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Ragnar Lodbrok ("Ragnar hairy-breeches") (Old Norse: Ragnarr loðbrók), [a] according to legends, [2] was a Viking hero and a Swedish and Danish king. [3] He is known from Old Norse poetry of the Viking Age, Icelandic sagas, and near-contemporary chronicles.
Sep 9, 2024 · Ragnar Lothbrok, 9th-century Viking whose historical existence is difficult to distinguish from legend in medieval European literature. He is said to have been the father of Viking leaders Halfdan, Ivar the Boneless, and Hubba, who are believed to have led an invasion of East Anglia in 865.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- According to medieval sources, Ragnar Lothbrok was a Danish king and Viking warrior who flourished in the 9th century. There is much ambiguity in w...
- According to the Gesta Danorum of Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, Ragnar Lothbrok was captured by the Anglo-Saxon king Aella of Northumbria and...
- According to medieval sources, Ragnar Lothbrok was a 9th-century Danish Viking king and warrior known for his exploits, for his death in a snake pi...
- The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok
- The Tale of Ragnar's Sons
- Ragnarsdrápa
- Krákumál
- Other Old Norse Sources
- The Latin Sources
- A Historical King?
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...
Following directly upon the above story, sometime between the late 13th and early 14th century CE, again in Iceland, The Tale of Ragnar's Sons (Ragnarssona þáttr) was written. It was set up to be an 'improvement' upon The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and depicts a bigger Viking empirestretching to Norway, England, and the Baltic. This is instantly appar...
Amongst these 13th-century CE or later works concerning Ragnar, the Old Norse skaldic – or courtly – poem Ragnarsdrápa("the poem about Ragnar") catches the eye with its attribution to the 9th-century CE Norwegian court poet Bragi Boddason. The poem describes mythological scenes painted or carved on a shield which was allegedly gifted to Bragi by a ...
The 12th-century CE Old Norse skaldic poem Krákumál (meaning "words of the crow", better known in English as The Death-Song of Ragnar Lothbrok) zooms in on a specific part of the Ragnar-legend: his death. The poem ties in with the commonly told story of Ragnar's capture by Ælla of Northumbria, who throws him into a snake-pit to die, and presents it...
While Ragnar clearly features heavily in certain sources, there are also more indirect mentions in other Old Norse sources tying in with his life and legend. Two other Icelandic fornaldarsögur carry his mark. Firstly, Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, written around 1300 CE, has the eponymous Herrauðr as the father of Ragnar's first wife, Thora. Secondly, the...
Ragnar's legend spread beyond the Old Norse language, too, into Latin works from medieval Denmark, England, and France. The Gesta Normannorum ducum ("Deeds of the Norman Dukes") written in the mid-11th century CE by the Norman monk William of Jumièges, has Ragnar sitting comfortably at home in his Danish kingdom while a son of his wreaks havoc all ...
Dragons and other obviously mythical elements aside, the question of whether Ragnar Lothbrok himself actually existed as a historical figure is difficult to answer definitively, especially when dealing with sources that are far from unanimous in what they say about him. Moreover, the period of the legends – the 9th century CE – is not well covered ...
- Emma Groeneveld
- Amy Irvine
- There is debate around his existence… Legends claim Lothbrok was the son of a Swedish King (Sigurd Hring) and a Norwegian princess. However, the Vikings didn’t keep a written record of their history at the time.
- though there is some evidence that he did exist. Whilst the evidence is scarce, with only a few references of Ragnar Lothbrok that exist in literature from the time, crucially it does exist.
- He had at least 3 wives. It is generally agreed Lothbrok married at least three women. His first wife, Lagertha, was a Nordic shield maiden who fought with Lothbrok as warriors in Norway when he was avenging the death of his grandfather, Fro.
- His nickname was ‘Hairy Breeches’ or ‘Shaggy Breeches’ This derives from Lothbrok allegedly boiling his cow-hide trousers in tar which he claimed protected him from the snake (or dragon, according to some sources) whilst winning his second wife Thora’s hand in marriage.
Scourge of England and France, father of the Great Heathen Army and lover to the mythical queen Aslaug, the legend of Ragnar Lothbrok has enchanted story tellers and historians for almost a millennium.
Ragnar Lodbrok was a legendary Viking warrior who led the “Great Heathen Army” into battle, most memorably in raids on England’s coast. Lodbrok is also known for the women he married, including Lagertha, a Viking legend in her own right, and for the sons he fathered, including Bjorn Ironside.
Oct 26, 2023 · Ragnar Lodbrok, or also known as Ragnarr Lothbrok, is the descendant of a long line of great Viking kings and warriors. He is a jarl, or earl, originally from a region that would later be known as Sweden and Denmark. Many sagas and historical books have immortalized Ragnar Lodbrok's exploits.
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