| Notes |
- In Danish - Scroll below to see English translation
Ragnar Lodbrog var en dansk sagnkonge af store dele af Sverige og Danmark fra det 9. århundrede, og han var kongesøn eller barnebarn af en konge, som måske var Godfred. Han holdt til og blev begravet i Lejre på Sjælland.
Hans historie fortælles hos Saxo og i den islandske Ragnar Lodbrogs Saga. Ragnar er søn af (Sigurd) Ring, svenskekonge, men også regent over Danmark efter Harald Hildetands nederlag ved Bravalla i Sverige. Tilnavnet Lodbrog [lodne bukser] fik Ragnar, fordi han iført en stivfrossen dragt besejrede en drage (eller lindorm eller søslange), der vogtede kongedatteren Thora. Han gifter sig dernæst med hende, men hun døde desværre.
Anden gang gifter han sig med Kraka, den smukke, kloge og dydige datter af en bonde og den grimme kælling Grima på en lille norsk gård, som Ragnar og hans mænd besøger. Ragnar sætter hende på en prøve: Hun skal komme hverken påklædt eller nøgen, hverken mæt eller fastende, hverken alene eller fulgt af et menneske. Da hun viser sig med fiskenet og langt hår, der dækker kroppen, tyggende på et løg og ledsaget af en hund, bliver Ragnar overbevist om hendes klogskab. De gifter sig, men Ragnar regner det åbenbart ikke for et "rigtigt" ægteskab. Han trolover sig nemlig med svenskekongen Eysteins datter Ingeborg. Da Kraka hører det, fortæller hun, at hun i virkeligheden hedder Aslaug og er datter af ingen ringere end kong Sigurd Fafnersbane og Brynhilde. Som bevis, siger hun, at hun vil føde en søn, der skal opkaldes efter Sigurd, og som vil have et mærke som en slange i det ene øje ligesom sin berømte morfar.
Ragnar blev sandsynligvis konge efter Horik 2. eller lidt senere, hvis det da var Ragnars søn Helge, der efterfulgte Harald og Sigfred i år 891.
Ifølge Fragmentary Annales of Ireland blev Ragnald's søn Halvdan tilligemed hans tre sønner fordrevet til Orkneyøerne af sine to yngre brødre. Dette skete senest 854 ifølge de franske annaler.
Den 28. marts i året 845 sejlede Ragnar Lodbrog ned ad Seinen med 150 skibe med en besætning på 5.000 vikinger for at invadere og plyndre Paris. Frankernes konge Karl den II betalte ham et kæmpe beløb (for den tid) på 7.000 pund sølv for at forlade og ikke ødelægge byen. Det var en typisk strategi af danske vikinger: invadere en by eller en fæstning og kræve løsgørelsespenge, kendt som danegæld.
Efter store krigstogter i bl.a. England ender Ragnar sine dage i den engelske konge Ellas ormegård [slangegård]. Først kan slangerne ikke bide sig gennem hans dragt, men Ella finder ud af det og tager dragten fra ham. Uden den er Ragnar dødsens og udånder med ordene: "Grynte ville grisene, hvis de vidste, hvor meget galten lider.".
En af Ragnar sønner, Ivar Benløs, konge af Irland, tager en grusom hævn: Da han har fanget kong Ella, "huggede man hans ribben fra rygraden og vred dem udad, så de sad udspilede som en ørns vinger". Ivar bygger iøvrigt London og bliver konge af England. Ragnars øvrige børn var: Ubbe ekskonge af Danmark, Halvdan, Bjørn Jernside, Helge, Regnald og Sigurd Orm-i-Øje konge af Danmark og jarl af Frisland. Derudover havde han datteren Aaluf og mindst en datter mere.
Historien om Ragnar er rammet ind af de to slangehistorier i forbindelse med hans indvielse til helt og ved hans død, hvor hans sidste ord er et metaforisk og bogstavrimende udsang om sønnernes hævn.
