Ragnar Lothbrok — the Legendary Hero of the Viking Age
Ragnar Lothbrok or Ragnar Lodbrok was a famous Viking sea-king whose daring raids were immortalised in the Norse sagas. He was the terrifying menace of Anglo-Saxon England and the Carolingian rulers in France in the ninth century.
The skalds celebrated the fearlessness of Ragnar Lothbrok. Their poems tinged his military exploits with the mysticism of the gods.
Scholars experienced difficulty in separating the historical figure of Ragnar Lothbrok from his mythical persona in the Icelandic sagas. They believed Ragnar Lothbrok was based on a contemporary Viking king or an amalgamation of two or more Norse leaders.
The name Lothbrok means “hairy trousers” and referred to the protective clothing he wore during a battle with a dragon.
The Scandinavian accounts of Ragnar Lothbrok told of a Danish Viking blessed with extraordinary military talents. The fleets and armies he commanded instilled terror in the Christian communities of Britain, Ireland and France in the ninth century.
Reginherus was a renowned Viking warlord in the Early Middle Ages and bore a striking resemblance to Ragnar Lothbrok. He commanded a fleet of 120 longships that sailed along the River Seine in 845. His army of five thousand warriors plundered West Francia and stormed the cities of Rouen and Paris.
The Annals of Saint-Bertin referred to the leader of the Viking force as Reginfred or Reginherus. The Norse warriors “laying waste everything on either side and meeting not the least bit of opposition”. The army of Charles the Bald fled in fear of the Vikings.
Reginherus and his warriors entered the city of Paris in 845. They spent several months plundering the wealth of the inhabitants during the Siege of Paris.
Reginherus hanged 111 Christian prisoners as a sacrifice to Odin, the Norse god of war, death and the gallows.
Charles the Bald, the king of West Francia, paid Reginherus a danegeld, or ransom, 7,000 French livres to leave Paris.
The payment was the first recorded danegeld in Christendom. The danegeld was a common occurrence in Anglo-Saxon England.
Reginherus and his warriors headed “back down the Seine to the open sea”, They plundered and burned the monasteries, churches and communities on the way.
King Horik I of Denmark reigned between 827 and 854. His royal lineage was similar to Ragnar Lothbrok.
Reginherus carried out raids against Louis the Pious and the Franco-German Empire on the behest of his employer, King Horik.
The Scandinavian accounts described Ragnar Lothbrok as the son of King Sigurd of Sweden and the grandson of the Danish king, Randver. The Hervarar saga recounted in the thirteenth century that Ragnar Lothbrok ruled as the king of Sweden and Denmark after the death of Sigurd.
Historians theorised the Norse-Gael king of Dublin and Northumbria, Ragnall ua Ímair, was another incarnation of Ragnar Lothbrok.
Ragnall ua Ímair was the grandson of Ivar the Boneless and a fierce Viking warlord in the early tenth century. The fleets and armies of Ragnall ua Ímair and his kinsman, Sitric Ceach, conquered Dublin and devastated large swathes of Ireland in 917.
Some scholars surmised the tales of Ragnall ua Ímair and Ragnar Lothbrok in Northumbria were so similar that they were the same person. Ragnall ua Imair was the grandson of Ivar the Boneless and the great grandson of Ragnar Lothbrok.
The Medieval historian, Saxo Grammaticus, wrote of Ragnar Lothbrok in the Gesta Danorum, or the “History of Denmark”.
Ragnar Lothbrok raided Britain and killed Hama, the father of King Aella of Northumbria. He left his homeland years later with only two ships, intent on plundering the coasts of Northumbria.
King Aella captured Ragnar Lothbrok during a battle on the coast of Northumbria. Aella took his revenge and threw the Viking hero into a pit of venomous snakes.
Ragnar Lothbrok died a brave and glorious death as the serpents devoured him. He taunted King Aella with a prophecy of the Great Heathen Army arriving on the shores of England. “How the little piglets would grunt if they knew how the old boar suffers.”
Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Björn Ironside and Ubba were the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok. They possessed the intelligence, cunning and military talents of their father, Ragnar Lothbrok.
The fury of Ivar the Boneless and his brothers was so great that they immediately assembled the Great Heathen Army. Warriors travelled from Scandinavia and the Norse colonies to seek revenge against the Anglo-Saxons for the murder of Ragnar Lothbrook.
Ivar the Boneless and his brothers devastated and then colonised the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia.
Ivar and his brothers captured King Aella and forced him to suffer the fate of the blood-eagle. The death of King Aella was a sacrifice to Odin, the Norse god of war, death and magic.
“For the slayer by a cruel death of their captive father, Ragnar’s sons act the blood-eagle on Ella, and salt his flesh. There is an undoubted instance of this act of vengeance”.
Ragnar Lothbrok was the epitome of a fearless Viking hero. The tales of his exploits inspired generations of Norse warriors in the Viking Age. His illustrious sons were the legendary Norse warlords, Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Björn Ironside and Ubba.
For more information on the Viking kings of the Ui Imair dynasty in Dublin, please visit,
Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless — The Viking Kings of Dublin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916GJ3B2
The exile of the Vikings from Dublin and their escape to the Norse colonies in the Irish Sea region are discussed in:
Vikings in Ireland (870–914): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096KVNBZK
References
Wikipedia — Ragnar Lodbrok: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok
Wikipedia — Great Heathen Army: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Heathen_Army
History Hill — 10 Facts about Viking Warrior Ragnar Lodbrok by Amy Irvine: https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-viking-ragnar-lodbrok/
Project Gutenberg — The Danish History, Books I-IX, by Saxo Grammaticus: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1150/1150-h/1150-h.htm
The Hammer and the Cross: A New History of the Vikings By Robert Ferguson: https://books.google.ie/books?id=UOFe2pIwmGEC&pg=PT107&lpg=PT107&dq=accounts+of+Reginfred+in+Annals+of+Saint-Bertin&source=bl&ots=t8OMaP61Zb&sig=ACfU3U3YYMNsNcLV7zYOrHx1-39YLqYZlQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_gZyD5cHxAhUMEcAKHYEoAswQ6AEwCHoECBgQAw#v=onepage&q=accounts%20of%20Reginfred%20in%20Annals%20of%20Saint-Bertin&f=false
1016 The Danish Conquest of England By Per Ullidtz: https://books.google.ie/books?id=kXGaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA224&dq=ragnall+ui+imair&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3h8HYsL_xAhXNT8AKHU3dBB0Q6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=ragnall%20ui%20imair&f=false
History Extra — Ragnar Lothbrok: the legend of the immortal Viking and his sons by Eleanor Parker: https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/ragnar-lothbrok-the-immortal-viking/
The Viking Blitzkrieg: AD 789–1098 By Hannah Whittock, Martyn Whittock: https://books.google.ie/books?id=hmWPAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT67&dq=ragnar+lothbrok+in+northumbria&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimstfqur_xAhWYiVwKHQVCDDAQ6AEwBXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=ragnar%20lothbrok%20in%20northumbria&f=false
Ragnar Lothbrok: The Tale of a Viking Warrior King By Bernard Hayes: https://books.google.ie/books?id=9FaIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT7&dq=Reginherus&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit9bPZxr3xAhUHURUIHTldACAQ6AEwAHoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=Reginherus&f=false
Viking History 3 in 1: Norse Gods, Goddesses, Vikings, and Myths By Bernard Hayes: https://books.google.ie/books?id=_FaIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT126&dq=Reginherus&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSz-nUoL_xAhU0lFwKHb90BzoQ6AEwAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=Reginherus&f=false
Wikipedia — Siege of Paris (845): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(845)
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