King Lodbrok succeeded his unnamed father to the Danish throne. After taking power, he adhered to this custom and ordered his younger son Björn Ironside to leave his kingdom. Björn then left Denmark with a considerable fleet and began raiding in Western France and later the Mediterranean.

Around the same time, Adam of Bremen, whose History of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen contains many accounts of Viking Age Scandinavia, mentions the Danish or Nordic pirates Horich, Orwig, Gotafrid, Rudolf, and Inguar (Ivar). This Ivar is specifically described as a cruel persecutor of Christians and the son of Lodbrok (Inguar, filius Lodparchi).

 

Anglo-Saxon and Irish Accounts of Ivar and Halfdan's Father
According to the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser's Life of Alfred, in 878, the "brother of Hingwar and Healfden" invaded Devon in England with a fleet and a contingent of the Great Heathen Army and won the Battle of Cynwit. There, the Vikings were defeated, their king was slain, and many died, with only a few escaping to their ships. After the battle, the Saxons captured large amounts of loot, including the "Raven Banner."

In the Annals of St. Neots from the early 12th century, it is further stated, "It is said that the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodebroch (Lodbrok), wove this banner and finished it in a single day. It is also said that in every battle where the banner flew before them, a living raven appeared in the middle of the banner when they won the victory; but when they were doomed to defeat, it hung motionless, which often proved true." This is one of the earliest references to the legendary hero Ragnar Lodbrok.

In the Irish Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib from the 12th century, which contains information from earlier annals, King Halfdan (died 877) is referred to as "mac Ragnaill."

The form "Ragnall" may refer to either Ragnvald or Ragnar, and the entry is a strong indication that the name of Ivar and Halfdan's father was indeed Ragnar or a similar name.

The Three Fragments from the early 11th century contain a passage that provides a semi-legendary background for the Viking capture of York in 866. The two younger sons of Halfdan, King of Lochlann, expelled the eldest son Ragnall, who sailed with his three sons to the Orkney Islands, where they settled. Two of the sons later raided the English and Franks and traveled plundering through the Mediterranean. One of them learned in a vision that Ragnall had fought in a battle in which the third son had been killed, and in which he himself had most likely perished. The two Viking sons then returned home with many dark-skinned prisoners.

This is thought to be an Irish version of the Ragnar Lodbrok saga, with the Mediterranean expedition being a historical event that took place between 859 and 861.

Ragnar's Sons

The Great Heathen Army is said to have been led by Ragnar Lodbrok’s sons to take revenge on King Ælla of Northumbria, who had previously executed Ragnar by throwing him into a pit of poisonous snakes.

Among the organizers were at least some of Ragnar's sons: Ivar the Boneless, Ubba, Halfdan, Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, all of whom are historically known, with the exception of the somewhat more dubious Hvitserk.

Ivar the Boneless was the leader of the Great Heathen Army from 865 to 870, but disappears from the English historical records after 870.

The Anglo-Saxon chronicler Æthelweard records Ivar's death in 870. Halfdan Ragnarsson became leader of the Great Heathen Army around 870 and led it in an invasion of Wessex. A large number of Viking warriors came from Scandinavia as part of the Great Summer Army under King Bagsecg of Denmark and bolstered Halfdan's forces.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Danes fought the West Saxons nine times, including in the Battle of Ashdown on January 8, 871, in which Bagsecg was killed.

Halfdan accepted a truce with the future Alfred the Great, who had just been crowned King of Wessex.

After Bagsecg's death, Halfdan was the only remaining king of the invading army. He may also have been the king of part of Denmark (Jutland?), as Frankish sources from 873 mention a co-regent named Halfdan.

Later sagas suggest that Björn Ironside became the king of Sweden and Uppsala, although this is chronologically inconsistent.

Björn had two sons, Erik and Refil Björnsson. His son Erik became the next king of Sweden, and his successor was Erik Refilsson, the son of Refil.

Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye may be the same person as Sigfred, Halfdan's brother, who was king in Denmark along with Halfdan in 873.

According to the sagas, Sigurd became the king of Zealand, Scania, and the smaller Danish islands.

Sigfred-Sigurd may have succeeded his brother Halfdan as king of all Denmark around 877 and could be the Viking king Sigfred, who was killed in West Francia in 887.

Sources and Historical Accuracy

While Ragnar's sons, Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Björn Ironside, Ubba, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, are historical figures, opinions about their father are divided. Contemporary scholarship considers most of the stories about him to be fiction. According to Hilda Ellis Davidson, who wrote in 1979:

"In recent years, some scholars have come to accept at least part of Ragnar’s story as historical fact."

Key medieval sources that mention Ragnar include:

• Book IX of Gesta Danorum, a work by the Christian Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus from the 12th century
• The Saga of Ragnar's Sons (Ragnarssona þáttr), a legendary saga
• The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, another saga, a continuation of the Völsunga Saga
• Ragnarsdrápa, a skaldic poem, of which only fragments remain, attributed to the poet Bragi Boddason from the 9th century
• Krákumál, Ragnar’s death song, an ancient and mysterious skaldic poem

In her commentary on Saxo's Gesta Danorum, Davidson notes that Saxo’s portrayal of Ragnar’s legend in Book IX of Gesta seems to be an attempt to consolidate many of the confusing and contradictory events and stories that were known to the chronicler into the reign of a single king, Ragnar. For this reason, many actions attributed to Ragnar in the Gesta can be connected to other sources with different figures, some of whom are more historically credible.

Candidates that scholars are eager to associate with the "historical Ragnar" include:

• Reginherus or Ragnar, who besieged Paris in 845
• Danish King Horik I (died 854)
• King Reginfrid (died 814), a king who ruled part of Denmark with his brother Harald Klak but was overthrown by Horik I and his brothers and later died in battle against them
• Possibly Ragnall (Ragnvald or Ragnar) from the Irish annals

Attempts to reliably connect the legendary Ragnar with one or more of these men have failed due to the difficulty of aligning the various reports and their chronology. However, the tradition of a Viking hero named Ragnar (or a similar name) who wreaked havoc in Europe in the mid-9th century and fathered many famous sons remains remarkably persistent and is supported in some aspects by relatively reliable sources, such as Irish historical accounts and indirectly through the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Ragnar Lodbrok in Literature and Media

Ragnar Lodbrok plays a major role in the following works:

• Edwin Atherstone’s novel Sea-Kings in England (1830)
• Edison Marshall's novel The Viking (1951)
• "Ragnar le Viking", a 1955 comic written by Jean Ollivier and illustrated by Eduardo Teixeira Coelho, which ran in the French magazine Vaillant until 1969
• Richard Parker’s historical novel The Sword of Ganelon (1957), which deals with Ragnar, his sons, and Viking raiding culture
• The 1958 film The Vikings, based on Marshall’s novel, in which Ragnar, played by Ernest Borgnine, is captured by King Ælla and thrown into a wolf pit; a son named Einar [sic], played by Kirk Douglas, swears vengeance and conquers Northumbria with the help of his half-brother (and archenemy) Eric (played by Tony Curtis), who also has much to avenge with King Ælla.
• Harry Harrison’s 1993 alternate history novel The Hammer and the Cross, which depicts Ragnar suffering shipwreck, being captured, and executed, and how his sons take revenge
• In the 2013 Vikings TV series by History, Australian actor Travis Fimmel plays the lead role of Ragnar for the first four seasons
• In the 2020 Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla video game by Ubisoft, Ragnar's children continue to rule, raid, and settle in Eastern England during the 9th century
• In the June 14, 2021, episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, the legendary Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok, played by EpicLLOYD, based on the Vikings TV series (2013), battles the medieval English monarch Richard the Lionheart, played by Nice Peter.