Editing Ragnar Lodbrok (section)

=== 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>