Nogle historikere har opfattet Ragnar som en historiske skikkelse. Kong Ella døde faktisk i kamp mod danske angribere i 867 ved York. Ifølge traditionen gav Ragnar digteren Brage den Gamle et skjold med mytologiske scener, som denne skrev sit skjaldedigt Ragnarsdrápa over. Ragnar optræder også i en sent tilblevet "dødssang", hvor han jubler over at være faldet eller ofret som Odinskriger og glæder sig til at blive modtaget i Valhal.
English Translation:
Ragnar Lodbrog was a legendary Danish king of large parts of Sweden and Denmark from the 9th century, and he was a king's son or grandson of a king who might have been Godfred. He stayed and was buried in Lejre on Zealand. His story is told by Saxo and in the Icelandic Ragnar Lodbrog's Saga. Ragnar is the son of (Sigurd) Ring, king of Sweden, but also regent of Denmark after Harald Hildetand's defeat at Bravalla in Sweden. The nickname Lodbrog [furry trousers] was given to Ragnar because, wearing a frozen suit, he defeated a dragon (or linden or sea serpent) that was guarding the king's daughter Thora. He then marries her, but unfortunately she died. The second time he marries Kraka, the beautiful, clever and virtuous daughter of a farmer and the ugly bitch Grima on a small Norwegian farm that Ragnar and his men visit. Ragnar puts her to a test: She must come neither clothed nor naked, neither full nor fasting, neither alone nor followed by a human. When she appears with fishing nets and long hair covering her body, chewing on an onion and accompanied by a dog, Ragnar is convinced of her cleverness. They get married, but Ragnar obviously doesn't consider it a "real" marriage. He becomes engaged to the Swedish king Eystein's daughter Ingeborg. When Kraka hears this, she tells that her real name is Aslaug and is the daughter of none other than King Sigurd Fafnersbane and Brynhilde. As proof, she says that she will give birth to a son who will be named after Sigurd and who will have a mark like a snake in one eye like his famous grandfather. Ragnar probably became king after Horik II or a little later, if it was Ragnar's son Helge who succeeded Harald and Sigfred in the year 891. According to the Fragmentary Annales of Ireland, Ragnald's son Halvdan, together with his three sons, were driven to the Orkney Islands by his two younger brothers . This happened no later than 854 according to the French annals. On March 28 in the year 845, Ragnar Lodbrog sailed down the Seine with 150 ships with a crew of 5,000 Vikings to invade and sack Paris. King Charles II of the Franks paid him a huge (for the time) sum of 7,000 pounds of silver to leave and not destroy the city. It was a typical strategy of Danish Vikings: invade a city or a fortress and demand ransom money, known as Danish debt. After major campaigns in, among others England Ragnar ends his days in the English king Ella's worm farm [snake farm]. At first the snakes can't bite through his suit, but Ella figures it out and takes the suit from him. Without it, Ragnar is dead and exhales with the words: "The pigs would grunt if they knew how much the boar is suffering.". One of Ragnar's sons, Ivar Legless, king of Ireland, takes cruel revenge: When he captured King Ella, "they cut his ribs from the spine and twisted them outwards, so that they sat spread out like an eagle's wings". Incidentally, Ivar builds London and becomes king of England. Ragnar's other children were: Ubbe ex-king of Denmark, Halvdan, Bjørn Jernside, Helge, Regnald and Sigurd Orm-i-Eye king of Denmark and earl of Friesland. In addition, he had the daughter Aaluf and at least one more daughter. The story of Ragnar is framed by the two snake stories in connection with his inauguration as a hero and at his death, where his last words are a metaphorical and literally rhyming song about the sons' revenge. Some historians have perceived Ragnar as a historical figure. King Ella actually died in battle against Danish invaders in 867 at York. According to tradition, Ragnar gave the poet Brage the Old a shield with mythological scenes, on which he wrote his skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa. Ragnar also appears in a belated "death song" in which he rejoices at having fallen or been sacrificed as Odin's Warrior and looks forward to being received in Valhalla.
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763 - 865 (102 years)
