Brida (?-917) was an East Anglian-born, Danish-raised Viking warrior who was the lover of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and then of Ragnar Ragnarsson and his cousin Cnut Longsword. She became the Lady of Dunholm on Ragnar's murder in 902, commanding her own contingent of warriors which fought at the Battle of Tettenhall in 910, the Battle of Dinefwr in 911, and the Siege of Chester in 917. Uhtred's change of allegiance to the Anglo-Saxons, Brida's hatred of Christians, and the loss of Ragnar caused Brida to become a bitter and cruel warrior who delighted in the slaughter of her foes, both warriors and civilians, and she was ultimately killed by Uhtred's daughter Stiorra at the great hall of York in 917.
Biography[]
Brida in 871
Brida was born in East Anglia to an Anglo-Saxon family, and she was taken captive during the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England in 866. She was brought into the service of the Viking skald Ravn in Leeds, where she grew up with Earl Ragnar the Fearless' daughter Thyra Ragnarsdottir and fellow Anglo-Saxon servant Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Uhtred and Brida became lovers during their young adulthood, and, in 871, they (and, unbeknownst to them, a captive Thyra) were the only survivors of Kjartan's attack on Leeds. Brida accompanied Uhtred on his quest for vengeance, and, while she advised him to flee to Ireland or to give up his quest to regain Bebbanburg, she still accompanied him during their flight across the land. They took Ubbe Ragnarrsson's sorcerer Storri hostage with the goal of approaching Ubbe and assuring them of their innocence in Ragnar's death, for which they had been blamed by Kjartan; when this failed, they fled south to Wessex. Brida was a proud Dane who had forgotten about her Anglo-Saxon past, and she was hostile towards Christianity and the Anglo-Saxons, especially after Uhtred became a pledged servant of King Alfred the Great. Brida and Uhtred had a complicated relationship, swaying between love and disagreement, and Brida miscarried Uhtred's child while Uhtred was training West Saxon troops in the woods of Wilton.
Viking raider[]
Brida in Winchester, 878
When Ragnar Ragnarsson arrived from Ireland, Brida agreed to sail with him, but Uhtred had to part ways with his lover, as he had promised to serve Alfred for a year, and Ragnar encouraged him to keep his promise. During the five years that Brida and Uhtred were apart, Brida found a new man in Ragnar, becoming his lover. In 876, she was reunited with her former lover at the Siege of Wareham, where Uhtred was sent as an Anglo-Saxon hostage to Ragnar and Guthrum's Danes at the Danish-held town of Wareham. Brida and Ragnar were upset that Uhtred had chosen to be a Saxon over being a Dane, but they assisted him in his escape from the castle. Two years later, she again crossed paths with Uhtred during the Viking attack on Winchester, where she allowed him and his friends to slip past the drunk guards, but showed no warmth towards Uhtred.
Ragnar and Brida at the Battle of Edington
After the Battle of Edington in 878, Ragnar and Brida were given to the Anglo-Saxons as hostages, and, while Ragnar clasped hands with Uhtred in prison to show their continued friendship, Brida turned away from Uhtred in anger. King Alfred later released both Ragnar and Brida to help Uhtred in his quest to slay Earl Kjartan, allowing for them to avenge Ragnar the Fearless. She and Ragnar freed Uhtred from the slaver Sverri in 880 and then, with the help of King Guthred of Northymbre's army, stormed Dunholm, where Ragnar killed Kjartan in single combat. Brida and Ragnar turned Dunholm into their new home, with Brida being Ragnar's lover. However, over the years, she was unable to produce children, forcing Ragnar to have children with other concubines.
