Ravn (died 871) was a Danish skald (poet) the father of Ragnar the Fearless. He accompanied his son and several other Vikings to England in 866, settling in the village of Leeds. In 871, Ravn, his son, and several other local Viking settlers were killed when a warband led by Kjartan burned down the Great Hall as a wedding party for Thyra Ragnarsdottir was being held, and the incident was blamed as the result of an Anglo-Saxon revolt led by Ragnar's adoptive son Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
Biography[]
Ravn was born in Denmark, and he fathered Ragnar the Fearless, who became known as a great Viking chieftain. Ravn eventually lost his eyesight, and his son took care of him, bringing him along for the invasion of England in 866; sandy Denmark was not suitable for growing crops, so Ragnar and several other Danes decided to colonize England. After the capture of York in 867, Ravn took Uhtred of Bebbanburg as a servant, and Ragnar later purchased Uhtred, raising him as his own adoptive son. The family settled in Leeds, which they turned into a Norse agricultural community.
Death[]
Ragnar bidding farewell to his father and wife
In 871, the Viking exiles Kjartan and his son Sven Kjartansson, angry at Ragnar for banishing them, came to Leeds with a warband and set the Great Hall on fire as most of the village's inhabitants were celebrating Thyra Ragnarsdottir's upcoming wedding. Most of the doors were blocked, and the warband slaughtered most of those who attempted to flee through the open door. Ravn was mortally wounded by an arrow, and he and Ragnar's wife stayed in the Great Hall as it burned down. Ragnar's wife had her husband stab her in the back rather than let her die in flames, and Ragnar left his wife in Ravn's arms, telling him that he would meet them both in Valhalla. Ragnar burned to death while attacking the warband, while Ravn died when the building burned to the ground.