Ragnar Lodbrok (Ragnar "Hairy-Breeks", Old Norse: Ragnarr Loðbrók) was a Norse legendary hero from the Viking Age who was thoroughly reshaped in Old Norse poetry and legendary sagas.[
Life as recorded in the sagas
The namesake and subject of Ragnars Saga, and one of the most popular Viking heroes among the Norse themselves, Ragnar was a great Viking commander and the scourge of France and England. A perennial seeker after the Danish throne, he was briefly king of both Denmark and a large part of Sweden. A colorful figure, he claimed to be descended from Odin, was linked to two famous shieldmaidens, Lathgertha in the Gesta Danorum, and Queen Aslaug according to the Völsungasaga.
He told people he always sought greater adventures for fear that his (possibly adoptive) sons who included such notable Vikings as Björn Ironside and Ivar the Boneless would eclipse him in fame and honor. Ragnar raided France many times, using the rivers as highways for his fleets of longships. By remaining on the move, he cleverly avoided battles with large concentrations of heavy Frankish cavalry, while maximizing his advantages of mobility and the general climate of fear of Viking unpredictability. To court his second wife, the Swedish princess Thora, Ragnar traveled to Sweden and quelled an infestation of venomous snakes, famously wearing the hairy breeches whereby he gained his nickname. Supposedly, the breeches were made from bearskin dipped in pitch and sand, making them fireproof. He continued the series of successful raids against France throughout the mid 9th century, and fought numerous civil wars in Denmark, until his luck ran out at last in Britain. After being shipwrecked on the English coast during a freak storm, he was captured by Anglian king Ælla of Northumbria and put to death in an infamous manner by being thrown into a pit of vipers.
Although he is something of a hero in his native Scandinavia, reliable accounts of his life are very sketchy and heavily based on ancient Viking sagas.
Contemporary sources
Paris at the time of Ragnar's attack.
The Ragnar of sagas is apparently based on several historical entities. One was a pirate and raider, Ragnall, who was reported invading France and attacking several other lands. One of his favorite tactics was to attack Christian cities on church feast days, knowing that many soldiers would be in church.[3] He would generally accept a huge payment to leave his victims alone, only to come back later and demand more riches in exchange for leaving. The double-name of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok also links him to historical vikings documented as "sons of Lothbrok", although there is no documentary basis for associating this Lothbrok with the documented viking Ragnall.
France
In 845 Ragnall sailed southward. With a force said to consist of 120 ships and 5,000 Viking warriors, he landed in what is now France, probably at the Seine estuary, and ravaged West Francia, as the westernmost part of the Frankish Empire was then known. Rouen was ravaged and then Carolivenna, a mere 20 km from St. Denis. The raiders then attacked and captured Paris with a fleet of 120 ships.[4] The warriors belonging to the army of Charles the Bald, the King of West Francia and Charlemagne's grandson, were placed to guard the Abbey of St. Denis, but fled when the Danish Vikings executed their prisoners ferociously in front of their eyes.[citation needed] The traditional date for this is 28 March, which is today referred to as Ragnar Lodbrok Day by certain followers of the Asatru religion. Charles paid Ragnall a huge amount of money not to destroy the city. Ragnar Lodbrok, according to Viking sources, was satisfied with no less than 7,000 pounds of silver in exchange for sparing the city.[2] By mysterious circumstances, many men in Ragnall's army died during the journey and Ragnall died soon after his return.[1] However, that did not stop Ragnar from attacking other parts of France, and it took a long time for the Franks to drive him out.
Later, the sons of Lothbrok sons were to return for more booty. Among their feats was destroying the city of Rouen several more times. Ultimately, many of them settled there permanently, in a land that became known as Normandy (deriving from the expression "Nordmenn", or 'Northmen' ('Norsemen'), which was - and indeed still is - both the name the Norwegians called themselves and also the name the Franks used for the Scandinavians).
England and questions surrounding his death
All sources agree that Ragnar Lodbrok ended his life in England. The widely accepted version is that Ragnar was shipwrecked on the Northumbrian shore, where he was captured and taken to the Northumbrian king Ælla.[citation needed]
Legend claims that Aelle ordered Ragnar Lothbrok thrown into a pit filled with poisonous snakes. As he was slowly being bitten to death, he is alleged to have exclaimed, "How the little pigs would grunt if they knew how the old boar suffers!", referring to the vengeance he hoped his sons would wreak when they heard of his death.[citation needed]
Alternative versions of the story say that he landed by accident in East Anglia and there befriended King Edmund before being killed by a jealous courtier. The murderer escaped to Denmark and blamed Edmund for Lodbrok's demise.[citation needed]
The dating of Ragnar's death has been alternatively stated as 840 or 865. The earlier dating corresponds to events attached to Ragnar Lothbrok's legend in the saga. However, a later date better explains the attack on England by his sons in 865, supposedly to avenge their father's death. It is unlikely that the Great Heathen Army, led by the sons of Lothbrok, would have waited 25 years to take their vengeance.[citation needed]
Death song
Main article: Krákumál
As he was thrown into the snake pit, Ragnar was said to have uttered his famous death song: "It gladdens me to know that Baldrs father [Odin] makes ready the benches for a banquet. Soon we shall be drinking ale from the curved horns. The champion who comes into Odins dwelling [Valhalla] does not lament his death. I shall not enter his hall with words of fear upon my lips. The Æsir will welcome me. Death comes without lamenting Eager am I to depart. The Dísir summon me home, those whom Odin sends for me [Valkyries] from the halls of the Lord of Hosts. Gladly shall I drink ale in the high-seat with the Æsir. The days of my life are ended. I laugh as I die."
Legacy
One Viking saga states that when his four sons heard the manner of his death, they all reacted in great sorrow. Hvitserk, who was playing tafl, gripped the piece so hard that he bled from his fingernails. Björn Ironside grabbed a spear so tightly that he left an impression in it, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, who was trimming his nails, cut straight through to the bone.
Although these stories may not be accurate, if there is any truth to them his death had serious consequences. His other sons, Ivar the Boneless (alias Hingwar) and Ubbe soon learned the details of their father's death and swore that they would avenge his killing, in time-honoured Viking tradition. In 866, Ivar and Ubbe crossed the North Sea with a large army (The Great Heathen Army), sacked York, met King Aelle in battle, and captured him. He was sentenced to die according to the custom of the blood eagle - an exceedingly painful death.
They then moved south to East Anglia, on the way attacking the monasteries of Bardney, Croyland and Medeshampstede where, according to tradition, their army slew 80 monks. Eventually they captured King Edmund and had him shot by archers and beheaded. These wars were a prelude to the long struggle of the Saxons of Alfred the Great against the Danes a generation later, which also included the leader named Guthrum, all of whom founded the Danelaw.
Ragnar's forays into France were traditional for the Danish monarchs, with such men as Gudfred, Harald Klak and Hygelac among his predecessors; Rollo of Normandy his future and ultimate successor of the Frankish policy in making the Danes fief-holders of Frisia. Danish policy towards France was also defensive, in the Danevirke's construction.
Mythology
Bragi Boddason is said to have composed the Ragnarsdrápa for the Swedish king Björn at Hauge. However, this does not correspond to what we know about the historical Ragnar. It is consequently said that in the Norse sagas, he was identified with a Swedish king Ragnar (770-785), the son of Sigurd Ring. According to legend, he married Aslaug and became the son-in-law of Sigurd the Völsung
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