Ragnar Lothbrok

Ragnar Lothbrok (Old Norse Ragnarr Loðbrók, also anglicised as Ragnar Lodbrok), whose epithet means ‘Hairy-breeches’ or ‘Shaggy-breeches’, was a legendary Viking king, with Old Norse sagas, poetry, and medieval Latin sources telling of his accomplishments in Scandinavia, Francia, and Anglo-Saxon England during the 9th century CE. Commonly occurring elements in these stories are his marriages to Thora and Aslaug, as well as his fathering of many famous sons including Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, Hvitserk, and Ubba. A possible third wife, Lagertha, only appears in the 13th-century CE Gesta Danorum, a work on Danish history, as does a fourth, Swanloga.

Perhaps the most iconic titbits of his legend are Ragnar’s successful fight with a dragon – for which he fashioned his defining shaggy breeches as protection – and his slightly overconfident invasion of England with just two ships, which ended with him being captured by King Ælla of Northumbria (r. c. 866 CE), who had him killed by throwing him into a snake-pit. Whereas Ragnar’s own historicity is highly disputed, some of his alleged sons are often thought to have some basis in actual historical figures.
The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok
The best-known and main source telling of Ragnar’s life and heroic deeds is the 13th-century Icelandic The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (Old Norse: Ragnars saga loðbrókar). It is part of the fornaldarsögur genre – legendary sagas whose stories took place before Iceland’s colonisation from the 870s CE onward – and fit in neatly with the wave of Icelandic saga-writing that engulfed the island around this time. These types of heroic legends tended to link back to the mythical beginnings of historical Scandinavian families and often ended with their champion’s death. The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok shows Ragnar as the ancestor of an Icelandic family and depicts independent rulers of various kingdoms interacting with each other, as well as, fitting with the genre, ending with his death.

The story opens with the childhood of Aslaug, who will go on to become Ragnar’s second wife. We are told she is the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild (the legendary dragonslayer and the Valkyrie from Germanic mythology further popularised by Wagner), who die when Aslaug is only three years old. She grows up in Norway, taken in by a poor family who name her Kráka (‘crow’) and keep her parentage hidden.

Meanwhile, Ragnar, who is the son of King Sigurd Ring of Denmark, grows up to be handsome and martially adept, “good to his men and cruel to his enemies”, and a top warrior whom few could equal (The Saga of the Volsungs with The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, 89). His first exploit is assisting the jarl of Götaland, Herruð, with his dragon-problem – a snake grown out of proportion within their town. With a new outfit of shaggy trousers and cloak boiled in pitch, he spears the dragon to death while his clothes protect him from the fiend’s blood, receiving the jarl’s daughter Thora’s hand in marriage as a reward. Their marriage is a happy one and results in two sons, Eirek and Agnar. When Thora falls ill and dies, a heartbroken Ragnar goes raiding rather than ruling, and one summer he sails to Norway and stumbles upon the farm where Kráka lives. Desiring to marry her when he learns of her beauty, he sets her a test of wisdom – basically a riddle to solve – which she passes with flying colours.

Their children include the literally boneless Ivar the Boneless – a result of a curse placed on Kráka if her husband was too eager on her wedding night and thus entirely Ragnar’s fault – as well as Bjorn Ironside, Hvitserk, and Rognvald, who all go on to have adventures. All this time, Ragnar thinks Kráka is a simple peasant girl, and he is eventually convinced to marry the daughter of the Swedish king instead. However, Aslaug has by now reclaimed her own name and ancestry and tells Ragnar about it, proving her point by foretelling that their next son will be born with eyes with snakes in them. Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye consequently rescues their marriage.
The unfinished business with the Swedish king, whose daughter’s engagement had abruptly ended, leads to a series of events including Eirek and Agnar trying to battle the Swedes but encountering a magical cow that protects the Swedish army, and Aslaug changing her name to Randalín and taking her sons into the battle, too. They successfully turn the tide. The saga finishes with Ragnar swearing a boastful oath that he will invade England with just two ships, which turns out to be foolish. He is captured by King Ælla of Northumbria and thrown into a snake-pit, where he dies, but is avenged by his sons who bring their might to England. According to this story, they torture Ælla to death by performing the notorious (and probably not historical) blood-eagle on him.

(Photo Credit: History Channel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)