Halfdan Ragnarsson
Sign in to saveAlso known as Hvitsärk Ragnarsson, Halvdan Ragnarsson
Viking leader and commander of the Great Heathen Army
Key facts
- Reign
- 876–877
- Predecessor
- Ricsige
- Successor
- Ecgberht II
- Died
- 877, Strangford Lough
- Father
- possibly Ragnar Lodbrok , or whoever was historical basis for the possibly legendary character
- Mother
- possibly Aslaug , or historical basis for a legendary character
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Halvdan
- Gender
- male
- Place of birth
- Scandinavia
- Place of death
- Strangford Lough
- Father
- Ragnar Lodbrok
- Mother
- Aslaug
- Sibling
- Ragnvald Heidumhære
- Occupation
- ruler
- Position held
- monarch
- Image
- MS. Laud Misc. 636, folio 31r excerpt.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- date of death
- 0877-01-01
- date of birth
- 0900-00-00
- nickname
- Kvitserk
- commander of (DEPRECATED)
- Great Heathen Army
- Commons category
- Halfdan Ragnarsson
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Halfdan Ragnarsson (Old Norse: Hálfdan; Old English: Halfdene or Healfdene; Old Irish: Albann; died 877), was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army that invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England starting in 865. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes him as a "heathen king".
Halfdan was one of six sons of Ragnar Lodbrok named in Norse sagas; his brothers and half-brothers included Björn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, Ubba and Hvitserk. Because Halfdan is not mentioned in any source that mentions Hvitserk, some scholars have suggested that they are the same individual – a possibility reinforced by the fact that Halfdan was a relatively common name among Vikings and Hvitserk "white shirt" may have been an epithet or nickname that distinguished Halfdan from other men by the same name.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Halfdan Ragnarsson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.