Editing Ragnar Lodbrok (section)

== Accounts ==
=== Icelandic sagas ===
[[File:Bronsplåt 4 fr Torslunda sn, Öland (Stjerna, Hjälmar och svärd i Beovulf (1903) sid 103).jpg|thumb|200px|A warrior with shaggy breeches, killing a beast, on one of the [[Torslunda plates]]. The man has been identified with Ragnar Lodbrok in an early Swedish version of the legend ([[Henrik Schück|Schück]]). More recently, it has been interpreted as showing a Germanic initiation ritual in which shaggy trousers played a role and which may subsequently have contributed to the legend of Ragnar Lodbrok.<ref>McTurk (1991) ''Studies in 'Ragnar's Saga Lodbrokar' and Its Major Scandinavian Analogues''. Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages Lit. p. 10, 15, 36, 37</ref>]]
According to the ''[[Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok]]'', ''[[Tale of Ragnar's Sons]]'', ''[[Heimskringla]]'', ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]'', ''[[Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum]]'', and many other Icelandic sources, Ragnar was the son of the king of Sweden [[Sigurd Ring]]. Nearly all of the [[Sagas of Icelanders|sagas]] agree that the Danish king [[Randver]] was Sigurd's father, with the ''Hervarar saga'' citing his wife as Åsa, the daughter of King [[Harald Granraude|Harald of the Red Moustache]] from Norway. The accounts further tell that Randver was a grandson of the legendary Scandinavian king [[Ivar Vidfamne]] by his daughter Aud (whom the ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' calls Alfhild).<ref>{{cite journal|editor1=Tolkien, Christopher|editor2=Turville-Petre, G.|date=1956|title=Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks|location=London|journal=Viking Society for Northern Research|pages=68–9|url=http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Text%20Series/Hervarar%20saga%20ok%20heidreks.pdf|access-date=20 October 2019|archive-date=1 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801054322/http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Text%20Series/Hervarar%20saga%20ok%20heidreks.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> After the death of King Ivar Vidfamne, Aud's eldest son by the Danish king [[Hrœrekr Ringslinger]], Harald, conquered all of his grandfather's territory and became known as [[Harald Wartooth]]. Harald's nephew Sigurd Ring became the chief king of Sweden after Randver's death (Denmark according to the ''Hervarar saga''), presumably as the subking of Harald. Sigurd and Harald fought the [[Battle of the Brávellir]] ([[Bråvalla]]) on the plains of [[Östergötland]], where Harald and many of his men died. Sigurd then ruled Sweden and Denmark (being sometimes identified with a Danish king [[Sigfred]] who ruled from about 770 until his death prior to 804). He sired a son with the princess Alfhild of the petty kingdom of [[Álfheimr (region)|Álfheimr]], Ragnar Lodbrok, who succeeded him.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/Fragment.htm| title = ''Sögubrot'', Chapter 10| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100908081803/http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/Fragment.htm| archive-date = 8 September 2010}}</ref> [[Eysteinn Beli]], who according to the ''Hervarar Saga'' was Harald Wartooth's son, ruled Sweden sometime after Sigurd until he was slain by the sons of Ragnar and [[Aslaug]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.germanicmythology.com/FORNALDARSAGAS/ThattrRagnarsSonar.html| title = ''The Tale of Ragnar's Sons'', Chapter 2| website = Germanicmythology.com| access-date = 20 October 2019| archive-date = 22 September 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130922060849/http://www.germanicmythology.com/FORNALDARSAGAS/ThattrRagnarsSonar.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

In their accounts of his reign, the ''[[fornaldarsǫgur]]'' (Legendary sagas, or sagas of Scandinavian prehistory),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fasnl.ku.dk/|title=Stories for all time: The Icelandic fornaldarsögur|website=Fasnl.ku.dk|access-date=28 February 2022|archive-date=23 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223230833/https://fasnl.ku.dk/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312033326| title = ''fornaldarsögur'', chapter 25|website=Researchgate.net}}</ref> tell more about Ragnar's marriages than about feats of warfare. In the [https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lmu/detail.action?docID=4939445 Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Jackson |title=The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok |date=2017 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-62466-635-3 |location=Cambridge}}</ref> Ragnar is introduced by introducing his alleged father who was Sigurd Ring that according to the Saga, ruled over Denmark. In the Saga, Ragnar is Introduced as a big man, handsome and well-provided with wisdom. He was good to his men and cruel to his enemies. Ragnar's first account in the saga was to assemble an army, a fleet of ships, becoming a great warrior and slaying a dragon in the Norse lands of Götaland.

