Ragnar Lodbrok (nrdico antiguo: Ragnarr Lobrk Sigurdsson, antes de 755-ca.

865)
fue un rey semilegendario de Suecia y Dinamarca que rein en el siglo IX (ca. 840).
Segn el cronista dans Saxo Grammaticus, Ragnar perteneca a la lnea real de la
casa de los Ynglings. Ah, junto a las sagas islandesas, se le considera hijo de
Sigurd Ring, rey de Suecia y conquistador de Dinamarca, y su consorte Alfhild
Gandolfsdatter (n. 710), hija de Gandalf Alfgeirsson. No hay acuerdo sobre cul era
la capital de sus dominios, ni en qu pas resida normalmente.1?

A pesar de aparecer como un hroe local, no hay muchas biografas suyas, apenas se
pueden hallar algunas menciones en las sagas. La datacin de su reinado es
incierta: algunas fuentes lo sitan entre 750 y 794, otras de 860 a 865 y otras ms
probables entre 835 y su muerte en 865. Tampoco se sabe si fue reconocido como rey
durante todo ese tiempo.2?3?

Ragnar Lodbrok or Lothbrok (Old Norse: Ragnarr Lobrk, "Ragnar Shaggy-Breeches")

was a legendary[2][3] Viking hero and ruler, known from Viking Age Old Norse poetry
and sagas. According to this traditional literature, Ragnar distinguished himself
by many raids against Francia and Anglo-Saxon England during the 9th century.
According to the antiquarian Hilda Ellis Davidson, writing in 1980, "certain
scholars in recent years have come to accept at least part of Ragnar's story as
based on historical fact".[4] On the other hand, the historian Katherine Holman
wrote in 2003 that "although his sons are historical figures, there is no evidence
that Ragnar himself ever lived, and he seems to be an amalgam of several different
historical figures and pure literary invention."[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Sources and historicity
2 In popular culture
3 Footnotes
4 References
5 Further reading
Sources and historicity[edit]
According to traditional sources, Ragnar was:
son of the Swedish king Sigurd Hring and a relative of the Danish king Gudfred;
married three times, to the shieldmaiden Lagertha, the noblewoman Thra
Borgarhjortr and Aslaug (also known as Krka, Kraba), a Norse queen;
the father of historical Viking figures including Ivar the Boneless, Bjrn
Ironside, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Hvitserk, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Ubba;[5]
captured by King lla of Northumbria and died after lla had him thrown into a pit
of snakes, and;
avenged by the Great Heathen Army that invaded and occupied Northumbria and
adjoining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.[5]
The most significant medieval sources that mention Ragnar include:
Book IX of the Gesta Danorum, a 12th-century work by the Christian Danish
chronicler Saxo Grammaticus,
the Tale of Ragnar's sons (Ragnarssona ttr), a legendary saga,
the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, another saga, a sequel to the Vlsunga saga,
the Ragnarsdrpa, a skaldic poem of which only fragments remain, attributed to the
9th-century poet Bragi Boddason, and
the Krkuml, Ragnar's death-song, a 12th-century Scottish skaldic poem.
As a figure of legend whose life only partially took place in times and places
covered by written sources, the extent of Ragnar's historicity is not quite clear.
In her commentary on Saxo's Gesta Danorum, Davidson notes that Saxo's coverage of
Ragnar's legend in book IX of the Gesta appears to be an attempt to consolidate
many of the confusing and contradictory events and stories known to the chronicler
into the reign of one king, Ragnar. That is why many acts ascribed to Ragnar in the
Gesta can be associated, through other sources, with various figures, some of which
are more historically certain. These candidates for the "historical Ragnar"
include:
King Horik I (d. 854),
King Reginfrid (d. 814), a king who ruled part of Denmark and came into conflict
with Harald Klak,
the Reginherus who besieged Paris in the mid-9th century, and
possibly the Ragnall (Rognvald) of the Irish Annals.[4]
So far, attempts to firmly link the legendary Ragnar with one or several of those
men have failed because of the difficulty in reconciling the various accounts and
their chronology. Nonetheless, the core tradition of a Viking hero named Ragnar (or
similar) who wreaked havoc in mid-ninth-century Europe and who fathered many famous
sons is remarkably persistent, and some aspects of it are covered by relatively
reliable sources, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
In popular culture[edit]
Ragnar Lodbrok features prominently in:
Edwin Atherstone's novel Sea-Kings in England;
Edison Marshall's 1951 novel The Viking;
Richard Parker's 1957 historical novel The Sword of Ganelon explores the character
of Ragnar, his sons, and Viking raiding culture;
a 1958 film, The Vikings based on Marshall's novel, in which Ragnar, played by
Ernest Borgnine, is captured by King lla and cast into a pit of wolves; a son
named Einar [sic], played by Kirk Douglas, vows revenge and conquers Northumbria
with help from half-brother (and sworn enemy) Eric (played by Tony Curtis), who
also had much to avenge upon King Aella.
Harry Harrison's 1993 alternative history novel The Hammer and the Cross depict
Ragnar being shipwrecked, captured and executed, as well as his sons' revenge;
various strategy video games with a historical setting, including Civilization III:
Play the World, Medieval: Total War, Civilization IV: Warlords,' 'Age of Empires
II: The Forgotten and Crusader Kings II;
History Channel's historical drama television series Vikings as the protagonist,
played by Travis Fimmel.
Bernard Cornwell's novel The Last Kingdom and the BBC America's series of the same
name