She Was A Legendary Viking Queen Who Was A Fierce Warrior And A Capable Leader
Thanks to a 12th-century Danish historian, we have so many details about the Viking era to consume. Saxo Grammaticus was an important figure in medieval Europe and he was responsible for compiling the history of Denmark, shedding light on the kingdom’s Viking roots.
One historical account that stands out is the story of Lagertha, a legendary Viking queen who was a fierce warrior and a capable leader.
She commanded armies, avenged betrayals, and left a trail of defeated enemies in her wake. According to Grammaticus, she was a “shield-maiden.”
Sometime in the middle to late 9th century, the King of Sweden at the time, Frø, attacked the Norwegian kingdom and killed King Siward. Then, Frø placed all of Siward’s female family members in a brothel.
The famous Viking warrior Ragnar Lothbrok learned of the brutal murder and cruel treatment of the women while away on campaign. So, he led an army into Norway to seek revenge.
Lagertha was one of the women who had been sent to live in a brothel. She and several other women escaped from the brothel, dressed up as men, and fought alongside Ragnar in his battle against Frø. Lagertha was the bravest of them all, fighting on the front lines.
Ragnar was impressed by her skills. After she moved back to the Gaula valley in western Norway, he traveled there to seek her hand in marriage but was attacked by a bear and a great hound. He managed to kill the bear with a spear and choke the hound to death.
The animals were actually Lagertha’s guard pets. Since Ragnar was able to get past them, she decided to accept his proposal. The couple had three children together, only one of which is known: a son named Fridleif.
However, Ragnar was still upset about how Lagertha unleashed her guard animals on him. So, he remarried the daughter of King Harraud of Sweden while he was away in Denmark.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
During this time, he was facing strong resistance across Denmark and was in desperate need of military aid. Even though Ragnar and Lagertha were divorced, they remained allies, and Lagertha came to the rescue with over 120 ships.
Just before Ragnar’s son, Siward, was about to be killed, Lagertha rode in to save his life and their bloodline. That is where the story of Lagertha ends. After her heroic act, nothing about her life or her death was recorded.
There is a lot of debate as to whether Lagertha was a real person or a made-up character. We may never know if Lagertha really existed since no evidence has been found, but either way, her legacy still looms large, proving that women can be strong warriors, too.
More About:Chicks We Love