According to the ''Sögubrot'', "he was the biggest and fairest of men that human eyes have seen, and he was like his mother in appearance and took after her kin".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/Fragment.htm| title = '' Sögubrot'', Chapter 10| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100908081803/http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/Fragment.htm| archive-date = 8 September 2010}}</ref> He first killed a giant snake that guarded the abode of the [[Geats|Geatish]] jarl [[Herrauðr|Herrauð]]'s daughter [[Thora Borgarhjort]], thereby winning her as his wife. The unusual protective clothes that Ragnar wore when attacking the serpent earned him the nickname Lodbrok.{{efn|name=epithet}} His sons with Thora were [[Erik Weatherhat|Erik]] and Agnar. After Thora died, he discovered [[Aslaug|Kráka]], a woman of outstanding beauty and wisdom living with a poor peasant couple in Norway, and married her. This marriage resulted in the sons [[Ivar the Boneless]], [[Björn Ironside]], [[Hvitserk]], [[Ragnvald Heidumhære|Ragnvald]], and [[Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/ragnar.htm| title = ''Ragnars Saga Lodbrokar'', Chapters 4 and 7| access-date = 25 October 2019| archive-date = 25 October 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191025164341/https://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/ragnar.htm| url-status = live}}</ref> Kráka was later revealed to actually be Aslaug, a secret daughter of the renowned hero [[Sigurd|Sigurd Fafnesbane]]. As the sons grew up to become renowned warriors, Ragnar, not wishing to be outdone, resolved to conquer England with merely two ships. He was, however, defeated by superior [[Northumbria]]n forces and was thrown into a [[snake pit]] to die.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Frank | first=Roberta | title=Viking atrocity and Skaldic verse: The Rite of the Blood-Eagle | journal=The English Historical Review | volume=XCIX | issue=CCCXCI | date=1 April 1984 | issn=0013-8266 | doi=10.1093/ehr/XCIX.CCCXCI.332 | pages=332–343 | url=https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article/XCIX/CCCXCI/332/389819 | access-date=16 September 2019| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/ragnar.htm| title = ''Ragnars Saga Lodbrokar'', Chapter 15| access-date = 25 October 2019| archive-date = 25 October 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191025164341/https://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/ragnar.htm| url-status = live}}</ref> The ''Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok'', ''Tale of Ragnar's Sons'', and ''Heimskringla'' all tell of the [[Great Heathen Army]] that invaded England at around 866, led by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok to wreak revenge against King [[Ælla of Northumbria]] who is told to have captured and executed Ragnar.

=== Danish sources ===
The {{Lang|la|[[Chronicon Roskildense]]}} ({{Circa|1138}}) mentions Lodbrok (Lothpardus) as a father to the utterly cruel Norse King Ywar (rex crudelissimus Normannorum Ywar) and his brothers, Inguar (a double of Ywar), Ubbi, Byorn and Ulf, who rule the northern peoples. They call on the various Danish petty kings to help them ruin the realm of the [[Franks]]. Ywar successfully attacks the kingdoms of Britain, though not as an act of revenge as in the Icelandic sagas.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/stream/scriptoresminore112gert#page/16/mode/2up| title = ''Chronicon Roskildense'', p. 16| year = 1917}}</ref> The chronicle of [[Sven Aggesen]] ({{Circa|1190}}) is the first Danish text that mentions the full name, Regnerus Lothbrogh. His son Sigurd invades Denmark and kills its king, whose daughter he marries as he takes over the throne. Their son in turn is [[Hardeknud I|Knut]], ancestor of the later Danish kings.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/stream/scriptoresminore112gert#page/106/mode/2up| title = Sven Aggeson, p. 106| year = 1917}}</ref>

