Ragnar Lodbrok

Lore & Background

According to Icelandic sagas, Ragnar was the son of Sigurd Ring, the legendary king of the Swedes. He first killed a giant snake guarding the abode of the Geatish jarl Herrauð's daughter Thora Borgarhjort, winning her as his wife. The unusual protective clothes he wore earned him the nickname Lodbrok. After Thora died, he discovered Kráka, a woman of outstanding beauty and wisdom living with a poor peasant couple in Norway, and married her. This marriage resulted in the sons Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, Ragnvald, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Kráka was later revealed to actually be Aslaug, a secret daughter of the renowned hero Sigurd Fafnesbane. As the sons grew up to become renowned warriors, Ragnar, not wishing to be outdone, resolved to conquer England with merely two ships. He was, however, defeated by superior Northumbrian forces and was thrown into a snake pit to die. The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, Tale of Ragnar's Sons, and Heimskringla all tell of the Great Heathen Army that invaded England at around 866, led by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok to wreak revenge against King Ælla of Northumbria who is told to have captured and executed Ragnar. Danish sources, including Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum (c. 1200), present a different account. There, Ragnar's father Sigurd Ring is a Norwegian prince married to a Danish princess, and different from the victor of Brávellir. Sigurd Ring and his cousin and rival Ring are both killed in battle, whereupon Ragnar is elevated to the Danish kingship. His first deed is the defeat of the Swedish king Frö, who has killed Ragnar's grandfather. Ragnar is assisted in this by a ferocious shield-maiden named Ladgerda (Lagertha), whom Ragnar forces to marry him after killing a bear and a great hound to win her hand. Ragnar later repudiates his marriage to Ladgerda and marries Thora Borgarhjort, a daughter of the Swedish king Herrauðr, after killing two venomous giant snakes that guard Thora's residence. Saxo describes numerous Viking expeditions across Europe, including against the Bjarmians and Finns in the Arctic north, and a final invasion of England where Ragnar is captured and thrown to his death in the snake pit.

Reader's Guide

Ragnar Lodbrok's significance lies in his role as a central figure in both Norse legend and early medieval historiography. The Icelandic sagas portray him as a heroic king whose exploits and dramatic death inspired the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England, a historical event that reshaped Anglo-Saxon politics. Danish chroniclers, particularly Saxo Grammaticus, used Ragnar to connect legendary Viking heroes with the lineage of later Danish kings, blending myth with recorded history. His legacy endures through the stories of his sons—Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, and others—who appear as historical figures in the 9th-century Viking campaigns. The conflicting accounts in Icelandic and Danish sources highlight how Ragnar's legend was adapted to serve different cultural and dynastic purposes, making him a symbol of Viking martial prowess and a bridge between myth and history. His name remains synonymous with the Viking Age's blend of raiding, exploration, and saga tradition.

Did You Know?

• Ragnar's nickname 'Lodbrok' (hairy-breeches) came from the unusual protective clothes he wore when killing a giant snake to win his first wife, Thora Borgarhjort.
• According to the Icelandic sagas, Ragnar invaded England with only two ships and was thrown into a snake pit to die by King Ælla of Northumbria.
• The Great Heathen Army that invaded England around 866 was led by Ragnar's sons to avenge his death, according to the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, Tale of Ragnar's Sons, and Heimskringla.
• Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum (c. 1200) is the first source to identify Ragnar as a Danish king, blending Norse legend with data from Adam of Bremen's chronicle.
• Ragnar's father Sigurd Ring is sometimes identified with a Danish king Sigfred who ruled from about 770 until his death prior to 804.

