Whether Ragnar was truly a single historical person remains uncertain. The stories that survive were written down long after the time in which he is said to have lived, and his tale most likely blends real historical events with ancient legends and sagas.
But in the world of the sagas, Ragnar was one of the greatest warriors of the North.
Ragnar and the Great Serpent
One story tells how Ragnar won his first wife, Thora Borgarhjort.
Thora’s father had given her a small serpent, but the creature grew until it became a terrifying monster that coiled around her home. No one dared approach it.
Thora’s father therefore promised her hand in marriage to the man who could kill the beast.
Ragnar accepted the challenge.
To protect himself from the serpent’s venom, he treated his clothes with pitch and sand. Wearing his strange, shaggy trousers, he approached the beast and killed it with his spear.
It is said that these trousers gave him the name Lothbrok – “Shaggy Breeches.”
As his reward, Ragnar took Thora as his wife.
The Warrior from the North
The sagas go on to tell how Ragnar set out on long Viking expeditions. With his warriors, he crossed the seas and fought enemies in distant lands.
His name became associated with wealth, glory and fear.
A famous Viking leader named Ragnar is linked in later tradition to the great attack on Paris in 845, when a Norse army sailed up the River Seine and threatened the city. Whether this Ragnar was truly the Ragnar Lothbrok of the sagas remains uncertain.
In the legends, Ragnar continued his adventures and became the father of several sons who would themselves become famous warriors.
Among them were Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Hvitserk.
Ragnar and Aslaug
After Thora’s death, the sagas tell that Ragnar met the beautiful and clever Aslaug.
But Ragnar wanted to test her wisdom.
He sent word that she should come to him neither dressed nor naked, neither full nor fasting, and neither alone nor in company.
It seemed an impossible task.
But Aslaug wrapped herself in a fishing net, bit into an onion and brought a dog with her.
In this way, she was neither dressed nor naked, neither full nor fasting, and neither alone nor in human company.
Ragnar was impressed by her cleverness and took her as his wife.
Ragnar’s Final Journey
But even the greatest warrior must one day meet his fate.
According to legend, Ragnar decided to sail for England. This time, he did not bring the great fleet that had carried him to victory in the past.
The journey ended in disaster.
Ragnar was captured by King Ælla of Northumbria.
The king knew that he had a dangerous enemy in his hands and sentenced Ragnar to a terrible death.
He was thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes.
But according to the legend, Ragnar showed no fear.
As the snakes bit him, he is said to have thought of his sons and the vengeance that would follow. In the poetic tradition, he faces death proudly, imagining that he will soon enter Valhalla, where Odin awaits the fallen warriors.
And so Ragnar Lothbrok died.
But his story was far from over.
The Revenge of Ragnar’s Sons
When Ragnar’s sons learned how their father had died, they wanted revenge.
They gathered their forces and sailed for England. Later sagas connect their vengeance with the great Viking army that invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms during the second half of the ninth century.
The historical Great Heathen Army invaded England in 865, and several Viking leaders traditionally associated with Ragnar appear in accounts of this period. Exactly how much of the saga’s family history is historically accurate remains uncertain.
The Man Behind the Legend
Ragnar Lothbrok exists somewhere between history and legend. It is possible that stories about several real Viking chieftains were gradually woven together to create the tale of one mighty hero.
But whoever the real Ragnar may have been, his name became immortal.
The stories of the warrior in the shaggy trousers, his voyages across the seas, his dramatic death and the revenge of his sons have been told from generation to generation.
And so Ragnar Lothbrok lives on – not only as a Viking warrior, but as one of the great legends of the Norse saga world.
