Q 01/05

What does the Old Norse nickname 'loðbrók' literally mean?

A) Long-beard

B) Bear-slayer

C) Hairy-breeches

D) Iron-fist

Answer · why

C) Hairy-breeches

Hairy-breeches: loð means shaggy and brók breeches. In Saxo's telling a king looked over Ragnar's rough outfit, laughed at his shaggy trousers and gav...

Q 02/05

According to the sagas, what was Ragnar doing when he earned his nickname?

A) Wrestling a bear

B) Fighting a giant serpent

C) Crossing a frozen sea

D) Storming a hill fort

Answer · why

B) Fighting a giant serpent

Fighting a giant serpent that guarded a jarl's daughter, Ragnar wore protective clothing boiled in pitch to foil its venom, and the nickname stuck.

Q 03/05

In the sagas, which legendary king is named as Ragnar's father?

A) Ivar Vidfamne

B) Hrolf Kraki

C) Harald Wartooth

D) Sigurd Ring

Answer · why

D) Sigurd Ring

Sigurd Ring is said to have beaten his uncle Harald Wartooth at the Battle of Brávellir.

Q 04/05

Lagertha is Ragnar's first wife on TV, but who is his first wife in the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok?

A) Aslaug

B) Thora

C) Brynhildr

D) Gudrun

Answer · why

B) Thora

Thora, a jarl's daughter, bore Ragnar two sons and then died of an illness; the saga says the grieving king handed his realm to others and went back t...

Q 05/05

Ragnar's wife Kráka turns out to be Aslaug, the secret daughter of which hero?

A) Hrolf Kraki

B) Sigurd Fafnesbane

C) Starkad the Old

D) Harald Wartooth

Answer · why

B) Sigurd Fafnesbane

Sigurd Fafnesbane, the dragon-slayer, was her father. The peasants who raised her rubbed her with tar and kept her under a long hood so nobody would g...