Neither of these sources mentions Ragnar Lodbrok as a Danish ruler. The first to do so is [[Saxo Grammaticus]] in his work {{Lang|la|[[Gesta Danorum]]}} ({{Circa|1200}}). This work mixes Norse legend with data about Danish history derived from the chronicle of [[Adam of Bremen]] ({{Circa|1075}}).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=399| title = Storm (1877), p. 387-9| year = 1871| access-date = 30 October 2019| archive-date = 4 November 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201104181424/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=399| url-status = live}}</ref> Here Ragnar's father Sigurd Ring is a Norwegian prince married to a Danish princess, and different from the victor of Brávellir (who had flourished about thirteen generations earlier). Sigurd Ring and his cousin and rival Ring (that is, Sigfred and [[Anulo]] of recorded history, d. 812) are both killed in battle, whereupon Ragnar is elevated to the Danish kingship (identified by Saxo with [[Reginfrid|Ragnfred]], d. 814<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=411| title = Storm (1877), p. 399| year = 1871| journal = Historisk Tidskrift| access-date = 30 October 2019| archive-date = 26 October 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201026203132/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=411| url-status = live}}</ref>).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/541| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 539–41| year = 1905}}</ref>  His first deed is the defeat of the Swedish king Frö, who has killed Ragnar's grandfather. Ragnar is assisted in this by a ferocious [[shield-maiden]] named [[Ladgerda]] (Lagertha), whom Ragnar forces to marry him after killing a bear and a great hound to win her hand. In this marriage, he sires the son Fridleif and two daughters.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/543| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 542-3| year = 1905}}</ref>  Ragnar later repudiates his marriage to Ladgerda and marries [[Thora Borgarhjort]], a daughter of the Swedish king Herrauðr, after killing two venomous giant snakes that guard Thora's residence. His sons with Thora are Radbard, Dunvat, [[Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye]], Björn Ironside, Agnar and Ivar the Boneless. From a non-marital relationship with an unnamed woman (described only as the daughter of a man named Esbjørn), Ragnar fathered [[Ubba|Ubbe]]. Another, final marriage to Svanlaug (possibly another name for Aslaug) produces another three sons: Ragnvald, [[Eric Weatherhat]] and [[Hvitserk]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/550| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 545, 550| year = 1905}}</ref>

The sons were installed as sub-kings in various conquered territories. Ragnar led a Viking expedition to England and killed its king, Hama, before killing the earls of Scotland and installing Sigurd Snake-in-the Eye and Radbard as governors. Norway was also subjugated, and Fridleif was made ruler there and in [[Orkney]]. Later on, Ragnar with three sons invaded Sweden where a new king called Sörle had appeared and withheld the heritage of Thora's sons. Sörle and his army were massacred, and Björn Ironside was installed on the throne.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/551| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 551| year = 1905}}</ref>  Sometime later Björn was put in charge of Norway, while Ragnar appointed another son, Eric Weatherhat, as ruler in Sweden; he was subsequently killed by a certain [[Eysteinn Beli|Eysteinn]]. One of the sons, Ubbe, revolted against his father at the instigation of his maternal grandfather Esbjørn, and could only be defeated and captured with utmost effort.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/557| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 557| year = 1905}}</ref> Saxo moreover tells of repeated expeditions to the [[British Isles]], one of which cost the lives of Dunvat and Radbard. Ælla, son of Hama, with the help of allies known collectively as the ''Galli'' – possibly a group of [[Norse–Gaels|Norse-Gael]]s (who were known in Old Irish as ''Gall-Goídil''),<ref name="auto">Smyth (1977).</ref> expelled Ragnar's sub-ruler Ivar the Boneless from England and remained a persistent enemy.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/560| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 560-1| year = 1905}}</ref> Finally, the [[Scythians]] were forced to accept Hvitserk as their ruler. In the end, Hvitserk was treacherously captured by the [[Hellespontus (province)|Hellespontian]] prince Daxon and burnt alive with his own admission. Hearing this, Ragnar led an expedition to [[Kievan Rus']] and captured Daxon who was spared and exiled.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/558| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 558-9| year = 1905}}</ref>

