Ragnar Ragnarsson (849-892) was a Danish Viking general and the son of Earl Ragnar. He was one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army, taking part in campaigns in Ireland and England from the 860s to the 890s. In 892, he was murdered by Aethelwold Aetheling on the orders of his cousin Cnut Longsword, who was jealous of Ragnar's leadership and coveted his lover Brida.
Biography[]
Ragnar Ragnarsson was born in 849, the son of Earl Ragnar the Fearless and Sigrid and the brother of Thyra Ragnarsdottir, and he accompanied his father on the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England in 865. He fought at the Siege of York in 866 and became an older brother figure to Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the son of a slain Northumbrian nobleman who was raised by his Norse captors. Ragnar campaigned in Ireland in 867 at the age of 18, serving under Ivar the Boneless and being entrusted with some of the Danes left in Ireland who held onto Ivar's lands on the island. It was not unusual for earl's sons to serve other lords, as the elder Ragnar had two earls' sons serving aboard his three longships.
Ragnar returned when his father was murdered by his disgruntled ship captain Kjartan; Uhtred and Ragnar decided to avenge Earl Ragnar's death by hunting down Kjartan. Ragnar commanded a part of Guthrum's army during his campaign against Alfred the Great in 875, capturing the town of Wareham. After the Battle of Edington, Ragnar was one of the Danish hostages sent to Alfred to ensure a continued peace. In 878, he ultimately succeeded in avenging his father by dueling Kjartan to the death during his assault on Kjartan's keep at Dunholm. In the ensuing years, he would settle down at his fortress, and, due to Brida's inability to bear children, Ragnar took concubines and had several children.
In 892, after hearing of Uhtred's betrayal of Alfred, Ragnar decided to ally with Hastein and Sigurd Bloodhair to invade Wessex and finish off Alfred with Uhtred's help. Uhtred, who had fled to Dunholm, agreed to fight alongside Ragnar, and nominated him to be the army's commander, as he was the only leader whom the others would trust. However, Uhtred - his mind swayed by Princess Aethelflaed's call for help and Finan the Agile's opinion that the greedy Viking leaders could never work together - ultimately decided to leave and save Aethelflaed from her husband. Ragnar saw this as a second betrayal of him, and he told Uhtred that he was no longer his brother and was no longer to be associated with their father. Ragnar then savagely beat up the treacherous West Saxon prince Aethelwold Aetheling, Alfred's nephew, who had assembled the Viking army in the first place, blaming him for the situation which caused Uhtred to leave. Ragnar's army then marched south on Wessex, but his cousin Cnut secretly convinced Aethelwold to murder Ragnar, claiming that Ragnar would kill Aethelwold soon.
Death[]
Ragnar's body
At evening, Aethelwold walked back to his tent, apparently drunk, and he made sure that the Vikings (albeit uninterested) heard him saying that he was returning to his tent. He waited in his tent until it was dark out, and he proceeded to sneak into Ragnar's tent with a knife. Ragnar and his concubine were asleep, and Aethelwold stabbed the concubine through the throat when she woke up and noticed Aethelwold. He then stabbed Ragnar several times in the neck and chest, and Ragnar was unable to grab his sword, meaning that, in the Norse religion, he could not go to Valhalla. Aethelwold then took Ragnar's sword, threw the concubine's body off the bed, and ran it through her chest, making it look like the concubine had stabbed Ragnar before a mortally wounded Ragnar killed her.
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