Ragnar's death[]
Brida with Cnut Longsword
In 892, Uhtred was reunited with Brida when he decided to join Ragnar for an invasion of Wessex, as Uhtred had been banished and outlawed by King Alfred the Great, now frail and without his best general. However, Brida and Ragnar disowned Uhtred when he abandoned the Danes to rescue Princess Aethelflaed from her husband Aethelred of Mercia. Meanwhile, she had to put up with Ragnar's cousin Cnut Longsword, who incessantly reminded her of how much he wanted to bed her. Secretly, Cnut sanctioned Aethelwold Aetheling's murder of Ragnar in his tent on the last night that he was supposed to spend having a child with his concubine, and Brida found them dead in the tent the next morning. Brida deduced that either Sigurd Bloodhair or Cnut had killed Ragnar, but Cnut swore that it was not him, and Cnut took Brida as his lover, as Brida needed to survive and join her men with Cnut's in order to prepare for a split with Bloodhair and Hastein. Brida again reunited with Uhtred when she informed him of Ragnar's death, and when they set out to find a way to send Ragnar - who hadn't died a warrior's death - from Niflheim to Valhalla. They found their old acquaintance Storri, who told them that Ragnar would go to Valhalla if a person used a sword soaked in Ragnar's blood to kill Ragnar's murderer. Brida then strangled Storri to death, blaming his curse on her inability to have children, and on Ragnar's death. She later helped Uhtred one last time just before the Battle of the Holme, when she sent her lieutenant Jackdaw to tell Uhtred that Aethelwold was the murdered, allowing for Uhtred to stab Aethelwold through a pouch of Thyra's blood, after which Brida noticed a ray of light and said that Ragnar was crossing the bridge into Valhalla. However, Brida had previously reminded Uhtred that she had forgotten about any love that she had for Uhtred, and they briefly hugged before returning to the opposing sides.
Invasion of Mercia[]
Cnut and Brida at their camp
Brida remained lovers with Cnut for ten years, and she went along with Cnut's plan to lure the Mercians and West Saxons into a decisive field battle on the Vikings' terms. She took part in Cnut's sack of Aylesbury in 910, and they defiled Lord Aethelred's bed by having sex on it. They proceeded to set up camp at Tamworth, fortifyng their position and planning to take on the Mercians and West Saxons there.
However, Cnut's lieutenant Bjorgulf arrived and informed Cnut that Uhtred had executed his eldest son Cnut and taken his younger son Esgar hostage, so a frenzied Cnut killed Bjorgulf and ordered his army to prepare for war, ignoring Brida's advice against changing his plan. When Brida's lieutenant Jackdaw informed Cnut that Uhtred and Lady Aethelflaed were encamped at Tettenhall, Cnut and his army moved to attack them there.
Battle of Tettenhall[]
Brida at the Battle of Tettenhall
At the Battle of Tettenhall, Brida commanded the main army while Cnut commanded the Viking cavalry which fell into a hidden pit at the start of the action. Seeing that Cnut had been tricked, Brida led the rest of the army into battle, fighting ferociously. She later followed Cnut into the woods as he searched for Uhtred, and she came across the two of them wrestling after a sword fight. During the fight, Uhtred confronted Cnut about killing Ragnar, and he said that Ragnar was weak and had to be killed. Brida overheard this, and, upon seeing Brida approach, Uhtred stood Cnut up and let Brida deal with him. She proceeded to stab Cnut through the chest with his own sword, avenging her former lover. Uhtred told a dying Cnut that both of his sons still lived, as the body Bjorgulf had seen was that of a Mercian boy whom the Danes had killed, and he taunted Cnut that he would never live to see his boys grow old. He then told Brida that she should never have trusted him, and she then walked away. However, she was captured by the Welsh soldiers under Rhodri of Deheubarth, and Uhtred refused to honor her request to send her to Valhalla in a fight, leaving her as the Welsh army's captive.
