Was Ragnar Lothbrok Real? The True History Behind Vikings

Was Ragnar Lothbrok a real Viking? The hit series Vikings made him a legend — but what do the sagas, Frankish chronicles and archaeology actually say? We open the case file: the raid on Lindisfarne, longships, horned helmets, shield maidens and the Birka warrior grave, the siege of Paris in 845, Ragnar's sons and the Great Heathen Army, Rollo and Normandy, Vikings in America and Constantinople — and our verdict: REAL or REEL? 0:00 Intro 0:45 What was a Viking? 1:48 Who was Ragnar? The sagas 2:46 Kattegat and the west 3:26 The raid on Lindisfarne 4:34 Longships 5:29 Weapons and the shield wall 5:50 Horned helmets? 6:29 Clean Vikings and berserkers 7:05 Lagertha and shield maidens 8:03 Ecbert and Alfred 8:25 The siege of Paris, 845 9:50 How did Ragnar die? 10:15 Ragnar's sons and the Great Heathen Army 11:32 Jorvik and the Danelaw 12:38 Viking words and gods 12:59 Bjorn Ironside 13:34 Rollo and Normandy 14:15 Floki, Iceland and America 15:00 Vikings in the east 15:33 Uppsala and the end of the Viking Age 16:50 The verdict 📚 Sources Anglo-Saxon Chronicle · Annals of St-Bertin (845) · Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum · Ragnars saga loðbrókar · Adam of Bremen · Hedenstierna-Jonson et al. (2017), Birka grave Bj 581 · Kuitems et al. (2021), L'Anse aux Meadows 1021 · N. Price, Children of Ash and Elm (2020) ▶ Next: The Last Kingdom — was Uhtred of Bebbanburg real? 🔔 Subscribe to Real or Reel — history vs. the movies. #Vikings #RagnarLothbrok #History