Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye

When Sigurd was three years old, two half-brothers were killed by the Swedish King Eysteinn Beli. His mother asked Sigurd's older brothers to avenge the deaths, but they (including Ivar the Boneless) feared that the Swedish king's magic was too powerful (they heard that he had a magic cow!). Three-year-old Sigurd wanted to attack, however, which encouraged the others to gather ships and men. They succeeded in killing Eysteinn.

In his Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danish People"), Saxo Grammaticus writes that Sigurd was close to his father, Ragnar Lodbrok, traveling with Ragnar in Scotland and being named sub-ruler of conquered territories. We also learn that Sigurd went with Ragnar through the Kievan Rus all the way to the Hellespont.

When Ragnar died (killed by Ælla of Northumbria, prompting Ragnar's sons to launch the Great Heathen Army), Sigurd inherited the island of Zealand, the province of Scania and Halland, the Danish islands, and Viken (the strait between Norway, Sweden, and Jutland). He is also referred to in many records as the co-ruler of Denmark with his older brother Halfdan (who was away most of the time with the Great Heathen Army).

The "evidence" of co-rulership comes from Frankish sources that mention Sigfred and Halfdan as rulers in 873 (The names "Sigfrid" and "Sigurd" were often mixed up in literature). The known Danish King Harthacanute (not this one in England, but an earlier designated with a "I" in Denmark) was the son of "Sigurd" in the proper time frame.

What about Sigurd's nickname? It is said he was born with a mark in his left eye that looked like a snake. You might spot the difference in the 1670 engraving pictured above.

Some of the above comes from  Ragnarssona þáttr, "The Tale of Ragnar's sons." It mentions that, when word came of Ragnar's death, two of Ragnar's son, Björn Ironside and Hvitserk ("white shirt," believed to be a nickname of Halfdan) were playing tafl. That reference got me looking into tafl, a table game several forms of which have been played for centuries. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Halfdan Ragnarsson

Son of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok and leader of the Great Heathen Army, Halfdan Ragnarsson went on to become King of Jorvik, of Dublin, and co-ruler of Denmark.

In 866, just a year after the Great Heathen Army had arrived on the shores of East Anglia, it had moved northward and invaded Northumbria, which at the time was caught up in a battle between Ælla of Northumbria and King Osberht of Northumbria. Halfdan's army captured Jorvik (York). An alliance between Ælla and Osberht to recapture York failed. A 12th-century monk, Symeon of Durham, wrote of the result:

Nearly all the Northumbrians were routed and destroyed, the two kings being slain; the survivors made peace with the pagans. After these events, the pagans appointed Egbert king under their own dominion; Egbert reigned for six years, over the Northumbrians beyond the Tyne.

Halfdan had less success further south: he battled the West Saxons nine times, unable to conquer them. He eventually made a truce with the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great. The army then retreated to London for the winter, during which time (871/72) coins were minted with Halfdan's name on them.

In 874 he conquered Mercia and its king, Burghred, and a puppet was put in place, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

And the same year they gave Ceolwulf, an unwise king's thane, the Mercian kingdom to hold; and he swore oaths to them, and gave hostages, that it should be ready for them on whatever day they would have it; and he would be ready with himself, and with all those that would remain with him, at the service of the army.

The Annals of Ulster say the king of Dublin, Eystein Olafsson, was "deceitfully" killed by Albann, a name recognized to be Halfdan. His time as King of Dublin lasted only a couple years; he lost the spot when he returned to Northumbria. Records list him as King of Jorvik starting in 876.

Attempting to regain Dublin, he was opposed by the "Fair Heathens," Vikings who had established Ireland as their home long before the "Dark Heathens" which were Halfdan's interlopers. The fair Heathens defeated him, and he was killed.

So that explains Jorvik and Dublin, but how was e co-ruler of Denmark, and with whom? Tomorrow you will meet Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye!

The Great Heathen Army

There was an invasion in England in 865 by a coalition of Scandinavian warriors referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the Great Heathen Army or the Viking Great Army. It was supposedly commanded by Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless, and Ubba, who were three of the five sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. For 14 years they fought the resident Anglo-Saxons, starting from their landing spot in East Anglia and moving north to York and then south through Nottingham and Cambridge down to London. Let's talk about the three brothers.

Ivar the Boneless was actually discussed over a decade ago in this post. Although "Boneless" (see the link, although there are several theories) he was considered wise and cunning, and a master of battle strategy. Ivar and Ubba are credited with killing Edmund the Martyr when the army returned to East Anglia in 869. Ivar died in 870.

Ubba's existence and role in the Great Heathen Army are fairly sketchy. From the Historia de sancto Cuthberto ("History of Saint Cuthbert") we are told that he was a dux ("leader, duke") of the Frisians, but that the army was Scaldingi, meaning they were either Scyldings (an ancient designation mentioned in the poem Beowulf from which the kings of Denmark claimed descent), or they were from the river Scheldt, meaning Ubba was from an island in the mouth of the Scheldt in Northern France that was granted to a Viking named Herioldus in 841 by King Lothair I.

The Battle of Arx Cynuit, mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Vita Alfredi, was a loss for the Heathen Army. The army's leader was killed according to the chronicles, but not named; he is only designated the brother of Ivar and Halfdan. Contemporary records do not say that Ivar and Ubba were brothers; that link comes later in the 11th-century Annals of St. Neots.

Halfdan is better attested in history, because he became King of Jorvik (York), King of Dublin, and co-ruler of Denmark. I'll explain how he managed all that tomorrow.