Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye | |
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Norse Paganism |
Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye (
Early life
"Snake-in-the-eye" as part of Sigurd's name denoted a physical characteristic. He was born with a mark in his eye, described as the image of the ouroboros (a snake biting its own tail).
According to Ragnar Lothbrok’s saga, while Sigurd was just a boy, his half-brothers Eric and Agnar were killed by Swedish king Eysteinn Beli (also known as Östen). When Áslaug heard the news of Eric and Agnar's death, even though she wasn't their mother, she cried blood and asked the other sons of Ragnar to avenge their dead brothers. Because the Swedish king controlled Uppsala and a holy cow named Sibilja, Ivar the Boneless believed gods were on Eysteinn's side and feared the magic that ruled there. However, when his younger brother, the three-year-old Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, wanted to attack Eysteinn, the brothers changed their minds. Sigurd's foster-father assembled five longships for him. Hvitserk and Björn Ironside mustered 14, and Aslaug and Ivar the Boneless marshaled 10 ships each, and together they took vengeance upon Eysteinn.[3]
The Danish historian
Death of Ragnar Lothbrok and the Great Heathen Army
Most of the legendary sources say that King Ælla of Northumbria killed Ragnar Lothbrok, in about 865, by having him thrown into a pit of snakes. According to traditional accounts, Ragnar is reputed to have exclaimed as he was dying: "How the young pigs would grunt if they knew what the old boar suffers!" Sigurd and his siblings were reportedly informed of their father's fate by an envoy from Ælla. As he heard the news, Sigurd was supposedly so affected that he cut himself to the bone with a knife he held in his hand; his brother Björn Ironside supposedly gripped a spear so tightly that the imprint of his fingers was left in the wood.[5] Sigurd and his brothers swore they would avenge Ragnar's death.
In 865–866, the Viking leaders
Sigurd's descendants
Ragnarssona þáttr states that when his father died, Sigurd inherited
Helge may have briefly succeeded his purported father-in-law as king of Denmark before being overthrown by
The
Gorm's son,
Sigurd's daughter Áslaug, as mentioned above, married Helgi the Sharp of the Dagling dynasty. They had a son named Sigurd Hart, who married a woman named Ingeborg. Sigurd Hart and Ingeborg had children named Guttorm Sigurdsson and Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter. When Sigurd Hart's uncle, king Fróði of Ringerike died, Sigurd Hart supposedly went to Norway to succeed him as king of Ringerike.[11]
Popular culture
- Sigurd features prominently in the Vikings played by David Lindström.[15]
- Sigurd is also one of the antagonists in the 2014 video game DLC Mount and Blade: Viking Conquest.
- Sigurd is also mentioned as a brother of Halfdan Ragnarsson in 2020 video game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
References
- ^ "Þáttr Af Ragnars Sonum" [Tale of Ragnar's sons]. Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda (in Icelandic). March 1998.
- ^ Rory McTurk, "Kings and kingship in Viking Northumbria", [1]
- ^ Tale of Ragnar's sons, Ch. 2[2]
- ^ The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9[3]
- ^ The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons, Ch. XVI[4]
- S2CID 161252048. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "Den store hær 865–878" [The Great Army 865–878]. Danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). December 13, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ Kessler, Peter (April 1, 1999). "Anglo-Saxon Britain: The Kings of Northumbria". The History Files. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ Rory McTurk, "Kings and kingship in Viking Northumbria"
- ^ P. A. Munch (1852), Det norske Folks Historie, Vol. I:1. Christiania: Tonsberg, p. 642–648.
- ^ a b Tale of Ragnar's Sons, ch. 5
- ^ Bent Østergaard (1994), "Sven Estridsens danmarkshistorie. Danmarks politiske historie ca. 890–965", Jyske samlinger
- ^ Tale of Ragnar's sons, ch. 3
- ^ Lunga, Peter. "Hardeknud – av England og Danmark" [Harthacnut – of England and Denmark]. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "Sigurd Snake in the Eye - Vikings Cast | HISTORY". HISTORY.
Sources
- Tale of Ragnar's Sons (Ragnarssona þáttr)
- Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok (Ragnars saga Loðbrókar)
Further reading
- Waggoner, Ben (2009) The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok (The Troth) ISBN 978-0-578-02138-6
External links
- The Tale of Ragnar's Sons - translation by Peter Tunstall