This article is about The Third Son of Ragnar Lothbrok. For Rangnar's Father, see Sigurd Hring.
Sigurd Ragnarsson, also known as Sigurd "Snake-in-the-Eye," is the third son of Ragnar and Aslaug.
Biography[]
Season 2[]
Aslaug had prophesied that he would be born with the image of the serpent-dragon Fafnir in his eye, the same one her father Sigurd killed. When he was born so, Aslaug named him "Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye" after her father and the mark in his eye.
Season 3[]
He was seen in the Great Hall playing with his brothers Ubbe and Hvitserk.
Season 4[]
When Ragnar embarks on his second raid of Paris with his older brothers, Sigurd becomes lonely without them. The young boy notes the neglect of his niece, Siggy Bjornsdottir, and goes to ask his mother to bathe her, but comes upon Aslaug breastfeeding his younger brother Ivar, who is at least four.
When Harbard returns to Kattegat, Sigurd is the only person to resent his presence and fears the influence he has over his mother. Later, he discovers Harbard sleeping with other women in the town, and reveals this to Aslaug. After turning Harbard out, Aslaug falls into depression. Sigurd soon finds the body of young Siggy, who has drowned in a nearby creek. He finds Aslaug drinking heavily and idly playing Tafl with Ivar, who mocks his mother with her poor gamesmanship, to which she drunkenly retorts that he's alive because of her. Sigurd tells his mother that young Siggy has died. Aslaug snidely replies that someone should have been looking after her, even though she had assured Bjorn that she would be doing just that. Ivar nastily proclaims, "Who cares?" Sigurd runs from the hall, upset and horrified by their indifference.
It has been ten years since the Second Siege on Paris, and Bjorn informs his brothers about the massacre of the Danish settlement in Wessex. Sigurd and his brothers are disgusted that Ragnar knew this happened and did nothing about it. They also share their disappointment and anger at Ragnar for abandoning them. Bjorn tells them that Ragnar left because he was broken by Rollo's treachery and the defeat in Paris. Bjorn says that despite this, Ragnar is a good man and he was not a god and that he was the greatest man in the world to him.
Sigurd forms a brief and casual relationship with Margrethe, a slave girl of his mother's. He shares this affection with his brothers, though not with Bjorn who is married to Torvi.
When Ragnar returns, he challenges his younger sons, especially Ubbe, to kill him and take the kingship. They refuse, and all five sons engage in a brief discussion, asking why their father returned. Sigurd, along with Ubbe, has opted to stay and protect their mother in Kattegat, and not join the raid with Bjorn and Hvitserk in the Mediterranean.
Bjorn's mother, Lagertha, had long-held plans to take Kattegat, as revenge for her perceived loss of Ragnar to Aslaug's sorcery. Lagertha lured Sigurd, Ubbe, and Margrethe to Hedeby, and traps them so that they are spared during her attack. Lagertha's assault is successful, and once she obtains the Sword of Kings from Aslaug, shoots an arrow into her back. Unlike Ubbe and Ivar, who want to avenge Aslaug's death by killing Lagertha, Sigurd is not upset at his mother's death. He has resented her his whole life because of her neglect of him and clear favoritism of Ivar.
Soon after, he hears word that Ragnar had died, at the hands of King Aelle of Northumbria. Ivar, who had accompanied their father on a mission to England, had first-hand knowledge of this development during a stay at King Ecbert's villa and was transported to Kattegat on Ecbert's orders. Ubbe and Sigurd inform Ivar of the death of their mother, which Ivar is very angry about and is consumed by vengeance. Later, while Ivar is sharpening his axe to kill Lagertha, Ivar asks why Sigurd isn't affected by their mother's death. Sigurd says it's because of his perceived neglect from her as a child, that he remembers her as cold and distant, and that she didn't love anyone except for Ivar or Harbard. Ivar mocks Sigurd saying he feels sorry for himself, that Aslaug was still his mother, and what kind of son is he if he doesn't want to avenge his mother. Sigurd then mocks Ivar, calling him a "Mummy's boy" and "Mummy's little favorite" and asks him whether the real reason he misses his mother is that she can't breastfeed him anymore. Ivar is furious and was about plunge his axe into Sigurd's neck but the Blacksmith grabs his arm and stop him mid-swing and mutters who would have thought that they were brothers. It was Sigurd's suggestion that a Great Heathen Army be forged, seeking as many alliances as possible, in order to accomplish full vengeance on the English Kingdoms.
