Who Was The Greatest Viking Warrior in Viking History? (Part 1)

It is impossible to find out who was the greatest Viking warrior in history. Because each warrior had their strong and weak points. Each of them had achieved certain things in their life. In this blog post, we are to list out 10 great Viking warrior (including a shieldmaiden) in history. 

Egill Skallagrimsson 

Egill was a Viking warrior and poet in the 10th century. During his younger years, he proved his talents. Egill composed his first poem at the age of 3. Very soon, he performed as if he was a berserker 

At the age of seven, he first killed a Viking boy who played a trick on Egill. After knowing that he had been cheated, Egill Skallagrimsson went back home and grabbed his axe. Turning up at the door of that boy's house, he wielded the axe splitting the boy from his skull to teeth. 

Somehow he got away with this murder and carried on composing poems and killing. When the chieftain finally decided that he had had enough, he banished Egill into exile. But Egill viewed this as a chance to go raiding and pillaging around. He did like what he wished. According to the scholars, Egill lived his life to the fullest by composing poems and plundering around. 

Ragnar Lothbrok

At the age of 15, Ragnar fell for a princess. But to win the hand of this beautiful princess, he had to prove himself deserve her. There we have the journey in which Ragnar Lothbrok killed a serpent. The only protective clothes he had was a pair of trousers which earned him the nickname "Lothbrok" meaning "Hairy Brooches". 

After killing the snake, Ragnar started to raid and he spent nearly all of his life raiding and plundering. At one point, French King Charles the Bald paid Ragnar a large amount of 7,000 pounds of silver not to harm his kingdom. 

But the snakes finally came to find Ragnar in his last days. When his ship was blown off course, his ship landed in Northumbria and Ragnar was seized by King Aella of Northumbria. King Aella sentenced Ragnar to death by throwing him into a hole full of snakes. For this, Ragnar's sons declared war eternal on King Aella of Northumbria. 

Ragnar Lothbrok met his demise in the hand of King Aella of Northumbria (Cre: "Vikings" TV Series)

Ivar the Boneless

Ivar was the son of Ragnar Lothbrok. The reason why he was "boneless" varied: some said he had some physical disabilities while some said he had unpredictable military strategies. 

One account described other warriors carried Ivar the Boneless on the shield and joined the battle. He fought with bow and arrow. After raiding and warring, he took the throne of Dublin in 856. 

At the end of the 9th century, Ivar and his brothers led their fleets to Northumbria and the city of York. There they fought and captured King Aella of Northumbria who killed Ivar's father, Ragnar Lothbrok. Ivar decided that the Blood Eagle would be carried out on the King of Northumbria as a way to sacrifice to his lost father. They cut off the back of King Aella, pulling out the ribs and lungs. Ivar then took a part of East Anglia. He returned to Dublin soon after and spent his later life there. 

Ivar the Boneless in "Vikings" TV series

Bjorn Ironside

Another famous son of Ragnar Lothbrok was Bjorn Ironside. The reason why he was called "Ironside" was that he had two super strong arms. Bjorn was sometimes viewed as a trickster when it came to military strategies. 

On one occasion, he wanted to raid an Italian town but Bjorn could find no way to get through. The fort had so strong a gate that no matter what he did the gate stayed the same. Then Bjorn came up with an idea to fake his own death. He ordered one of his men to inform the Christian bishop inside the fort that he was meeting his demise and deeply in his heart he wanted to submit to the cross before his death. This was no longer a physical battle as it became an emotional one. Bjorn made use of their religious belief. 

Bjorn Ironside was among the greatest Viking warriors

Once his fake coffin entered the fort, Bjorn jumped out and paved the way for his warriors to march into the fort. 

Erik the Red

The reason why Erik had "the Red" was that he had the red beard and hair. Another thing that made people remember Erik was that he loved killing. No matter where he lived, he had to wield his axe to kill someone. 

He was banished from Norway for murdering. He moved to new region where he killed two neighbors and had to go into exile again. He turned up in Iceland but there he killed several men which made him an outlaw again. 

Then he embarked on the greatest journey of his life: sail west. He found Greenland and decided that this newly found land should be his region. He headed back to Iceland hiring 500 men to go to newly found land. However, only 14 out of 25 ships made it to Greenland. In his Greenland, he lived until his last days. Erik the Red had a notorious daughter named Freydis Eriksdottir (discussed later) and Leif Erikson who set his foot in North America 500 years before Columbus.