Hvitserk (''Hvítserkr'', "White-Shirt") was one of the sons of the

legendary Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...

9th-century

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Ragnar Lothbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Proje ...

and his wife

Aslaug Aslaug ( non, Áslaug ), also called Aslög, Kráka (O.N.: ) or Kraba, is a figure in Norse mythology who appears in Snorri's Edda, the Völsunga saga and in the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok as one of his wives. Aslaug in legend According to the ...

Sources

Hvitserk is attested to by the

Tale of Ragnar's Sons The ''Tale of Ragnar's sons'' ( non, Ragnarssona þáttr) is an Old Norse story about Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons. Summary Ragnar Lodbrok When Sigurd Ring dies, Ragnar Lodbrok succeeds him as the king of Sweden and Denmark. Many foreign kings ...

(''Ragnarssona þáttr''). He is not mentioned in any source that mentions

Halfdan Ragnarsson Halfdan Ragnarsson ( non, Hálfdan; oe, Halfdene or ''Healfdene''; sga, Albann; died 877) was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army which invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, starting in 865. One of six sons of R ...

, one of the leaders of the

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...

that invaded the

Kingdom of East Anglia la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles , common_name = East Anglia , era = , status = Great Kingdom , status_text = Independent (6th centu ...

in 867, or vice versa, which consequently led some scholars to suggest that they are the same individual with ''Hvitserk'' being only a nickname. After having avenged his father together with his brothers, he went to Gardarike (''Garðaríki''). Hvitserk also pillaged with the Rus. He was, however, opposed by such a large foe that he could not win. When asked about how he wished to die, he decided to be burned alive at a stake of human remains. The Ukrainian historian

Leontii Voitovych Leontii Voitovych ( ua, Войтович Леонтій Вікторович, May 16, 1951, Yemanzhelinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast now Russian Federation) is a modern Ukrainian scientist-historian and holds a Doctor of Science (Ukrainian: До́кт� ...

assumed that Hvitserk was possibly another name of the Kievan prince

Askold Askold and Dir (''Haskuldr'' or ''Hǫskuldr'' and ''Dyr'' or ''Djur'' in Old Norse; died in 882), mentioned in both the Primary Chronicle and the Nikon Chronicle, were the earliest known ''purportedly Norse'' rulers of Kiev. Primary Chronicle ...

. Modern depictions of Hvitserk as a son of Ragnar include

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

's historical drama television series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'', where he features as Ragnar's son by

(played by

Marco Ilsø Marco Ilsø is a Danish actor. His first acting role was as a 14-year-old, playing the lead in 24 episodes of ''Mikkel og guldkortet''. Introduced in season 4, he played Hvitserk in ''Vikings''. Selected filmography * ''Rebounce'' as Niclas (2 ...

References

Sources

* {{Viking Invasion of England Viking warriors House of Munsö 9th-century Vikings