RAGNAR LOTHBROK AND THE SEMI-LEGENDARY HISTORY OF DENMARK
Senior Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University
Undergraduate Program in the Department of History William Kapelle, Advisor
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts
by RYAN HALL KACANI
MAY 2015
Copyright by Ryan H. Kacani
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor William Kapelle for advising me on this thesis, as well as Professors Gregory Freeze and Charles McClendon for serving on my defense committee. I would like to thank Nicholas Galinski for providing valuable eyes in the final stages of editing. And above all I would like to thank Rita, without whom this never would have been completed, and who not only guided me through this project, but guides me through life itself. CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Chapter One: The History of Denmark and 5 Sweden to the Battle of Brávellir (c. 500-c. 750)
Chapter Two: Expansion and the House of 22 Godfred in the Ninth Century (c. 750-867)
Chapter Three: The Story of the Legendary 45 Ragnar Lothbrok
Chapter Four: Reginheri and Other 64 Historical Ragnar Models
Chapter Five: The Sons of Reginheri and 81 Lothbroka
Conclusions 114
Appendix: Maps, Genealogies, and 117 Timelines
Bibliography 129 INTRODUCTION
From the late eighth to the late eleventh centuries, nearly the entirety of Europe was held at the mercy of Scandinavian raiders. These
Viking warriors took countless riches from the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon
England and Carolingian France, and, when plunder was not plentiful, extorted thousands of pounds of silver from the regions’ rulers. By the end of the ninth century, they had conquered part of England, and by the end of the eleventh, their Norman descendants finished the task. Viking raiders made their way through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, conquered Slavic settlements in Russia, and crossed the Atlantic to settle
Greenland and continental North America. Understandably, they have remained a colorful, important part of modern Western culture’s collective imagination, and are ever present in the forms of football teams, blockbuster superheroes, and television series.
Common misconceptions about horns and barbarism aside, medieval Scandinavian culture was rich with legends, mythology, and heroic figures. While the exploits of later Viking raiders and Scandinavian kings were well documented, traveling back to the beginning of the Viking
Age and beyond, documentation becomes increasingly scarce. Without a doubt, some of the most popular figures of the zenith of the Viking Age were Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons. These semi-legendary figures were