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Ragnar Lodbrok ("Ragnar hairy-breeches") (Old Norse: Ragnarr loðbrók), according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Swedish and Danish king. He is known from Old Norse poetry of the Viking Age, Icelandic sagas, and near-contemporary chronicles.
Apr 3, 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...
8 min read. 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. Immortalised in the Icelandic sagas of the thirteenth century, the legendary Norse leader has since become familiar with modern ...
- 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.
- Emma Groeneveld
- 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).
- The Tale of Ragnar's Sons. 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.
- Ragnarsdrápa. 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.
- Krákumál. 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.
Dec 6, 2019 · Learn about the Norse warrior who fought serpents, kings and death, and the real men who may have been his sons. Explore the sources, stories and legacy of Ragnar Lothbrok and his Viking adventures.
Jul 27, 2016 · Learn about the life and deeds of Ragnar Lodbrok, the scourge of France and Britain, who may have been a historical figure or a combination of several Viking warriors. Discover how his sons avenged his death and ruled England and Scandinavia in the ninth century.