When in England, he participated in the Battle of York, and witnessed the blood eagle of King Aelle. He also fought alongside his brothers against Aethelwulf at Repton, and in the capture of King Ecbert at his villa.
Sigurd was in a long-running feud with his youngest brother, Ivar. This was partly due to clashing personalities and partly due to jealousy on Sigurd's part. At the celebratory feast in the royal villa of Wessex, Sigurd and Ivar going into another heated argument in which they exchanged many insults and curses. In a rage, Ivar threw his axe at Sigurd, and it lodged in his abdomen. Sigurd rips it out, stands up, and marches over towards Ivar intent on killing him with that same axe. he dies just steps away. Ubbe jumps forward and runs to him, cradling his body in grief and looking at Ivar with rage and horror. Ivar shows no remorse.
Personality[]
Out of all of his brothers, Sigurd was the most resentful their mother. Recalling her to be cold and distant towards him, and disgusted with her attitude when Siggy died from her neglect. This resentfulness extends to his brother, Ivar, due to his psychopathic tendencies and being coddled by Aslaug up until her death, who seemed to have been intentionally exacerbating Ivar's mentality. As young men, Ivar and Sigurd held a deep mutual dislike for each other, with Sigurd intentionally enraging Ivar for being a cripple and Ivar going into fits of rage whenever Ivar displayed his arrogant or psychopathic behavior. This feud was eventually the end for Sigurd, who angered Ivar to the point of launching an axe into him. Sigurd's last minute of life entailed him trying to kill Ivar with the same axe. Ivar and Sigurd have a truly Cain and Able relationship, with Sigurd being a more antagonistic Abel. While cruel to Ivar, Sigurd’s actual criticisms of Ivar hold merit. He says that Ivar is crazy and has “the mind of a child.”
After Sigurd’s death, and during Season 5, his comments about Ivar really stand out. Ivar repeatedly shows himself to be a raging psychopath who is suckered multiple times by people feeding his ego and becomes so over the top arrogant that he starts calling himself a god and one of the Aesir.
Relationships[]
Ivar "the Boneless"[]
Ivar and Sigurd clearly have the most antagonist relationship over all the brothers. Their relationship is clearly a Cain and Abel type with Sigurd a more antagonistic Abel. Sigurd is always making cruel jokes about Ivar’s disability and apparent impotency, usually after Ivar demonstrates arrogant or psychotic behavior. An example of their verbal sparing is shown when Sigurd tells Ivar he has the mind of a child, and their mother Aslaug is the only one who ever really loved him while Ivar accuses him of “offering his arse to other men.”
The two come to potentially lethal violence a few times, with them always being interrupted. This pattern happens so often that it comes to the point where it almost becomes a running joke among the brothers. Until Ivar throws his axe at Sigurd during the celebratory feast after the Sack of Winchester, and murders Sigurd because this time there was no one to catch the axe.
Sigurd appears to enjoy embarrassing and hurting Ivar’s feelings. While he is repeatedly cruel to Ivar, Sigurd’s actual criticisms of Ivar, specifically his statements how Ivar is crazy and has the mind of a child look pretty prescient after the events of Season 5. During Season 5, Ivar repeatedly showed himself to be a dangerous, savage, and unsettling villain but with some childlike qualities and behaviors. Ivar is suckered multiple times by people feeding his ego and becomes so over the top arrogant that he starts calling himself one of the Aesir.
Trivia[]
- As of the Season 2 finale, Sigurd and his brothers would be known by the Old Norse title of Budlungr or "prince."
- Sigurd Ormr i Auga (Snake-in-the-Eye) would eventually inherit and rule over the island of Sjaelland in Denmark, Viken in southern Norway and the lands of Halland and Scania in southern Sweden. He was also the ancestor of a line of Danish kings such as Harthacanute, Gorm the Old, Sweyn Forkbeard, and Canute the Great.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
Season two appearances | ||||
Brother's War | Invasion | Treachery | Eye For an Eye | Answers in Blood |
Unforgiven | Blood Eagle | Boneless | The Choice | The Lord's Prayer |
Season three appearances | ||||
Mercenary | The Wanderer | Warrior's Fate | Scarred | The Usurper |
Born Again | Paris | To the Gates! | Breaking Point | The Dead |
Season five appearances | ||||
The Departed Part 1 | The Departed Part 2 | Homeland | The Plan | The Prisoner |
The Message | Full Moon | The Joke | A Simple Story | Moments of Vision |
The Revelation | Murder Most Foul | A New God | The Lost Moment | Hell |
The Buddha | The Most Terrible Thing | Baldur | What Happens in the Cave | Ragnarok |