Unlike the Icelandic sources, Saxo's account of Ragnar Lodbrok's reign is largely a catalog of successful Viking invasions over an enormous geographical area. Among the seaborne expeditions was one against the [[Bjarmians]] and [[Finns]] ([[Sami people|Saami]]) in the Arctic north. The Bjarmian use of magic spells caused foul weather and the sudden death of many Danish invaders, and the Finnish archers on skis turned out to be a formidable foe. Eventually, these two tribes were put to flight, and the Bjarmian king was slain.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/554| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 558-9| year = 1905}}</ref> The historical king [[Harald Klak]] is by Saxo (based on a passage in Adam's chronicle) made into another persistent enemy of Ragnar, who several times incited the [[Jutes]] and [[Skåne|Scanians]] to rebel, but was regularly defeated. After the last victory over Harald, Ragnar learned that King Ælla had massacred Ragnar's men on [[Ireland]]. Incensed, he attacked the English king with his fleet but was captured and thrown to his death in the snake pit – the fate ascribed by tradition to the early [[Kingdom of the Burgundians|Burgundian]] king [[Gunther|Gunnar]], as recounted in the Icelandic sagas. In spite of all his praise for Ragnar Lodbrok, Saxo also considers his fate as God's rightful vengeance for the contempt he had shown the Christian religion.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft/page/563| title = Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 562-3| year = 1905}}</ref>

=== Poetic and epigraphic sources ===
While the narrative Norse sources date from the 12th and 13th centuries, there are also many older poems that mention him and his kin. The ''[[Ragnarsdrápa]]'', ostensibly composed by [[Bragi Boddason]] in the 9th century, praises a Ragnar, son of Sigurd, for a richly decorated shield that the poet has received. The shield depicts the assault on [[Ermanaric|Jörmunrek]], the [[Hjaðningavíg]] tale, the ploughing of [[Gefjon]], and [[Thor]]'s struggle with the [[Midgard Serpent]]. Recent scholarship has suggested that the poem is in fact from c. 1000 and celebrates the Norse reconquest of England. The four tales depicted on the shield would then symbolize four aspects of the Lodbrok saga (the initial defeat of the sons of Lodbrok in England due to recklessness, Ivar the Boneless's deceitful approach to King Ælla, Ivar's cunning snatching of land from Ælla, Ragnar's struggle against the giant serpent in order to win Thora).<ref>"Ragnarsdrápa", ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'', Vol. 24, p. 115.</ref> The ''Knutsdrapa'' of [[Sigvat Thordarson]] (c. 1038) mentions the death of Ælla at the hands of Ivar in [[York]], who "carved the eagle on Ælla's back".<ref>Smyth (1977), p. 193–4.</ref> From this, the story of the atrocious revenge of Lodbrok's sons already seems to be present. The reference to a "[[blood eagle]]" punishment has, however, been much debated by modern scholars.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/medieval.www/sagaconf/mcturk.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926171200/http://www.dur.ac.uk/medieval.www/sagaconf/mcturk.htm|archivedate=26 September 2008|title=Kings and kingship in Viking Northumbria|date=26 September 2008|access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> Another lay, ''[[Krakumal]]'', put in the mouth of the dying Ragnar in the snake pit, recounts the exploits of Ragnar and mentions battles over a wide geographical area, several relating to the British Isles. The poem's name, "Kráka's lay", alludes to Ragnar's wife's [[Aslaug|Kráka]],<ref>"Krákumál", ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'', Vol. 17 (2001), p. 299-300.</ref> though modern philologists commonly date it to the 12th century in its present form.<ref>Smyth (1977), p. 73-80.</ref>