Royal Bloodlines and the Legend of His Birth

Ragnar Lodbrok's legendary origins weave through a tangled web of Scandinavian royal families. According to the Icelandic sagas, his father was Sigurd Ring, the legendary king of the Swedes. When Sigurd Ring's parentage is given in a saga, his father is identified as Randver, who in Hervarar saga is called a king of Denmark whose wife was Åsa, the daughter of King Harald of the Red Moustache from Norway. According to Sögubrot and the Lay of Hyndla, Randver was the son of Ráðbarðr the king of Garðaríki. The accounts further tell that Randver was a grandson of the legendary Scandinavian king Ivar Vidfamne by his daughter Aud (whom the Hervarar saga calls Alfhild). After the death of King Ivar Vidfamne, Aud's eldest son by the Danish king Hrœrekr Ringslinger, Harald, conquered all of his grandfather's territory and became known as Harald Wartooth. Harald's nephew Sigurd Ring became the chief king of Sweden after Randver's death (Denmark according to the Hervarar saga), presumably as the subking of Harald. Sigurd and Harald fought the Battle of the Brávellir (Bråvalla) on the plains of Östergötland, where Harald and many of his men died. Sigurd then ruled Sweden and Denmark (being sometimes identified with a Danish king Sigfred who ruled from about 770 until his death prior to 804). He sired a son with the princess Alfhild of the petty kingdom of Álfheimr, Ragnar Lodbrok, who succeeded him.

Serpents, Dragons, and the Deeds That Forged a Name

Ragnar's epithet Lodbrok, meaning hairy breeches, originated from the unusual protective clothes he wore when attacking a giant serpent that guarded the abode of the Geatish jarl Herrauð's daughter Thora Borgarhjort, thereby winning her as his wife. His sons with Thora were Erik and Agnar. In Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum, the serpent-killing is doubled: Ragnar must kill two venomous giant snakes that guard Thora's residence to claim her. Beyond serpents, the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok recounts him assembling an army, a fleet of ships, becoming a great warrior and slaying a dragon in the Norse lands of Götaland. Saxo's version adds another martial trial: Ragnar must kill a bear and a great hound to win the hand of the shield-maiden Ladgerda, whom he then forces to marry him. These feats of raw physical courage, confronting serpents, dragons, bears, and hounds, define Ragnar's legendary identity as a man whose strength and fearlessness set him apart from ordinary warriors.

The Two-Ship Gambit and Death Among Snakes

The most dramatic episode in Ragnar's legendary biography is his final campaign. According to the Icelandic sagas, as his sons, Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, Ragnvald, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, grew into renowned warriors, Ragnar, unwilling to be outshone by his own offspring, resolved to conquer England with merely two ships. The attempt ended in disaster: superior Northumbrian forces defeated him, and he was thrown into a snake pit to die. King Ælla of Northumbria is named as the captor and executioner. This death became the catalyst for one of the most significant events in early medieval history: the Great Heathen Army that invaded England at around 866, led by Ragnar's sons to wreak revenge against King Ælla. The Danish Chronicon Roskildense (c. 1138) presents a slightly different picture, noting that his son Ywar successfully attacks the kingdoms of Britain, though not as an act of revenge as in the Icelandic sagas. The image of Ragnar dying among writhing snakes, mirroring the serpent he once killed to win his first wife, gives the legend a powerful circular symmetry.

A Figure Shaped by Three Centuries of Storytelling

Ragnar Lodbrok exists not as a single historical figure but as a character assembled from sources spanning roughly three centuries. The earliest references appear in Old Norse poetry of the Viking Age and near-contemporary chronicles. The Icelandic fornaldarsǫgur, including the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, Tale of Ragnar's Sons, Heimskringla, and Sögubrot, emphasize his marriages and personal virtues over warfare, describing him as 'the biggest and fairest of men that human eyes have seen, and he was like his mother in appearance and took after her kin.' Danish sources tell a different story: the Chronicon Roskildense, written around 1138, mentions him only as a father of the utterly cruel Norse King Ywar and his brothers. Sven Aggesen, composing near 1190, is the first Danish text that mentions the full name, Regnerus Lothbrogh. It is Saxo Grammaticus, writing around 1200, who first elevates Ragnar to Danish kingship, blending Norse legend with data from Adam of Bremen's chronicle. Each tradition reshapes Ragnar to serve its own narrative, making him simultaneously a Swedish heir, a Danish conqueror, and a pan-Scandinavian hero.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

1. Ragnar Lodbrok is often assumed to be a purely legendary figure with no historical basis, but the facts indicate he is known from both near-contemporary chronicles and Old Norse poetry, not exclusively later sagas. 2. Some believe Ragnar invaded England with a large fleet, but according to the Icelandic sagas, he attempted to conquer England with merely two ships.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

Ragnar Lodbrok endures as a symbol of Viking ambition and the tension between legend and history, illustrating how heroic narratives can shape cultural memory. His story matters because it bridges Norse mythology and early medieval chronicles, offering insight into how the Viking Age was remembered and mythologized by later generations.

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