The Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok ( non, Ragnars saga loðbrókar) is an Icelandic

legendary saga A legendary saga or ''fornaldarsaga'' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the settlement of Iceland.The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991) ...

of the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eu ...

about the Viking ruler

Ragnar Lodbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Projec ...

. It is part of the manuscript of the ''

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the stor ...

'', which it immediately follows. The tale covers the origin of

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 13 ...

, Ragnar's quest for the hand of

Þóra Borgarhjǫrtr Thora Borgarhjört ( non, Þóra Borgarhjǫrtr, which literally means "Thora Town-Hart"), is a mythical character in the Norse sagas – the wife of Ragnar Loðbrók, who kills a serpent to win her hand in marriage. Thora was the daughter of Her ...

, his later marriage to

, the deeds of their sons (and Aslaug) in battle, and Ragnar's death at the hands of king

Ælla of Northumbria Ælla (or Ælle or Aelle, fl. 866; died 21 March 867) was King of Northumbria, a kingdom in medieval England, during the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited, and so Ælla's ancestry is not known and ...

Literary context

The saga's sources include

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

and

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...

, with whose ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

'' (book IX) it overlaps in the description of Ragnar's pursuit of Thora, his marriage to Aslaug, and the deeds of his sons. ''Ragnars saga'' is a sequel of sorts to the ''

'', providing a link between the legendary figures of

Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Meroving ...

and

Brynhildr Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=New High German, Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigoths, Vis ...

and the historical events of the

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

to 11th centuries, as well as prestige to the Norwegian royal house by portraying Sigurd as its ancestor.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Modern Icelandic spelling edition at Netútgáfan
Legendary sagas Cultural depictions of Ragnar Lodbrok Sources of Norse mythology Völsung cycle Icelandic literature Works based on Gesta Danorum {{Norse-myth-stub

Literary context

See also

References

Bibliography

External links