The poem the ''Lay of Kraka'' or ''[[Krákumál|Krakumal]]''<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Marius |date=24 July 2024 |title=Krákumál {{!}} The Lay of Kraka - A Tale of Slaughter |url=https://vikingr.org/old-norse-texts/krakumal?srsltid=AfmBOooEwf_gA_JIfOfzxDk1gxg4RuGGXVzlQntnwPQut3YeuIQz_DGt |access-date=12 December 2024 |website=Vikingr |language=en-US}}</ref> tells the last words of Ragnar Lothbrok during his execution by King Aellla of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In the poem Ragnar makes its usual mentions of different Norse divinities and magical elements such as Valhalla as in the end of the poem Ragnar says:

{{poem quote|We hewed with the brand!
Full gladly do I go! See the Valkyrjar fresh from Odin's halls!
High-seated among heroes shall I quaff the yellow-mead.
The Aesir welcome me. Laughing gladly do I die!}}

There is one runic inscription mentioning Lodbrok, carved on the prehistorical tumulus of [[Maeshowe]] on Orkney in the early 12th century. It reads: "This howe was built a long time before Lodbrok's. Her sons, they were bold; scarcely ever were there such tall men of their hands".<ref>Smyth (1977), p. 81.</ref> The expression "her sons" has given rise to the theory that Lodbrok was originally thought of as a woman,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gustav Storm|date=1877|title=Ragnar Lodbrok og Lodbrokssønnerne; studie i dansk oldhistorie og nordisk sagnhistorie|journal=Historisk Tidskrift|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639;view=1up;seq=419|access-date=25 October 2019|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027052454/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639;view=1up;seq=419|url-status=live}}</ref> mother of the historically known sons.<ref name="auto2"/>

=== Frankish accounts of a 9th-century Viking leader ===
The [[Siege of Paris (845)|Siege of Paris]] and the Sack of Paris of 845 were the culmination of a Viking invasion of the kingdom of the West Franks. The Viking forces were led by a Norse chieftain named "Reginherus", or Ragnar.{{Sfn | Kohn | 2006 | p = 588}}  This Ragnar has often been tentatively identified with the legendary saga figure Ragnar Lodbrok,<ref>''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'', Vol. 24, p. 111, 113, 116.</ref> but the accuracy of this is disputed by historians.{{Sfn | Jones | 2001 | p = 212}}{{Sfn | Sprague | 2007 | p = 225}} Ragnar Lodbrok is also sometimes identified with a Ragnar who was awarded land in [[Torhout]], [[Flanders]], by [[Charles the Bald]] in about 841 but eventually lost the land as well as the favour of the King.{{Sfn | Sawyer | 2001 | p = 40}}  Ragnar's Vikings raided [[Rouen]] on their way up the Seine in 845 and in response to the invasion, determined not to let the royal [[Basilica of St Denis|Abbey of Saint-Denis]] (near Paris) be destroyed, Charles assembled an army which he divided into two parts, one for each side of the river.{{Sfn | Duckett | 1988 | p = 181}}{{Sfn | Jones | 2001 |  p = 212}} Ragnar attacked and defeated one of the divisions of the smaller Frankish army, took 111 of their men as prisoners and hanged them on an island on the Seine to honour the [[Norse religion|Norse god]] [[Odin]], as well as to incite terror in the remaining Frankish forces.{{Sfn | Kohn | 2006 | p = 588}}{{Sfn | Jones | 2001 | p = 212}} Ragnar's fleet made it back to his overlord, the Danish King [[Horik I]], but Ragnar soon died from a violent illness that also spread in Denmark.<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=450| title = Storm (1877), p. 438| year = 1871| journal = Historisk Tidskrift| access-date = 30 October 2019| archive-date = 14 June 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200614195411/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105191639&view=1up&seq=450| url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Later continental accounts ===
Among the oldest texts to mention the name Lodbrok is the Norman history of [[William of Jumièges]] from c. 1070. According to William, the Danish kings of old had the custom to expel the younger sons from the kingdom to have them out of the way. It was during the time this practice was in fashion that King Lodbrok succeeded his unnamed father on the Danish throne. After gaining power, he honoured the said custom and ordered his junior son Björn Ironside to leave his realm. Björn thus left Denmark with a considerable fleet and started to ravage in West Francia and later the [[Mediterranean]].<ref>{{cite book| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013753564;view=1up;seq=23| title = Guillaume de Jumièges, ''Histoire des ducs de Normandie'', p. 11-3| year = 1826| publisher = Chez Mancel| access-date = 20 October 2019| archive-date = 27 October 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201027042105/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013753564;view=1up;seq=23| url-status = live}}</ref> Roughly contemporary with William is [[Adam of Bremen]] whose history of the [[Archbishopric of Hamburg|Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen]] contains many traditions about Viking Age Scandinavia. In a passage referring to the Viking raids of the late 9th century, he mentions the Danish or Norse pirates Horich, Orwig, Gotafrid, Rudolf, and Inguar (Ivar). This Ivar is, in particular, seen as a cruel persecutor of Christians, and a son of Lodbrok (Inguar, filius Lodparchi).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/stream/adamvonbremenham00adam#page/40/mode/2up| title = Adam von Bremen, ''Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte'', p. 39-40| year = 1917| publisher = Hannover, Hahn}}</ref>

