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Ragnar Lothbrok (Old Norse Ragnarr Loðbrók, also anglicised as Ragnar Lodbrok), whose epithet means ‘Hairy-breeches’ or ‘Shaggy-breeches’, was a legendary Viking king, with Old Norse sagas, poetry, and medieval...

Ivar the Boneless (Old Norse Ívarr hinn Beinlausi) is known from Old Norse and medieval Latin sources as the son of the legendary Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok, in these stories raiding alongside his father and brothers and becoming...

Bjorn Ironside (also spelt Björn Ironside; Old Norse Bjǫrn Járnsíða) is a legendary Viking who in the stories surrounding him raids alongside his brothers and his father, the Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok. While...

Lagertha (also spelt Lathgertha or Ladgerda) is a legendary Viking shieldmaiden known from Saxo Grammaticus’ early 13th-century CE Gesta Danorum. In this work, written in Latin and concerning Danish history, she is the first wife of...

Krákumál is a long (29-stanza) skaldic poem in Old Norse about a dying warrior's great exploits and death in a snake-pit, composed in the voice of Ragnar Lothbrok but dating to centuries after his death. This video features a reading from...

The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (Ragnarr Loðbrók) is an outstanding Old Norse tale, and the foremost medieval source for the legend of the most famous Viking hero. Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator...

Rollo (l. c.860-c.930 CE, r. 911-927 CE) was a Viking chieftain who became the founder and first ruler of the region of Normandy. He converted to Christianity as part of a deal with the Frankish king Charles the Simple (893-923 CE) in 911...

Throughout the 9th century CE, Viking raids on the region of Francia (roughly modern-day France) increased in frequency, destabilizing the region, and terrorizing the populace. The raids seem to have been inspired by the death of the Holy...

The Vikings were diverse Scandinavian seafarers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark whose raids and subsequent settlements significantly impacted the cultures of Europe and were felt as far as the Mediterranean regions c. 790 - c. 1100 CE. The...

The Kingdom of West Francia (843-987 CE, also known as The Kingdom of the West Franks) was the region of Central Europe that formed the western part of the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor 800-814 CE) known as Francia...