Captivity in Wales[]
The site of the Llangadog massacre
Brida was tortured by Rhodri at Dinefwr Castle, being thrown in the oubliette and deprived of adequate food or water. On one occasion, Rhodri and two guards urinated on her through the oubliette hatch as she opened her mouth for water. She was avenged when Vikings stormed the castle and freed her, and their leader revealed himself to be Cnut's cousin Sigtryggr of Irland, whom Brida had heard was dead. He revealed that, while he had lost all of his settlements and his kinsfolk, he was very much alive, and he took an interest in getting to know Brida. She advised him to stay in Wales, accumulate silver, and then seek further riches through conquest, and she took part in local raids, including the massacre of the townsfolk of Llangadog and the theft of their supplies. When she returned to Sigtryggr with the goods, she said that she believed that they had enough to invade Wessex or Mercia and avenge Tettenhall, although Sigtryggr refused to lead his men into another battle, arguing that he and his men finally had a place to rest and recover from months of warfare. Brida decided to leave for the north to rally her allies there, and Sigtryggr gave her five men to accompany her. Before she left, she had her captor Rhodri hanged with a chain in the oubliette.
Sack of Winchester[]
Sigtryggr and Brida in Winchester
Along the way, Brida came across the Mercian defector Eardwulf, who offered to help her and the Danish army take the West Saxon capital of Winchester without spilling a drop of blood. Brida then convinced Sigtryggr that taking Winchester would give the Danes a new home and great riches, and Sigtryggr finally agreed to help her with her revenge against the Saxons. The Viking army sacked the city and captured several members of the royal family, and Brida displayed great cruelty in desecrating Saxon burial sites to spite the city's Christians. During the Saxon siege of Winchester, Brida killed their messenger Cenric with an arrow when he threatened to burn down the city, but she was angered when Sigtryggr decided to negotiate with the Saxons. She was even more infuriated when Sigtryggr, having taken Uhtred as a captive in exchange for the release of King Edward's sons, refused to crucify Uhtred in the marketplace. Later, she and Hastein discovered that Sigtryggr planned to use Uhtred to negotiate peace with Edward and abandon Winchester in exchange for other lands, much to their chagrin. When Uhtred exited his meeting, Brida stabbed him in the chest and prepared to fight a defenseless Uhtred, whose sword she had thrown over the walls. However, he overpowered her and told her to just leave and give birth to Cnut's child, sparing her a second time.
Reign of terror[]
For the next six years, Brida returned to ruling over Dunholm. In 917, during Ragnall ua Imair's takeover of Northymbre, Brida rallied to his cause, precipitating the fall of King Ingwaer. She then joined Ragnall when he marched from York to Chester, where she took part in the massacre of 43 Anglo-Saxon prisoners before the city walls. She then saw Uhtred on the battlements and proclaimed that he was cursed, and she vowed to kill him. Uhtred swore vengeance for her massacre of the Saxons, and he routed the Norse army in a surprise attack. Brida was then sent to York to serve as governor as Ragnall ravaged Mercia, and she engaged in a campaign to "cleanse" Northumbria of "the false God". Brida rewarded her supporters for bringing captive priests and nuns to her, having the Christians crucified. She pulled the dead from their graves, tore down the Christian banners, and used York Cathedral as a stable, and she also boiled Archbishop Aethelbald to death.
Death[]
One day, Orva Freyrsson and five ships' crews of Ragnall's men arrived in York, informing her subordinate Brynketill that he had killed Ragnall's brother and rival Sihtric Caech and captured Uhtred's daughter Stiorra. Brida brought the party into the great hall, where she told Stiorra that she was lucky to marry Ragnall, although she would eventually be reduced to a slave and a whore. She then demanded that Stiorra hand over her daughter to be blinded by Fridtjof, who had blinded several other young girls to turn them into pagan seers. Uhtred - who was disguised as one of Orva's men - slipped his sword to Stiorra, who then gutted Fridtjof when he approached her to take Stiorra from her. Orva's men then drew swords against Brida and her eight guards, who deserted her, as she had ruled through fear and had become unpopular. Brida attempted to attack Stiorra, only for Sihtric - also disguised - to push her to the ground. Stiorra then took Sihtric's sword and hacked Brida to death, avenging her ill intentions for her daughter; however, she let Brida hold a sword as she died, allowing her into Valhalla. Her body was placed on a handcart and taken to the riverbank, where she was cremated.