=== Anglo-Saxon and Irish accounts of the father of Ivar and Halfdan ===
According to the contemporary ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' and [[Asser]]'s ''Life of Alfred'', in 878 the "brother of Hingwar and Healfden", with a naval fleet, a contingent of the Great Heathen Army invaded [[Devon]] in England and fought the [[Battle of Cynwit]]. There the Vikings lost, their king slain and many dead, with few escaping to their ships. After the battle the [[Saxons]] took great plunder, and among other things the banner called "Raven".<ref>Garmonsway, G.N. (1972), ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. London: Dent, p. 75-7.</ref> The early 12th century ''[[Annals of St Neots]]'' further state that "they say that the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodebroch (Lodbrok), wove that flag and got it ready in one day. They say, moreover, that in every battle, wherever the flag went before them, if they were to gain the victory, a live crow would appear flying on the middle of the flag; but if they were doomed to be defeated, it would hang down motionless, and this was often proved to be so."<ref>Garmonsway, G.N. (1972), ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. London: Dent, p. 77.</ref> This is among the earlier references to the legendary hero Ragnar Lodbrok.

The Irish {{lang|ga|[[Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib]]}} from the 12th century, with information deriving from earlier annals, mentions king Halfdan (d. 877) under the name "mac Ragnaill".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/cogadhgaedhelreg00todd|title=Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh = The war of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, or, The invasions of Ireland by the Danes and other Norsemen : the original Irish text, edited, with translation and introduction|first=James Henthorn|last=Todd|date=28 February 1867|publisher=London : Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer|access-date=28 February 2022|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The form Ragnall may refer to either Ragnvald or Ragnar and the entry is a strong indication that the name of Ivar's and Halfdan's father was really Ragnar or a similar name.<ref>Smyth, Alfred P. (1977) ''Scandinavian kings in the British Isles 850–880''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 263 & 279</ref> The early 11th century ''[[Three Fragments]]'' contains a passage that gives a semi-legendary background to the capture of York by the Vikings in 866. The two younger sons of Halfdan, King of [[Lochlann]], expelled the eldest son, Ragnall, who sailed to the [[Orkney islands]] with his three sons and settled there. Two of the sons later raided the English and [[Franks]], proceeding to plunder in the Mediterranean. One of them learned from a vision that Ragnall had fought a battle where the third son had been slain and in which he himself had most likely perished. The two Viking sons then returned home with a lot of dark-skinned captives.<ref>Smyth, Alfred P. (1977) ''Scandinavian kings in the British Isles 850–880''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 62</ref> It has been hypothesized that this is an Irish version of ''Ragnar Lodbrok's saga'', the Mediterranean expedition being a historical event taking place in 859-61.<ref>Smyth, Alfred P. (1977) ''Scandinavian kings in the British Isles 850–880''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 64-5.</ref>