This is my dramatization of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons avenging his death. Just because I'm a nerd.
The ninth century witnessed the most brutal attack on Britain by the Vikings. The Great Heathen Host numbered ten or fifteen thousand, stronger than even the army of William the Conqueror (The Strangest Viking). It was led by Ragnar Lodbrok, heir apparent to the Swedish throne. It was soon clear that Ragnar wanted the entirety of Britain clenched in his iron fist, and nothing less. His men smashed villages and laid waste to the proud castles that once extended airy turrets to the skies. They sneered at the men that would not dare face them in the open, those fine lords that cowered behind stone walls and drawn brides. There was no honor in that.
A giant among men, Ragnar Lodbrok’s name was known and feared throughout Europe. He fathered many sons that grew to be men of great renown, men that would later avenge his death. Ragnar led many raids on the Frankish coast, forcing many hefty tributes from King Charles the Bald in the ninth century AD (Völsunga saga). His army was unstoppable. But Ragnar was shipwrecked in Northumbria, leading to his capture at the hands of Aella, Duke of Northumbria. It is said that so great was Aella’s excitement at having captured the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok that he squealed like a caught pig (The Viking Sagas). He had Ragnar thrown into a pit of snakes, but before jumping to his death, Ragnar asked for a sword. He asked for entrance to Valhalla, something all honorable warriors granted their foes. Aella was not an honorable warrior. As Ragnar lay, bleeding poisoned blood, his empty hands closed around the sword that was not there. Ragnar, mightiest of men, was barred from Valhalla forever.
Ragnar’s sons understood that war meant death, and it was not their father’s defeat that so angered them. It was the refusal of the last Viking dignity that doomed Aella, Duke of Northumbria, to their mercy. It is known that Ragnar’s sons were not merciful men.
Ivar, Ragnar’s eldest son, was honor-bound to avenge his father. But his initial response was unexpected of a great Viking warrior, who was now heir apparent. While his brothers roared for Aella’s head, Ivar was silent.
The Sagas say that Halfdan, who was playing chess with a thrall, crushed his bishop in his hand until blood ran from his fingers. Still Ivar was silent, and his eyes were wintry. As the new leader of the Great Heathen Host, Ivar continued Ragnar’s campaign of terror across Britain. But to his brothers’ seething disappointment, no mention was made of Aella. Until the Duke was captured, that is.
Ivar was calculating. His brothers thundered away for Aella’s death, but Ivar wanted more; he wanted every shred of dignity wrested from the Coward’s head. He wanted every fiber of Aella’s being to cry for the mercy Vikings did not have. The room that held the Coward was cold, lit by a single candle. Ivar’s footsteps rang with deadly finality as he approached his father’s murderer. Some accounts say that he was alone, some that he was accompanied by his four brothers. But most tell of the rusty iron hooks hanging from the ceiling (The Viking Sagas).
Ivar cut away Aella’s bindings, deaf to his pleading. Aella soiled himself. Sigurd graciously offered to remove his manhood, so as to spare him further inconvenience. Bjorn sneered that Aella had none to remove. Ivar was silent. His blade sliced through Aella’s fine shirt, his cloth-of-gold jerkin. With a “monstrous gleam in his eye” (The Viking Sagas), he seized the Coward and hung him by the skin of his shoulders on the hooks. This act was known to Ivar’s brothers, and they waited with savage anticipation for what was named the Blood Eagle.
Aella dangled upon those hooks, as Ragnar had dangled above the snake pit. Crimson rivulets ran down his pockmarked skin, and still Ivar was silent. He was known to the Britons as “Crudelissimus” (The Strangest Viking)-Most Cruel. Aella learned, then, what it meant to be in the hands of the Most Cruel.
Ivar drew his dagger, and delicately drew a thin line down Aella’s spine. This was customary, although unnecessary. It was nothing but a guideline, for after having done so, Ivar sliced open the Coward’s back. Aella’s screams must have been terrible to hear, but Bjorn Ironside, Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye, Halfdan Ragnarsson, and Ubba rejoiced (Völsunga saga). Ivar was silent. He plunged his bare hands into Aella, and tore the wound open. Aella’s spine was revealed to him, and Ivar crushed it, separating his rib cage so that they hung like the wings of an eagle. He spread them wide, forcing the Coward’s shoulders into his soft chest and the wings opened-an eagle ready for flight.
With a jerk of his powerful arms, Ivar ripped from Aella’s body his lungs. Aella arched backwards with a hellish scream. One of his brothers passed him a basket of salt said to be dried from Odin’s tears(Völsunga saga). He seized a handful and threw it into Aella’s dying flesh. As each brother cast their salt into the Coward’s wound, they chanted their father’s name so that Aella would die reminded of his ultimate mistake.
Aella was a Christian. Remembering that Ragnar had been denied entry to Valhalla, Aella was refused a Christian burial so that he would be denied entrance to Heaven. When the breath had gone at last from the Coward’s mutilated body, Ragnar’s five sons tossed the carcass into the incoming tide. Ragnar Lodbrok was avenged and Odin was sated on Aella’s blood.
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